Metacentricities

I imagine some of you reading this blog know me well, and know all about my previous lives. I also imagine some of you who read this blog have absolutely no idea (or not much) since I haven’t talked really at all about them.

I’ve realized that, for good or ill, once I’ve gone through the (usually long) process of making a life decision, I tend not to look back much. Sometimes, this is a good thing. It means that I have real focus on the new direction and real presence in it. Sometimes, it’s not such a good thing. It means that I’ve left behind skills (that will diminish), connections to others in the field, and knowledge (that will fade.)

I started out my adult life as a scientist. I went to grad school, and got my Ph.D. in Neuroscience, where I studied the ways that neurons in little critters (I hear the "go ahead, tell them" yelled in the background - I studied cockroaches and snails) connected with each other to create specific behaviors (escaping from predators) and could grow to connect with other neurons.

What I liked about this field was the idea that I was contributing to the understanding of how nervous systems developed and worked to create complex behavior. The hope was that it would eventually lead to better understanding our brain.

My life as a scientist had some mini-lives: life as a grad student, life as a post-doc, life as a professor of a small college and life as an AIDS epidemiologist (I switched fields about 2 years after starting to teach).

The next big life transition I made was to leave science and academia, to finally fully embrace my inner geek, and become a technology consultant/software developer. I decided that it would be a good thing to combine my interest in the work of nonprofit organizations with my inner geek.

This was, in many ways, more rewarding a life than science and teaching. Part of that reward was that I was working hard for people and organizations that had devoted their working lives (and often, whole lives) to the betterment of society. I got to create applications that worked (mostly) and help organizations use technology better and more efficiently. I got to work hard on promoting things like Open Source software and open standards for a sector that both can, in my opinion benefit more from them than others, and also is further behind in implementation than other sectors.

So, now, the third major life transition - to seminary. One thing I realized during my trip to visit seminaries, and give interviews was that I was sort of surprised that I think I have to leave behind a lot less of my previous lives than I might have thought. I had a great conversation with a faculty member at PSR when I was visiting about gay brains, I heard a lecture on theology and the environment when I was there, and I have been privy to the trials and tribulations of the use of my congregation’s new member management system. Wow. I like this.

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