Grad school therapy

In my grandiose moments of procrastination, I come across the most fantastic stuff in the interwebz. I have this incredible ability to find really strange answers to my existential questions, or free photo editing software, or better yet, fabulous science writers. Speaking of science and writing, I haven't decided which of these two things I am worst at, but in the meantime, I will continue to pretend as though I have the creativity to do both (in case you didn't know it, I started writing in 2009, in my native tongue and composing something that we shall call 'existential free writes' for the sake of giving them a name).
It is well known that us graduate students tend to delay unwanted tasks, and while having one of those episodes the other day, I found a series of videos that every scientist out there should watch. One of the talks really spoke to me, and Sci Curious really hit the spot. In other words, she inspired me to start writing. But then I thought, what would I write about? I already write cheesy poems, and attempt to write research proposals. What would make my writing and audience unique? In reality, you can write about anything, but at some point you have to narrow down your interests.
And then I had the grand idea to change this blog and make it about grad school therapy. No, not the actual find-a-therapist blog, but something that a lot grad students identify with but are too afraid to admit sometimes. Pain is a double-edged sword that every single one of us has experienced at some point in our lives, but it seems to be augmented with a magnifying glass by all the graduate school pressures. Pain is a feeling that I find myself constantly experiencing (see here, and here) but I don't want to write about it to make anybody more depressed than they already are, but instead, I would like to make it a place where people can find some comfort when they are having a difficult day; a place to come home and find some hope. See, after all my procrastination will have a good purpose, right?
While I'm still working out the details of the topics I want to present, another thing at which I'm being really adventurous is using my own name and identity. Most science/academia blogs that I follow are written by people under a pseudonym, whose work I highly respect and admire. Using my own identity could be a little risky, but I believe that in doing so I am letting the online community know that there is a sensible human being behind the words I write.
Folks, I am currently buried in work; yet, I will find some time soon to revamp the image of my blog  and give it that little twist I have been wanting to do. I am excited.


Disclaimer: the writer of this blog is not a native English speaker, so if you find a gazillion of grammar errors, you can blame it on her loud Spanish-speaking mind. Also, she tends to get very emotional in her writing sometimes, but that's just the way she is in real life, please bear with her.

Is there such a thing as too much thinking?

I was sitting in my bed last night trying to put together something reasonable (because I'm trying to make an effort to post more often here), but at the same time, I was fiercely trying to silence my brain. Indeed,  my mind can be very loud sometimes. "No, don't think about that, that wouldn't be a good idea," or how about "just go to sleep and stop elaborating so much useless stuff." And in reality, it is a problem I have to face everyday. I tend to think too much; don't get me wrong, using your brain every now and then is not a bad thing, but when it's not followed by concrete actions, too much thinking can be a waste of time.

So instead of sitting in bed thinking about what to post, I decided to take action:  I went to sleep. That was a good choice at the moment, however, I frequently find myself bursting with brilliant ideas, though sadly, those thoughts never end up anywhere (but buried somewhere in my unconscious)... But from now on, I am decided to either write them so I don't forget them, or do something about them. Have you ever experienced the same problem?

P.S.-While trying to find something about over thinking, I found this gem.