On learning slowly
Patience looks different when you're five years into a PhD.
I used to think slow progress meant something was wrong. Now I think it usually means something is real.
The papers that took me the longest to understand are the ones I actually use. The skills I had to fight for are the ones that feel like mine. There’s something uncomfortable about that — it doesn’t make for a clean productivity framework — but I keep coming back to it.
Year five has a different texture than year one. Less panic, more sitting with not knowing.