when i first came to seattle 2 years ago, my professor said to think of three people in your close circle. Tell those three people that you are going through graduate school and you will need them for support and strength to get through this process. i thought about it casually thinking those people in my support system will probably be too busy and i can handle grad school just fine on my own.
now as i get through the last few weeks in my program i realize i have to acknowledge my friends back home, across the world and in seattle who have been able to lend an ear, a hug, some assuring words.
this past year has been extremely stressful for me and some of my friends and family have gotten phone calls of me ranting. i often felt emotional. do people understand me? do people care? am i crazy?
recently, i have gotten some phone calls from friends sharing the same concerns and issues that i can relate to. then i realized something. we are always going through some kind of transition. transition and change is difficult. especially this "quarter-life crisis". how do we build and find a community? a community can be the answer of finding people to feel connected. studies find happiness is linked to feeling like you belong. a community can be hard to find after college when you now have to figure out what group you want to be part of. a community can be hard to find when you are a transplant.
so i am reminded that it is okay to ask for a little help from my friends and to let them know that i was thinking of them or that i care about them.
is happiness only real when shared?
