breathing easy

It’s been 10 days since I moved in and I am so loving it. Then again, I don’t start working til next week so my typical day goes something like this: wake up at 9.. 9:30 if I’m extra comfy, drink some coffee, do some Internetting (yes I just decided that was a verb), work on some grad school applications, maybe run an errand or two, then, glass of wine in hand, watch House on DVD/read Harry Potter/watch a Netflix movie until I get sleepy. I do realize that this is a ridiculous way to spend day after day and that pretty soon I’ll have to wake up and join the “real world”, but until then I’m going to pretend like spending all day in sweats is completely normal, thank you very much!

I actually have done some productive things in the past week and a half, believe it or not. I interviewed with the director of the School Psychology program at Trinity last week, which went really really well! I also have nearly finished applying to the 4 graduate programs I’m interested in. I applied to and was hired at Plucker’s, so hopefully I’ll have some cash in the bank soon. And I’m almost done unpacking here, so that’s not bad, right? OH and I’ve watched all of Season 1 of House. I feel very accomplished.

movin on up

So today is my long awaited move-in day! Unfortunately I can’t fully enjoy it just yet because I can’t move my furniture until Sunday. Between taking the GRE on Saturday and Cory’s work and school schedule, that’s the soonest it can get done. Even so, today is the day that I get my keys and that’s good enough for me! This will be the first time I’ve ever lived alone, and not a moment too soon. I have vowed never EVER to have another female roommate. It’s just not a good idea, not for anyone really. I’ve learned from experience that women are not made to coexist in close quarters.. It’s unnatural.

So for the time being I’m gonna go to my new place, study for the GRE that I take tomorrow, and when I’m not studying I’ll just sit in the middle of an empty room and imagine how great it’ll look in a few days

picture of the day: germany

i have no concept of time other than it is flying

Wow. In a week and a day, I will no longer be a college student. In a week and two days I’ll be gone from the city I called home for 3 and a half years. In a month I’ll make my home in San Marcos. In a  month and a half (hopefully) I’ll be making my own money, entirely by myself for the first time in my life. Hooooly shit! I mean I think we (Americans) forget how big of a deal this kind of transition is because it’s so typical. But just because everyone does it, doesn’t make it any less difficult or significant. Difficult, but exciting. I’m so ready! Bring it on, life!

picture of the day: santorini

attachment theory

Learned something interesting in my Lifespan class today about attachment. So some researchers did a study where they observed baby monkeys’ behavior and categorized them into groups based on personality characteristics – shy and timid or bold and outgoing. They they took note of the type of attachment pattern the babies had with their mothers. Turns out that most shy babies tended to have mothers that were protective and anxious, while the bolder babies had mothers who were relaxed but available. The researchers deduced that the babies’ personalities were largely inherited rather than learned, because they showed these behavior patterns even within the first week of life, before it would be possible to learn them from their mother. With the assumption in mind that personality (at least for these monkeys) was genetic, they set out to test whether the baby monkeys’ personalities could be shaped by raising them with a mother that displayed a parenting style opposite from their biological mother. In other words, they paired infants that were shy with mothers that were relaxed, and bold infants with mothers that were uptight. What they found then is what is so interesting to me:

The monkeys that displayed profound anxiety and shyness as infants grew up to be fairly bold when paired with a relaxed mother. Even more interesting is that, while they became bolder and more curious when their foster mother was around, they tended to revert back to their inherently shy personality when separated from the mother.

This suggests that personality can be shaped over time, but is largely inherited and thus predisposes them to display inherent personality characteristics when in stressful situations. They don’t know if this can be directly applied to humans because obviously we are much more complex and affected by an infinite number of factors, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

 

 

picture of the day: barcelona

Best Careers 2009: School Psychologist – US News and World Report

Best Careers 2009: School Psychologist – US News and World Report

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it made sense at the time

I feel like most people wish they were strong-willed and resilient. Who wouldn’t want to say they know exactly what they want out of life and when they set out to do it, it gets done every time and never changes in the process. I think the reality is that, while there are certainly people in the world that are more strong-willed than others, most of us have pretty regular moments of indecisiveness. In fact, I’d say more often than not, we’re affected by the weight and complexity of the world, and we let it get to us. We become overwhelmed with impending decisions, persuasive family/friends/media, and the general relativity of our life situations.

But you know what? I don’t think that has to be a bad thing. I think our inability to stick to a decision (most of the time) is a reflection of our ability to reason. Millions of years of development has brought us to this point, where we can willingly assess our environment and act upon it. But because the environment changes, so do our actions  or decisions. In addition, we are creatures who are uniquely aware of the future and our capability to change it. I think that’s another reason we have a hard time sticking to anything – we know every decision we make affects our future, so we’re a little more wary of the quick  and concrete.

The inevitable process of “growing up” is what prompted me to wonder why we are this way. Leaving my comfort bubble and joining the rest of the world is equally exciting and terrifying. I know my future is the topic of just about every recent post of mine, but what else do I know, really? All I know in life is what I’ve experienced what I’m experiencing right now, and what I anticipate experiencing in the future, and all of those things collectively seem to focus on this question: WHAT THE HELL DO I DO NOW?

To put my perspective in more understandable terms (because now I’m starting to confuse myself..), I’m trying to decide what academic path I want to take, which in turn will determine where I live, which will determine where I work – minor details (sarcasm). I have found myself stuck in this endless cycle of trying to choose between School Psychology, School Counseling, and Community Counseling. To most people those probably seem synonymous. I wish. They’re all very different and involve totally different programs and degrees. As soon as I think I’ve decided (for good this time!), I go and change my mind. I’ve done countless hours of research about each field and I just feel stuck. I don’t have the time to seek out the professionals and get their expert opinion, because I need to decide on this like 2 weeks ago. I know I’ll figure it out eventually. In the meantime, I guess I’ll just try and ride it out, and maybe even try to appreciate the power I have over my own future..

nonmarital sexuality

This table comes from my Psychology of Religion book by Hood, Hill, and Spilka.

I think what’s interesting about this study is how the “nonaffiliated” group compares to the religious groups. I wonder if the “nonaffiliated” people would be representative of the general population on average?