Improvisation

I remember in medical school, I learned that much of surgical patient management can be improvisational. Because I was curious about being a surgeon, I had taken notice of what it entailed. It’s funny because I feel that my life up to this point has been one big improvisation. Ever since leaving medical school, I’ve made up every step I’ve taken one at a time. I didn’t end up making a lot of money, but the life I’ve lived certainly was not lackluster. This got me thinking about what my peers sort of experienced at their respective stages of life. Were all of their moves planned? Or was it something just as similar to mine?

There’s something exciting about improvising your path in life. It’s much more thrilling, albeit a bit anxiety-provoking. I don’t think the traditional path was really meant for me. Growing up, I sort of sensed that starting a family in a conservative way was something that was pushed upon me, that it was somehow a forced obligation rather than something I truly wanted. Something about that life just seemed a bit boring to me, and so the improvised path that has been bestowed upon me has really been a blessing in disguise, if you look at it from that perspective. 

Yet in life, there are things that one cannot readily plan. I’ve learned that that’s what makes it so great and yet so scary at the same time. A part of me doesn’t think I will truly ever settle, given the rate I’m going. I hope I will. Maybe Los Angeles is the place for me. I’m liking it here so far, after only a year, and the people here have really warmed up to me. I can’t really imagine myself moving yet again to start over at a new place.