Most comments seem to be focused on the logistics of applying and financial concerns. Those are important, but before that I would strongly suggest you evaluate your reasons for doing the program and understand your commitment. For one, interviews and applications will want to know this anyway, and two, these reasons can be tested when things get difficult.

A few insights: school has changed in the last few decades. Things are more lean and there is more expected from students. A big divide if you consider a PhD program is whether it is a researched based (eg R1) or teaching school. A research based school is more competitive and honestly feels like a business sometimes. How many papers can you crank out? Can you devote extra time to helping research professors so that you get better opportunities?

There is a changing (and unclear) landscape of software. Sources libraries and PDF organizers can be helpful. Most the students I know are using some form of AI to read or write papers, and they make edits and such. There is ongoing debate on the ethics, but people are using it regardless. If the precedent becomes writing papers at the efficiency of using AI to structure the papers, the level of expectations again rises.

Also be sure to have a support system in place. Things can get overwhelming and frustrating, and leaning on people when needed will be important.

Start with really pondering your reasons for doing the program and see if a program would fit those needs. And it would be a great idea to reach out to current students at least a couple of different schools to get their input on how the program is. There is only so much you can gain from reading the website. If it is really what you want to do, start looking at the requirements and email the program director or assistant to see if you’re missing anything.

I also work 3x12s and mostly love having the 4 days off. The downside is being able to do virtually nothing on those days besides eat and sleep. I think one advantage of the 9-5 week is being able to still do a few things more often. It’s hard to practice hobbies and maintain the house with gaps on days that I’m working.

What you value changes slightly as time goes on. Having the more consistent day might be more appealing now. And if you dont like it, there are always nurse jobs that are in need. Maybe there is something in between the hospital and that gig, like dialysis nursing. Worth a try.

For sure, it’s difficult to break that cycle of anxiety. It has been helpful to understand it a little better. I think out of the strategies that she lists at the end, the one about challenging your assumptions has helped the most. I kind of imagine what advice I would give myself in that moment or what I would challenge someone else on.

As someone who cares for elderly people sometimes, please please fill out an advanced directive (not just a living will). It’s a sort of “if this, then that” for health scenarios. It’s immensely helpful when when caring for someone not well, and can be much more stressful without one. I have had dying, incapacitated patients wait weeks for guardianship or POA-HC to be processed before care can be changed to comfort measures, because they did not have one on file.

Get one from the hospital you would likely go to, fill it out, give them a copy, keep a copy, and give a copy to who you list as a decision-maker. You do not want to add the stress of logistics to an emotionally difficult time.

I think as a society we should embrace death more. Pretending it doesn’t happen just makes things worse when that reality of mortality unwaveringly stares you in the face.

Try Lemma if you’re on iOS. It’s very smooth and has the right balance of features and simplicity imo.

Here is the actual YouTube link: https://youtu.be/g6zXBHdbQJI?si=ST3w3LK92tvfSplP

I didn’t learn this until about a year ago, but fine china is a type of ceramic, similar to porcelain or bone china. They differ in what mixtures they are made of and what temperature they are dried at.

https://www.21oak.com/inspiration/bone-china-vs-porcelain/

I think you have the most accurate answer. The “othering” behavior can be seen in essentially any group of people.

Plus, if you read any of the texts of these religions, I have never come across instructions to shun others. I think people have a surface level of belief and then sophomorically apply it to be “more righteous.” They’re really missing the forest for the trees if they elevate themselves above others.

Not the Middle East, but I remember Hinduism having a caste system that does actually rank people, but from information I got, people were generally on the same page about it.

Can you define what you mean by religious toxicity?

It’s not integrated into any of the apps I use, so I use a mobile browser. There’s a shield icon that appears next to the notification bell icon. It’s essentially another inbox that shows the reporter, reportee, post, community, and reason for reporting. I still have to manually click the post and decide what to do (ie, remove, ban, nothing), and then go back to the mod inbox and click a Resolved (like a “read”) button.

I guess I didn’t explicitly say it, but that was actually the moment that I went from could exist to must exist. I know it sounds pretty crazy to commit to such an irrational thing. I have a better understanding now of why it’s called practicing a faith, because you don’t just immediately do it and you’re done. It constantly gets tested. So, there wasn’t one moment that just flipped all the way from not believing anything to believing everything, it’s a spectrum.

For me it was ironically a theoretical physics video that made a religious belief really make sense. It was a video explaining how we can conceptualize 11 dimensions that would be possible on the information we collectively know now as humans. The way it made me really think about how truly expansive space and time are really made me think that “that’s not impossible to think that there is a 11th dimension being that has some agenda that we cannot understand.”

I imagine it’s like a child trying to understand something beyond their comprehension but it doesn’t change how true it is, like “brush your teeth because it lowers your risk of gums bleeding and leaking bacteria into your bloodstream and eventually causing vegetative infective endocarditis.” They’re just not going to understand that yet, but still reap the benefits later if they brush their teeth. I think it’s much easier and safer for the kid to say, “I’m just not going to brush my teeth.”

Bottom line is, I think that’s why it’s called faith, because it’s just not definitively provable or disprovable. I have personally had many tangible positive benefits in my life from having a faith but don’t think that should be forced upon anyone.

And I know many people in western cultures equate religion to Christianity, but just a quick reminder that there are many many faith systems that exist in the world.

Homework actually 😅. After a couple of hours, they all start to sound like the cantina song on Star Wars

Spot on, it was a hand plane haha. Stanley 46 plow plane

Yeah I’m hoping it was an honest mistake, but if I don’t get a reply, I definitely want to leave a review about what to possibly expect from the seller.

The seller has high ratings. I guess I’ll just try messaging them for an answer and leave a review about my experience if they don’t respond. I had some bad experiences with eBay in the past and seemed to have gotten better, but this makes me a bit more hesitant again.

It’s a vintage woodworking tool and semi-difficult to find. There are new ones available but are double the price. I’ll just have to try to find another one from a different seller, but I’m kind of upset because I thought it was a done deal.

It is an antique woodworking tool. It was a decent price, that’s why I scooped it. The idea was to buy a vintage one and fix it a little so it was cheaper than a very expensive new one. But many of the vintage ones are approaching new prices.

Thanks for leading a support group. I love to see more options for people to get support through the human experiences.

I did not realize there is the distinction of Complex PTSD. From reading the description, I would have just lumped them together. For those who aren’t aware like I was, the ICD recognizes CPSTD but the DSM does not yet. This is a pretty in-depth description: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7919312/

It sounds like you put yourself out there a couple of times and that takes guts. Truth is, we never really know how a risk is going to go, but if we never take risks, then we don’t progress very far either. From your verbiage it seems like you have low self confidence/worth. Give yourself some credit. Take some time to write down some things about yourself that are pretty cool. You’re a parent and sounds like you care about your kid, you care enough about yourself to ask for other support, you can cook and play chess, you have a job. These are not all givens. You own those things and I’m betting much more too.

As far as the romance situation, just from my own experience, I found myself asking out women that were “convenient.” Coworkers, people from high school, etc. Once I focused more on myself and stopped caring as much for a relationship did I ironically find more options. If you get involved in things you enjoy, there will be a much greater chance of finding someone that you click with. Join a chess club, do a yoga session at a fitness place, or even try something you’ve never done before. Try a cheap introductory dance lesson.

Just my opinions, take with a grain of salt. Best of luck with everything.