Time flies when you are finding your way.

I have always used the metaphor of my life being a labyrinth. There is a goal, a castle, that I am fighting to find my way towards. Characters that come in and out of the story. Some intending to help, while others are simply there to distract and lead us back to the beginning. We each have choices to make, doors to pick from, and sometimes we pick correctly and think to ourselves man this is a piece of cake. But then... we look at the clock and see that we have less time then planned and still have miles to go.

I love this metaphor and find it fitting for the experience of working towards this PhD. I am now in the final year of this program and I see the castle in front of me. It is bigger then I thought it would be but I cannot quite make out the name or land for which it exists. In other words I am now applying for jobs but I have no clue where I end up or what state I will be living in. For me this is the scariest part of the journey. Prior to this I had my cohort for companionship, but many of them are lost in their own worlds slaying dragons (advisers or proposals) and trying to find their own path. For none of us will share the same trail. It would be great if we did, however we each have a unique goal to achieve. And each of us will get there at our own time.

This final stretch of the maze is also terrifying because before we enter the gates of the castle we have to find all of the doors. I have found many but I have not yet found anyone to offer me a key to see if I fit in the door. I hope to have at least one key but what if I receive a keyring full of them. In the end you must only pick one door to walk through. One job to take. However if I do take the wrong job it is not like I will be eaten by some three headed animal, but I might fall into a dark pit of despair.

Yet still we walk the path. I write chapters and try to keep an eye out for more doors and opportunities. From time to time I am able to meet up with my companions for a brief stretch. Luckily I am not alone. I do have my partner and support. My husband has been so great. Sometimes he acts like a fool but in the end in the times when I cannot walk another step he rests with me or carries me until it is safe to rest.

It has been a long journey and I know that in the end this will not be the last castle I seek. I feel I have many more labyrinths to concur. However once I defeat this one.... I feel I will have a bit more confidence. That is if the jabberwocky does not destroy me first.