This Is 38

So this is what 38 looks like to me:

I turned 38 today. Not a huge marker by any means but I decided this would be the year to start doing a bit more intentional tracking and reflecting on my birthday because well, that's what I do on this blog, right?

So let's first take stock of some of the basic and relevant (what I find) facts about me at 38.  I decided to put these in alphabetical order to avoid trying to rank them in any away (who's got time for that!).

The Facts

Best time on a 5K: 24:31

Best time on a 10K: 52:56

Best time on 1/2 marathon: 1:52:35

Blog Posts in the last year:  198

Books read in 2017: 127

Blog Pageviews: 139,630

Blog Subscribers: 28/276

Blog Visitors: 81,000

Cats Owned:  2 (Bear & Pumpkin)

Credits Completed Toward Dissertation: 42 out of 72.

Degrees earned: 5 (3 masters, 1 bachelor, 1 associate)

Degree working on:  Phd in Higher Education

Facebook Friends: 715

Home:  Watertown, Massachusetts

LinkedIn Connections: 872

Miles run in in the last year: 952 miles 

Push-ups in a single stretch: 65

Relationship status:  Married (3+ years)

Short Stories Written:  4

Social Media Consulting Gigs:  2

Twitter Followers:  942

Website Domains owned:  3

Weight: 225 pounds

Work:  full-time: Instructional Designer at Brandeis University.  Freelance reviewing audiobooks and graphic novels for Audiofile Magazine & Publishers Weekly.  Occasionally teaching courses at North Shore Community College 

The Thoughts

Obviously that list isn't exhaustive.  Again, I ain't got time for that.  But it focuses on a few different areas of my current attention.  Namely: Education, health, relationships, social media, work. writing.  These are areas that are on my mind, easy to quantify and discuss.  What's not on the list that I'm still working on: being politically active and socially-justice minded--and what that looks like for  me, trying to be a better friend, and continuing to push myself in new and different directions.

Education

I've passed the half-way mark with my doctoral program in terms of credits and am now starting the process of dissertating (that's what it is, right?).  I'm excited to be at this stage and excited about my topic. I'm looking forward to being done but enjoying the process throughout.  By the way, if you're interested in those adventures, you can always check out my posts dedicated to the my PhD adventures (keep in mind, they are posted 1 year after they're written).

Health

Well, I'm running 20-30 miles a week and cycling the same amount.  I'm also covering 15,000 steps a day and can do 50 push up.  I feel at my optimum health for my life as a whole and certainly for my age.  Definitely have some weight to lose if I prescribe to the BMI, which I don't entirely, but do believe I could shed another 10-15 pounds and be healthy.  What's more is that I crave working out and enjoy healthy foods (certainly enjoy unhealthy foods). I appreciate the sense of accomplishment and the biochemical dynamics that produce positive emotions and energy after working out. I've run some of my best races in the last year or so and that feels amazing too (I mean who thought I'd be able to run a half-marathon in well under 2 hours!).  

Relationships

Well, I'm in an amazing one with a supportive partner who helps me be a better person by not just role modeling it but helping me figure out what's going on in my head as well as being collaborative in our relationship to address any challenges that come at us or stress us out.  We both just change jobs and negotiated a move while also taking courses within our respective programs.  We navigated it mindfully with a lot of communication, checking in, and redirecting our stress-points away from one another and onto/into other things (e.g. running).  

Social Media

So the numbers about social media and the blog are not brag.  In fact, the subscribers for the blog is split because I have 2 RSS feed and while the small number appears accurate, the other one is filled with a dubious amount of emails and therefore I think is compromised; 98% off the email addresses are from Outlook accounts, which doesn't seem right.  Anyways, I'm marking it to see how it changes over the next year, particularly as I think differently about how I engage in social media and through my blog.  We all know that social media has the potential to be a meaningless time-suck, so I'm trying to be a bit more cognizant of that.  Also, as I continued to teach and advise on social media, I want to see how this develop and grows (or shrinks).  

Work

I like all that I'm doing; where I work, who I work with, and the kinds of work I do.  I look forward to when my doctoral program is over and I can pursue some additional teaching and writing opportunities, but appreciate the flexibility of them currently. I really enjoy working at Brandeis University between my colleagues and leadership.  Also, since moving to Watertown, I can now run/bike ride to  work, which certainly helps my health and physical accomplishments.  

Writing

I'm so itching to get back to writing, be it on my blog, fiction, or other projects.  My mind is exploding with ideas and snippets of writing.  Without trying, I've written four stories in the past year (and even published one!) and a handful of other publications.  But I keep railing it in because so much of my writing needs to focus on my dissertation.

This post (like so many of mine) probably isn't for the reader but for me to take stock of what I'm up to and where I want to go.  I appreciate those of you who still stick around despite these ramblings.  If nothing else, this blog helps me to think about things and I always appreciate that.  

Well, here's to 38 years that have put me in a place of substantial mental, physical, emotional, and spirtual helath.  I'm glad I've made it this far.  

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