February 2022 Life Update

February 2022 Life Update

The last month has been a wild ride.

After completing my 21-hour ordination exams the first week of January, we got the heck out of dodge. But not before I got yelled at on the street by a neighboring landlady who decided I was “lazy” because the apartment I live in isn’t as nice as hers. Being accused of poor character based on your income is a terrible feeling.

Anyway, since my university pushed the semester back a week and made the first two weeks virtual (due to Omicron), we decided to drive to Florida to spend time with family. We had a wonderful time: we ate good food, rested a lot, and played with everyone’s cats.

We brought both of our cats, too. At one point, we were living in a 5-cat household, which wasn’t as chaotic as you would think. I can’t decide if our cats are happy to be home or not. They seem a little bored.

Today is the first day of in-person classes. Or, I should say, my last, first day of in-person classes, since I graduate in May.

But I’ve mostly been fixated on my upcoming ordination, which takes place less than a month from now! I’ve been scrambling to find ready-to-ship clergywear and vestments.

I’ve also started applying for jobs, which is daunting. Though Covid-era seminary has not been relaxing (to say the least), at least I could take a rest from the job market for a couple of years. My internships didn’t require lengthy interview processes. And generally speaking, I find that people are very nice to seminarians. They’re just excited to have us there!

There’s the general stress of applying. But there’s also the need to calibrate what needs to be said. How do I share my personality and passion with someone on paper? Do people want an impressive resume or something more down-home? Do people have certain biases about my seminary or my region or my bishop? Or my gender?

Yesterday, I told someone that I’m trying to be strategic and pray a lot. I am a person who thrives when I’m confident and self-assured in my skills and abilities. I’m ok under pressure, too, but it doesn’t propel me the way it does others.

The last few weeks have been stressful, chaotic, joyful, and inconceivably busy. But I have made time for rest. And (I think) I’ve got my head on straight. If you’re the praying type, please pray for me through this period of tumult on top of everything else.

---

What I’ve Been Enjoying

Contains affiliate links

• The Olympics. Nathan Chen! Nathan Chen! I saw him skate live a couple years ago and screamed my head off.
• Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I read Slaughterhouse-5 in high school and really enjoyed it. I think Cat’s Cradle is just as good.
• Bybi Beauty Bakuchiol + Squalane Booster. Bakuchiol is marketed as a sensitive-skin alternative to retinol. I’m not sure that it has made a huge difference on my fine lines, but it is super nourishing.
• Cetaphil Advanced Relief Cream. I was gifted this in my Buy Nothing group and it’s a great lotion for hands and feet, but it can be used on the face, too.