So we’re going to be entering another new moon this week—Cancer, and will actually be a partial lunar eclipse (that very few people will actually get to see); but that means that there will also be solar eclipse at the end of the month (that sadly I won’t be able to view as it won’t be visible from the US).

But going back to the Cancer New Moon—this movement through the cosmos has moved the moon into my 9th house, or the “Big Picture Zone”. So this zone is one that is focused on adventure, travel, and personal development. This is the time where you need to be honest with yourself in terms of any type of insecurity, or fears that you might be having. In addition it’s a time to review your goals, get in touch with family, and just take a little bit of time to nurture yourself.

Getting in touch with family isn’t that difficult, since I live at home and see my parents on a daily basis. I see my younger brother frequently, and keep in touch with my older brother via social media or texting. While it would be nice to see my niece—they’re on the west coast, and while I want to visit, the visits are more geared towards the national parks than LA.

I can say that I’m trying to keep up on the personal development aspect—I’ve got plenty of different books to read (though I will admit that I’ve been on a romance genera feast for awhile now); and I’ve bought several different little e-courses on different things to help with both personal and professional development. I just need to start 1) reading the books and 2) find the time to go through all the different courses that I’ve bought.

The books cover a variety of topics from spirituality to entrepreneurship to almost basic self-help for introverts. At the beginning of the year I’d posted within my 101+ goal list that I’d read fifty personal/professional development books over the course of 1001 days—well that list has now grown to 142 books (and probably will continue to grow)—though I’ve finished 12 of the books so far (and reviewed six of those); so I’m down to trying to finish 130 books in basically 809 days. As far as the personal development courses go—I’ve got a nice long list of ones that I’ve purchased or “saved” that I need to start working through—some are short only a single video, while others are a little more in-depth and will take more time to work through.

If I’m totally honest with myself—the one major area of insecurity or fear is trying to transition into an industry position. The fear or insecurity is coming from the unknown—will I like the new position/company? Will I be challenged in the position and allowed to grow? Or will it be a repeat of my first postdoc experience?

I’m moving slow on trying to transition into an industry position—mainly because I don’t want to make a mistake and windup broke, in debt, and having to move back in with my parents. The one leap after grad school for the post-doc position taught me well that at times its better to be unemployed for a while than take the first job offer you get. But I’m still working on my transition plan—I’m thinking of either slightly switching research sectors (move away from things that are heavily cell culture based), going for a more managerial position, or transitioning out of research entirely.

I am trying to get better at meditating every night—some nights I’m able to meditate for five or more minutes, other nights I can maybe get in two or three minutes before my eyes pop open and that’s the end of it. I know that meditating isn’t for everyone, but I’ve actually found that it has been helping me at time sleep better (though some nights when I have an awful night sleep I’d managed to meditate for a good amount of time before bed), and also to try to clear my thoughts so that my mind isn’t racing in circles when trying to work on my transition plan.

So my goals for the next two weeks are to:

  • Mediate nightly (even if it is only for two or three minutes).
  • Try to read at least one more personal/professional development book (two would be great).
  • Get through at least one more mini personal development course and at least another third of the way through the web development course.