- lots of space
- close commute
- interesting/safe neighborhood
- gardening options
- pretty building
The bulk of today is writing (finished revising Ch. 11 this morning, going to try to do Ch. 12 this afternoon). Then I think we're going to look at one more place this evening, a huge unfinished loft space (3000 sq. ft.), which may not have enough light due to other buildings nearby -- if that one doesn't seem feasible, we may just table the whole house hunt for a year, until we have a better idea if I'll actually be getting a tenure-track job at Roosevelt (which would mean a raise), or until we see what the book sales look like. Maybe going up in price will help some with balancing those priorities above. The whole thing has been stressing me out, and I think between planning Kriti and finishing this draft on deadline, I may have used up all my extra stress allocation.
One of the interesting things Karina said when she called last night to cheer me up was that even large *good* changes, like selling a book to a major publisher, or getting a good job, can cause intense stress -- the brain registers it as change, and the brain tends to think change is bad, in and of itself. Seems a bit goofy to me, but I suppose it makes a certain sense.
What do you guys think? When you have major good things happen, does that feel stressful to you?
Well, she wasn’t just spouting her experience, but common theory. It agrees with my experience, that things that are on the net positive – new relationships, jobs, etc. – can also require a lot of attention and energy in a way that’s physically and mentally exhausting. It all depends on the particulars: I think some changes are uniformly good and not particularly stressful. A new dress…
She pointed me to an interesting social readjustment rating scale. I ended up with 176; Kevin got 80. So not super-stressed, but somewhat above normal levels, I think.