Clumpiness of Life

Astronomers have found that matter is not evenly distributed across the universe; it's a clumpy distribution. Hence we have galaxies.  I find this a very useful analogy of how human life unfolds: in clumps of business and events. I've been in one of those clumps for the past few weeks. Not oppressively dense, but dense enough to need to stay focused on timelines and deadlines and tasks.

One contributor to the clump was an invitation to return to RWJF in Princeton, NJ, to continue the discussion of the future of public health nursing. We were a small group and spent a full day of identifying barriers and possible solutions to improving and supporting the existing workforce. So, I prepared a little handout for the meeting and made the round trip in two days. I felt as though it was a good discussion and now we will wait and see what RWJF decides to do.

Another contributor the recent clump has been students wanting to meet about their MPH capstone paper. It's usually this time of year that those who want to graduate in May come asking for help. I think of this as a good thing. But, these meetings do fill up the calendar. Thankfully, those I have spoken with seem to be on task, on target and on time. To be honest, the capstone paper is the one activity in which I really work with the students, helping them pull all the content together into a package that will help them get a job.

A third contributor to the clumpiness is the revisions to my textbook. In July I forwarded all the chapters for the 3rd edition. Now, I am getting those files back with questions from the editor. Things like "this url is outdated" and "where does this table go".  Things that need attention to make the book as good as possible. But, these little things take time. There's no glossing over them.

The last clump contributor was the decision to write a grant proposal for a Dec 5 deadline. Although I am not the PI, the research team (more the proposal team) have swung into high gear.  These deadlines have a way of motivating, being a distraction, and generating some anxiety. I'll update the blog with how the project progresses.

Now, that the clump is thinning, a little, I can make my way back to the routine work of HCMR editorship, course instructor, research collaborator, and manuscript writer.  I guess the clumpiness analogy only goes so far; there's no vacuum in my life.