Three weeks ago, I started my PhD program. After nearly five years of pondering which path to pursue, I finally landed on one that makes sense: Psychology with a concentrated focus in Crisis and Trauma.
Nicely dovetailing my undergrad and master’s degrees, the program allows me to create a path to exit a corporate career and walk into one that not only helps people who suffer from crisis and traumatic life events but also educate those who currently serve the public in crisis response and emergency management capacities, especially regarding special population segments, such as the autistic community.
I never realized just how stuck I previously felt before making this decision. Having bought into the traditional Gen X theory of corporate work and ladder-climbing for decades, I pushed against the internal pull away from that way of life and toward something more personal and transformative. Eventually, I gave into my intuition and accepted that my next phase is outside of the traditional corporate construct.
Originally, I wanted to concentrate on Organizational Development—aiding corporations in grouping their poop and getting their acts cleaned up around developing, leading, and managing people. But my son, in his infinite 33(ish) years of wisdom, said, “Madre, do you really think that corporate cares about what you think? Don’t you think you’d be better off doing something that helps the environment or the people who protect it?”
Good point. Ditching the idea that I could singlehandedly change the hearts and minds of wayward senior executives, I considered and almost committed to a concentration in Communications. But in truth, it was too easy. “Coms” is more a tool and venue for me to get my message out rather than a discipline I want to pursue as a behind-the-scenes professional. (There are experts for that, and I gladly pay them for their expertise). I already “talk” for a living; no need for someone to reward me for it with a doctorate.
Why, dear reader, would you care about any of this? Most everyone, at some point in their life, will feel stuck. Unable to move forward, be it from a relationship, a job, a decision, or a negatively impactful life event, we often stay in a lower gear while we recover, regroup, or redirect ourselves onto a new path.
Life-changing events, especially unexpected ones, can rattle our foundations and create ground-shifting disruption to one’s stability. But once on the other side of pain, sadness, and uncertainty, opportunities present themselves and redirect us in ways we never could have predicted or planned for ourselves.
That period in between, being stuck, is an intentional pause for healing, reflection, and redirection. It allows us to integrate the lessons, the pain, and the forgiveness (of ourselves and for others) and use that knowledge to pay it forward to help someone else. My period of pause gave me the insight necessary to take a leap of faith and go with my gut.
My life has provided me with ample examples and copious self-deprecation materials that I can turn into helpful advice, literature, and products to support others. I am looking forward to seeing where this transformation takes me on this journey.
For now, I am going to bask in the relief of being unstuck as I settle into the rhythm and rigor of being back in class as a student, not as the instructor, knowing that I am right where I am supposed to be.
Go on, get unstuck and become unstoppable.
Coach Mia