Definitions

It seems appropriate to start a new blog in times like these.  One year out of grad school, newly married, baby on the way... just so many reasons to create an outlet for myself.

I haven't quite decided what this will be yet.  I have many topics I'd like to cover, the short-list including: marriage, observant judaism, women in STEM careers, start-up culture, babies, feminism, social media, and (quite possibly) brainstorms for the sci-fi novel my husband is convinced I will eventually write.  This being the case, I apologize in advance for the scatterbrained posting until I get into a groove.  

I've found, especially since finishing grad school, that I'm struggling to redefine myself.  I spent 5 years using "grad student" as my major label, and now that I'm done, I've had to really adjust my inner monologue and outer expressions of self.  Who am I?  I am a scientist/engineer, a spiritually-motivated religiously observant Jew, a woman, a feminist (more on this later), a wife, a soon-to-be mother, an intellectual, a lover of literature and of comedy and of folk music and of all things science, an amateur chef and baker, a nurturer, a daughter, a sister, a friend.  Probably many more things as well, but that's a pretty good starting point I think.  I spend a lot of time thinking about other people, and I am working much harder these days to reach out and communicate and be involved in the lives of the people I care about who live far away.  I regret how self-centered I became in grad school, and that I allowed many of my friendships from college and childhood to wither because I told myself I didn't have the time to commit to reaching out.  It's a continual struggle against relying on social media to tell me how my friends are doing.  The reality is, is that social media is more likely to tell you "what" people are doing and not "how" they are doing.  For the "how", you have to really pick up the phone and call.  This has been one of my first assignments to myself upon graduation, and I'm starting to feel like I've made progress.  It doesn't hurt that I have a 30-40 minute commute every day coming home where I can indulge my need to escape the rage of traffic by calling a friend.  It almost always redirects my anger about traffic into a positive, heart-warming conversation with someone I care about deeply.  How great is that?

More on reaching out and direct, personal contact later.

For now, I will define this blog as an outlet for both my reactions to every day life (baby bump pics included), and more abstract thoughts about topics near and dear to my heart.