Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Priorities

Since getting back from my trip, I'm having a little bit of difficulty prioritizing what I want to do next.  In some ways, the trip was a goal in itself, and a lot of other things were pushed to the wayside as I prepared for it.  Now that it's past, there are many things that I'd like to/should do, but I don't know what steps to take first.

Part of the trouble for me right now is deciding whether or not I want to apply to continue in grad school.  Getting my M.A. was illuminating, and I suspect that I would enjoy and get a lot from further study, but going for a Ph.D. is an even bigger commitment as it would likely take at least 3 to 4 years to complete (as opposed to the two in which I received my M.A.).  Additionally, while there is always the faint lure of becoming a teacher, the more I read about humanities jobs in higher education, the less it seems like the degree would help me find a job.  While I, old-fashionedly, cling to the idea that getting a job is NOT the most important part of getting a degree, I'm having difficulty rationalizing expending the effort without at least some promise of career prospects.

On a concurrent note, the Mrs. and I will probably start having kids soon, so if I ever wanted a Ph.D., it would be a lot easier if I started this fall (thus knocking some classes out of the way before having the additional responsibilities that come with parenthood).*

Another item that's struggling for priority dominance is the idea of losing weight (I say "idea" because this has remained a theoretical prospect over the last few years).  While I have not yet achieved my goal of becoming the world's fattest man, I think it's about time that I threw in the towel.

Still another priority is finding time to be a creative person.  I recently reported that I received an offer to be an understudy in a play early next year with a great local theatre company (which I accepted), but I think I should be out there, auditioning more in an effort to get more roles.  I also need to make time to get my butt in a chair and start writing plays again, as I have had some success with that in past, and I enjoyed the time and effort I've put into it.

In short, I guess I need to just stop being lazy.  I'll work on that.

*All of this assumes I would even get in at this point, as it is fairly late in the application game for next fall.

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