Couch 83: In a world where...

These days I usually warm my pizza up. I am old.

I would probably enjoy reading the snark.

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I have always preferred it cold. Does that mean when I get old I will have to wait for it to heat up? Is that what I have to look forward to?

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They will probably have improved heating methods by then - the wait may not be long.
I like being old. Besides needing reading glasses which is a giant pain (and I wore glasses for my entire life until I had to have some eye surgery and they fixed vision at the same time -except need for reading glasses). I never minded wearing glasses, but I had them on all the time. Keeping up with reading glasses is a pia.

Wait you mean you don't have one of those chains on your glasses that you wear around your neck so they don't get lost? Somehow I pictured that. <giggle>

I do. And I have a pair in my car, all my coat pockets, my brief case, my office, and at least on pair in every room in the house.
And still sometimes I cannot find a pair.

Yum. Was it dongpo pork? There's a Szechuan place near me that makes an excellent version that I'd love to recreate at home (and therefore control the salt level a little).

What was the name of that scientist who kept five pairs of glasses on his head? - The fifth pair was for finding the other four when he lost them...

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LOL I guess we will see.

I have glasses for distance. It's a mild prescription. I pretty much never wear them. That's probably why I have headaches all the time.

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Hahaha... My thoughts exactly.

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Professor Branestawm.

I feel off tonight. I can't quite put my finger on the emotion. Maybe uneasy or apprehensive... I'm not sure why.

I've not had this problem in 4-6 weeks now. Not sure why I can't figure it out.

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Thanks CE. You really do know it all

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Cat. I hate that feeling of something wrong but not sure what or why

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Thanks.

I don't like this feeling. I'm not sure I even want to figure it out. I guess it's better to figure it out than stuff it under the rug.

Sigh. I think I'll shove it under the rug. I'd rather sleep.

In my experience, this is rarely something new. It's an old pain you already know about that wants some attention.

That's entirely possible. It's happened before.

I can't sleep. My head won't stfu. Just took my anxiety stuff... Waiting for it to work so I can sleep. It's been about ten days since something kept me this awake.

I find it easy to visualise you with a monocle.

I love Professor Branestawm. I grew up with the Swedish translations, which are quite excellent.

Serious question: what do you do when the thing you really want to do (the only thing you want to do with your life right now) makes you extremely anxious?

IF its something that will be healthy and good, in the long run, can you get a friend on board to help you with the task? If its not good for you, please don't do it. Have a nice walk by some water instead.

Professor branestawm,- there was a really sweet tv film in uk over Xmas with Harry hill as professor, might be on youtube? Had five pairs of glasses on his head....

I think I can guess what you're referring to, and I have had (and have) similar issues... I have pretty much squandered my opportunities though, so I might not be the best person to talk to about this.

Anxiety is treatable. I know you're seeing a psychologist - is that helpful for you at all? I assume you're on Christmas break from therapy right now, too? Things always get worse over the holidays. (Did you have a good Christmas/NY holiday? I hope you did.)

For me, the feelings of anxiety are tied to loneliness - that's something it has taken me over two years of therapy to realise fully. I'm not sure if it's the same for you, though. I think the underlying reasons are probably different for everybody. But being an academic is a lonely life (although in your field it's more common to work in teams than it is in my field - still, there's always the expectations to do as well as the other people in the group.) You're still training for this job. And it's a lifelong training process.

Not sure if any of this is helpful at all. The short answer is, I think, to try to work out what is at the bottom of the anxiety.

Also, remember that all you need to do is take one step at a time. Focusing too much on the distant goal is never a good idea, at least not for me. It's how I almost didn't finish my PhD - I kept thinking about the finished book instead of focusing on finishing a chapter, or a section of a chapter, at a time... but again, this is individual.

Mastodon, I wrote a longer reply (you might've seen it already) but I deleted it because, well, it didn't really work out the way I wanted it to.

Anyway, thanks for trying to help. The situation is difficult. Talking to the psychologist helps (in general but not really with this particular issue) but we still only meet up once every two weeks and I'm not even sure what's going to happen now after Christmas (if I'll get to keep talking to her etc). We're going to have some sort of meeting to plan for the first part of the year and then we'll see what happens I guess. I wish I didn't have to worry about it.

Good morning from where I'm at. It's 1 degree F outside. I believe I will drink some coffee now.