My suitcase is full of books...

A lovely TED talk by Susan Cain.

When she described her grandfather's apartment, I was immediately transported to the farm. My Mema's house contained furniture and all the usual items necessary for human occupation, but this could not disguise its true purpose as a repository for books. Bookcases lined every room except the kitchen, and if you happened to peer inside any given closet, you would find bags overflowing with miscellaneous paperbacks. I remember sitting together but in solitude, reading for hours, only occasionally breaking the silence to compare notes on a story or relate a particularly amusing passage. Precious, happy hours, when I did not have to fight to hide my social awkwardness.
The interview process at INS made me painfully aware of my own introversion. I left Montreal feeling exhausted and drained, fearful that my lack of social grace might impede my career development. This talk was a much needed reminder that the other things I bring to the table are just as valuable as a loud and powerful voice.

Match...

A year has passed, and I'm back in the same strange position- my future riding on the results of a computer algorithm. Interviews in early February in freezing Montreal, before my fate is decided on February 29. Obsessive email checking is near the end. From 10 applications, I have 9 interviews, and only one site left to hear from. I shouldn't be so anxious/excited to hear from the last place. As it stands, I can make a decision based on training opportunities and fit, but if Dallas gets into the mix, things suddenly become more complicated. Family and familiarity, all wrapped up into one tidy bundle... Impossible to predict how much that will alter the composition of my decision making tree.

As ready as I am for a change, it will be harder than I ever imagined to leave my desert home.