Now What?

I'm officially done with graduate school. I have a master's degree in information technology. Yay me! Now that I'm no longer spending my Saturday afternoons reading RFCs and writing papers about them what will I do with myself?

Most people seem to find my off the cuff responses (learn Perl for real, read more history books, clean my house) unacceptable.

It has been apparent to me for a while that my existence is very... routine. I need to be home by a certain hour on Sundays to relax so that I can do Monday.  I re-watch the same movies and read the same books--last week when I was picking airplane reading for a trip I took I didn't include a single book I hadn't read. I don't as a rule go on trips--I go to NJ for business and I go to NY when I am obliged to for my family.

And yes I know--I work hard--I work hard at school and so I don't require myself to do anything hard or anything uncomfortable outside of school or work (or even in school or work if it can be avoided.) Outside of work or school, I have not met any new humans in a long time and I never hang out with anyone I don't know well enough to lend my car to (if I had a car, that is.) I haven't done anything outside of my comfort zone in a long time and my comfort zone is not very big.

This sort of behavior has consequences though. I went out with one of my study--buddies for a beer after my last class ever (!) and I realized I had nothing to say for myself. When did I become such a boring person?

In the past ten years I've been afraid to try new things (apply to graduate school, learn SSRS, go to a new hair dresser etc.) or even talk to new people at parties because I've been depressed or exhausted but those excuses don't apply anymore. I don't feel depressed. I'm done with school and while my employer works me hard I am entitled to vacation time.

So here is my done with grad school resolution (Summer Solstice Resolution?)--at least once a week I will do something that's outside of my comfort zone. It shouldn't be too hard to find things to do that qualify.  I decided to start by making a list of single acts (make a dentist's appointment, suggest a new project to my boss, sign up for a yoga class etc.) that would qualify as "out of my comfort zone." Even that is hard. It's as if my imagination has atrophied. I feel like Strong Bad when his imagination's busted. (That alone tells you all--Homestarrunner.com hasn't put up Strong Bad a cartoon since 2009.)

This is what happens when your existence becomes too passive. I need to do something about this.