work vs. play vs. school vs. family vs. home vs...

Me: "I went to Denison University."
Her: "What was your major?"
Me: (wincing just a little) "Religion and Psychology."
Her: "Then how did you get into this field?"
Me: "I started working here right after school."
Her: "Well what do you want to do?"
Me: "I'm not sure, I really enjoy working with this population."
Her: "Well, to do anything more in behavioral health, you'll have to get a master's degree."
Me: "Yeah...(frustration, questioning, thinking about my priorities)... I'm just having a hard time committing to school right now."


Her statement didn't come from a mean or judgmental place, but she really believed (like so many people do) that I needed to continue my formal education to continue happily with my...life? job? who knows...

I guess I get where she is coming from. It's commonly accepted these days (and, more specifically in these professional networks) that to succeed professionally you need to pay someone an exorbitant amount of money and complete lots of busy work on their schedule...er, I mean, it's commonly accepted that continuing education is an important part of professional development. That sounds good.

I haven't figured out my discomfort with this conversation. On one level, I know that there is some interesting and valuable information I would gain from taking more classes related to my job. At the same time, I can't justify racking up more student loans, giving up the little "free time" that I have, and jumping through the hoops that I remember about academia... especially when I have a paying job that I enjoy with the "credentials" I have already "earned."

Whenever I've thought seriously about returning to school for a master's degree in a field I am excited about, I end up feeling like the whole situation is extremely inaccessible. I can't find information, it's the wrong time of the year, the class schedules don't fit with my work schedule...excuses, excuses, right? Maybe. Or maybe I enjoy my job and want to be good at my job, but don't value my professional experience enough to invest so much more time and money into it. If I was working full time and going to school, what else would I be able to do?

My internal struggle over this school issue is compounded by the upcoming holiday weekend and the need to make plans to spend time with out of town family. So many parts to life seem to be mutually exclusive to each other... and while I know that's not really the case (it can't be, right?), it stresses the hell out of me!

How do you know what's important? How do you figure out your priorities? What if your priorities change after you've invested time/money/energy into something? What if you just had dance parties all the time?

GTD with kids?

we're starting to think more seriously about adding children to our family. it's a complicated thing to think about and even more complicated to actually imagine. this weekend we went to the street-fair in yellow springs, worked in the yard, and biked around too-busy streets for most of an afternoon. could we do these things with a kid in tow? would we?

we'd both love to be parents, and would be more than willing to adjust our lifestyle to include things that are kid-friendly... but it seems like everything would change and there are some things that i would like to keep the same.

possible?