Ep 29. End of Summer Affirmations + Season 3 Launch

The season is changing and the transition into fall is upon us. Wrapping up summer goals, projects, and activities and preparing for busy autumn can be challenging. In this episode we talk through some affirmations for this moment of transition, and launch into a new season of our own: SEASON THREE. With a new focus on imagining pathways forward and building what we want to see around us, we are sliding into the most informative and inspirational season yet. Let's get it.

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Transcript

Welcome to the millennial PhD, a podcast about creative survival and beyond. My name is Dr. Carmela Muzio Dormani and I'm a sociologist, dancer and creative consultant from New York. In these episodes, you'll find inspiration ideas and actionable tips for building new pathways forward in work and life. You'll hear from artists, activists, creative entrepreneurs, PhDs, and professional pivots. We talk about radical humanity and practical steps to follow your dreams, even in the context of challenging social conditions. Before we jump into today's episode, a quick reminder to follow the millennial PhD on Instagram, and to please take a minute to rate and review the millennial PhD on apple podcasts. Your rating really helps the show reach as many listeners as possible. You can learn more about me and get access to free creative resources on the millennial PhD, Instagram page, or@themillennialphd.com. I hope you enjoyed the episode. 

(01:14)
Welcome back to the millennial PhD podcast. I'm your host, me and we are back after a summer away. So this episode back on the podcast is about some end of summer affirmations. I believe we left off in may or June with some affirmations heading into the summer and here we are on the other end of it. We took a break here at the podcast. I hope some of us were able to get some rest in during the summer. Although I know many of us were working in different ways. Some of us are heading into the fall semester right now, many of us are off doing other kinds of ventures. So welcome back. This is your first time listening to this show. Welcome this episode, like I said, we're gonna have a couple of end of summer affirmations for you. This is a little bit of a mini episode. 

(01:58)
It's a solo episode on the shorter end. And this episode is also the official launch of season three here at the podcast. So we are coming up on we're actually not even at a full year yet, but we'll be coming up at a, uh, to a full year of hosting this podcast in October mid to late October. So that'll be really exciting. I've learned a lot through the process, been able to talk to a bunch of wonderful people, sharing all kinds of different paths that they've taken and discussing a lot of topics that have been relevant to academics, artists, entrepreneurs, um, who have been tuning in. So I'm super excited to announce season three. It will be new episodes. Every Wednesday alternating between solo episodes, discussing a topic with me and interview episodes. And we have some super dope people on the show for this fall season who have shared so much wisdom, actionable tips, shared their different pathways to the type of work they're doing now shared about how they kind of are mindful in their day to day lives. 

(03:07)
And it's, it's super exciting. So I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you. The theme for the season is new possibilities and building what we wanna see in the world. We are all still surviving out there. And I can't wait to continue to engage with you this season. So jumping in a little bit though, to these end of summer affirmations, like I said, I know some of us are gearing up for a fall semester, either as a student or as faculty or in some other capacity. And that can be a little bit anxiety inducing, even if you're not an academic or involved in a academic world, gearing up for this end of summer, heading into the fall can amount to, or can feel like a little bit of the slump or like a let down moment sometimes just because a lot of times there's a lot going on over the summer. 

(03:59)
Occasionally there's family and community events we have outside. If you're on the east coast, it's warm, the days are a little bit longer and we head into the fall and sometimes it's a little bit of a get down to the grind type month. Nothing totally wrong with that. But nonetheless, as we change seasons, some of the things that I'll be thinking about for myself and that I wanna share with you, if you're listening to this episode is first and foremost, it is okay if you didn't get everything done this summer, who, because I know that many times academics, non academics, we cut into the summer time period. And there's something about this idea of the summer months, whether it's because you have a break or not, or in your mind, you're hoping for a break. There's something about this summer months that inspires us sometimes to set, to set some goals. 

(04:56)
And that's great. And sometimes this time of year can be marked for people by maybe some let down that you didn't get to some of the things you were hoping to do. And I just wanna affirm that if, if, if everything on the to-do list didn't get done. First of all, you're not alone. I'm pretty sure nobody got done everything that they, they were hoping to this summer. But also we talked, I think in our previous episode about trying to release ourselves from that hyper productivity mindset. So one of the practices, of course, within your own, within your own conditions and within your own life, you know, only, you know, you know, what's structuring your life at the moment, but letting yourself off the hook a little bit for some of the things, maybe you, you feel like you should quote unquote, should have gotten to, but also maybe it's a moment to affirm the things that you did get to experience and sharing this summer, right? 

