I've been dealing with a lot of things emotionally lately. A lot of things. Yes, I left my family. Yes, I recently reinjured my persistently bad knee. But, that actually isn't the thing that's been nagging on me.  

I was in a relationship right before I moved out here. Literally, I met him 3 weeks before I was going to leave town, but everything with him felt so natural and so comfortable that neither of us could come up with a real reason not to spend time together and get to know each other. Well, it was more than that. I spent just about every waking minute with him during my last 2 weeks. We were together all day, all night, and it was fantastic. I have never felt comfortable with someone so quickly. But, I had to leave. He knew that. I knew that. We were never officially together, because I was leaving and it seemed pointless. But, at the same time, we were. We held hands and were affectionate toward each other in front of my friend, his friends, everyone (except my parents). Even the guy I had previously been interested in. I sat between the two of them at a movie my last night in town, and I laughed and joked with my previous love interest, while I held hands with him. I gave my previous love interest a hug good-bye, only to chase this new amazing guy down and make sure he got a kiss and a bigger hug good-bye.  I cared about him more than I meant to.  And now that I'm here, it has been hard to erase him. 

So, that, on top of missing my family, and being on crutches following my knee injury - I was in a persistently negative state. It was too the point that I feel like my new coworkers in the lab I am rotating in could tell that I'm upset. I snapped at or got irritated at some of them, just for looking at me, trying to help me, etc.  My emotions that I didn't deal with properly were effecting these new friends that I had made and who have been so great to me. It wasn't fair to them, and it wasn't fair to me that I was letting these emotions negatively effect the few friendships I have.  

So - I took some time for me.

I actually spent a good portion of time sitting at my desk in lab, journaling in my life handbook, (see http://personalexcellence.co/blog/create-your-life-handbook/ 

for more information about a life handbook), writing poetry and lyrics, and just wrote about what was going on in my head. It helped a lot. Yes, there were instances where I had to catch myself because I was getting a bit too emotional for lab, and I didn't want to get upset in front of my coworkers. I you don't trust yourself to stay composed, just excuse yourself for a bit and go take care of you.

TAKE SOME TIME FOR YOU!!

Go grab a coffee and sit outside in the grass. 

Email or call a friend or loved one that will just listen to you vent.  

Listen to a song that picks you up on repeat for 20 minutes.  

Watch a video on youtube that makes you smile.

Journal, if you're into that.

Just take a time out for a moment. I can imagine that for most graduate student there has been a big transition that has occurred in your life. I'm right there with you, but you have to on occasion take a step make from being on 100% of the time. Take the time you need, refocus, rechannel, reflect...

Only return to your productivity when your head is in the right place. :-)

As always, we're all in this together!