Putting it all together

I realized today probably the utmost reason I love Dani so much: I think sometimes she knows me better than I know myself.

Over the past few weeks I had begun a growing feeling of uncertainty - not sure where I was going, what I wanted to do, a feeling of being overwhelmed even though I don't really believe I am.

Dani made me realize that was because I'm so horrible at making decisions - which is true! But , like anything, it's something I'm going to have to learn how to do well.

I also had not been sharing with her the little things in life like she does with me, not even realizing it. It's more important than it seems. By talking things out with other people, that is how I always have made decisions. My mind kinda zips along through things sometimes, thinking of too many alternatives until all the paths to choose seem equally good and bad ;) So, writing things down (like in a blog) and talking things out with various people helps tons. It helps sort a mountain of information.


On the topic of decisions,

I decided today to work with Dr. X. Chen in control systems for my master's studies. This seems like a significant decision, because of late I've been thinking along the lines of "I have a bit of interest in a lot of different things, how do I choose what to do?". I like the guy. He's got a sense of humour, has confidence in me (even though he doesn't know me that well) and a good perspective on things.

For instance,

He told me today that going further in education requires you to both:
- Go in depth into a particular topic
- But also have a wide array of knowledge, and keep an open mind. Not be afraid to learn things that don't perfectly relate to the topic you pick.

It's kinda like having a zoom in / zoom out lens, I think. Zoom is a nice feature, can help you see things far away more clearly, but you still need to be able to see the big picture well.

He also seems to be a guy of action --- I've already been invited to a couple of conferences, and a key to my office in the control lab for next year.

Oh, and the nice thing is: the office has WINDOWS. You know, that seems like a trivial thing, but it's not. I kinda hated working in a factory office with no windows. When I worked at the Ford Powerhouse, I had a window view, that's half the satisfaction there!