Learning

As I work on one of my presentations, I can't help but be struck by how much I've learned already, in two months. Sometimes I feel like I'm pushing myself unnecessarily, because I'm so thirsty for knowledge and may be running myself into the ground when I could be working on easier topics. But instead of letting that get me down, I'm trying to remember that this is all about learning and that all this knowledge will help me in my future practice. Rather than settling, I want to grow.

The other day, a friend of mine asked me about what therapy is like and I was able to tell him about the different theoretical orientations and we explored together what a good one for him might be. I found the conversation to be so encouraging because it reminded me that I have been learning so much and because it seemed to help him too. Some days I wonder whether I am good enough to be in this program, but conversations like that remind me that this is where I'm supposed to be.

We do so much self-reflection in this program. Seriously. I have a reflective journal for three out of my four classes. So sometimes it's hard to motivate myself to reflect outside of that context, but I think it's important. Reflecting on grad school as a learning experience, for example, has been helpful for me on days when I'm so stressed I just want to give up. Thanks to all my friends who have been checking in with me and asking how I'm doing, as it's really helpful for me to talk about how all this is going.

There's not much else going on in my life besides school these days, but I'm thankful for mini-breaks from it all like our Awaken retreat last weekend and going to BC with my sister-in-law and niece next weekend. Please, friends, let's go for coffee. I'd love to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while. Know that even though I'm busy, I love you heaps and would be more than happy to see you.