Tomorrow, I leave for Brighton. I went back to the post I wrote on my last night in Brighton in December 2019. I was girding myself for the last 6 months of my PhD and the uncertainty of PhD life. Little did I know how differently things would pan out and that I would spend the next 18 months sequestered in Bristol and still not be done with my PhD. I had a meeting with my supervisor which left me a little confused, which is not an encouraging sign at this stage of my PhD. I am hoping that the sea air will clear the cobwebs that have grown in my had in the past 18 months and bring news ideas and inspiration. My job search and my struggles to nail down my PhD have been a humbling experience. But being humble and being kind to yourself and not mutually exclusive. Recognizing that you are magnificently flawed and that one of your flaws is overconfidence in your intellectual ability is a key aspect of humility. To say, to yourself that "yes, I am prone to overconfidence, and I will try to be more self-aware about it, but I won't beat myself up when life cuts me down to size" is a wise approach. I know this post abruptly changed tack, but that is the advantage of writing a blog that nobody else reads. So, its onwards to Brighton, with new hope and good cheer.
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