(05:52)
So if you had some moments with your friends, family, community, however you define that, you know, that's, that's something that's super meaningful. If you had some rest this summer, that's super meaningful. If you are, um, you know, if you're taking time to take care of yourself or to take care of members of your community, that's super meaningful. And sometimes those things don't make it onto the checklist. I think we're collectively getting a little bit better about acknowledging how important that aspect of life is. But if you have had some experiences of community of shared energy of joy this summer, I hope that you're able to celebrate that as we change seasons and look forward to what's coming up next. The second thing that I wanted to say and put out there heading into the fall is a little bit more broad, just thinking a lot as I've been talking to the upcoming guests on this show and reviewing some of the former episodes and, and thinking about what I envision for our professional lives, our relationship with work going forward, our relationship with our creativity, with our full range of humanity. 

(07:05)
I've been thinking a lot about how the pathway forward is it's is multifaceted. It's potentially is not just about changing or, or quote unquote pivoting from one career to the other, but it's also about creating what can be the new futures for folks be it's about creating hybrid forms of engaging in different types of creativity, engaging in different types of work, drawing boundaries around paid work, um, in particular setting, setting those boundaries up for ourself and our relationships and building something new and it's wide open. And we can often get bogged down with the stresses of our day to day lives. I know my partner and I are going through a period of stress, not with each other, but, you know, with external factors and we can definitely get bogged down with that. And it just, it helps me to relax when I just think about the fact that the opportunities going forward are for us to build. 

(08:09)
And I feel like a lot of people are here and ready to take on that, that, that work and that challenge or that practice together. And the last thing that I wanna say for everybody who's listening is that the money that you need is coming, the job that you need is coming and support is out there, whether that be in your community or in seeking external support, whatever that looks like for you. Uh, one of the guests that is interviewed this season, talked about how, when they were leaving their PhD program, looking for what options were out there for them, they, it seemed like there were only one or two paths, right? Research or teaching, whatever field you're in that may have been the case, right? This is like the expected path forward for you. Um, but now that collectively, a lot of people are going through a career change, a career pivot, and just a reorientation of how we relate to work. 

(09:10)
The opportunities are really continuing to bloom. And so if you're in that process right now, and if you're, if you're in the part of it where like the, the money is really insecure, which is, <laugh> a really big part of it, unfortunately, but if you're in that part of it where the money is insecure, or it's not there in the way that you need it to be, or the job is insecure where it's, it's harming you in a way that you no longer want to want to hold onto. Um, I just want to tell you that the money and the job is coming, and again, the support is out there. Um, which is a good opportunity to say that I'm now offering, um, totally free creative strategy sessions for anyone who's looking. If you're looking to get a creative project off the ground, uh, a creative business, or like a career pivot, then it's locates conversational. 

(10:07)
And I won't be pitching you anything during that conversation. So if you wanna talk, you just wanna share your idea or strategize your next move. You can sign up to do that with me at the link in the millennial PhD, Instagram bio, or@themillennialphd.com. It's been super rewarding for me to be able to connect with all the people that have come on this show to talk and hear about different people's experiences and to strategize a little bit about what things can look like moving forward. So if you're looking for some external support and it's not there right now, for whatever reason in your community, or if you'd rather talk with a stranger, hit me up, I'm here for you too. And I would love to talk to you, um, and share a little bit. So yes, that is it for this episode, like I said, this is a little bit like a pre-launch episode. Couple of affirmations, season three is coming in hot. Um, the next episode will be out next Wednesday. And from there, we will be here every Wednesday with the new episode alternating between solo episodes and interview episodes. I can't wait to continue to connect with you and welcome back. 

(11:24)
That's it for this week's episode of the millennial PhD, you can find more content resources and information on Instagram at the millennial PhD and@themillennialphd.com in this collective moment of reevaluating our relationships with work and exploitation. I look forward to connecting with you and building stronger bonds of community and collaboration. I would love to hear from you via email at the millennial phd@gmail.com with any feedback, comments, questions, or concerns, or if you're interested in coming on the show as a guest, that's all for now, it's been real. See you next time.