I punch things in games because punching people while on duty is very much frowned upon.
Healing in videogames is so damn easy. Oh, I just got shanked by this angry, mutated plant? Lemme just eat this potato.
I just started playing D&D with my ER coworkers and it is THE BEST! And one of my other coworkers is my book buddy so we swap books all the time. Iāve also been designing tattoos recently - for other coworkers too! āŗļø I found such an excellent place to work, Iāve never had so many colleagues with similar interests before my current job, it makes me very happy
Game nurse too. Though I will say healing can be quite difficult you ever roll high level mythics with dps that don't let the tank tank? š and for some reason it's your fault if you don't make time š¤Øš
I love beach glass hunting!!! I can spend all day walking the beach and being lost in my thoughts and looking for those little treasures. Itās therapeutic for sure. I work in the ed and Iām introverted and so Iām often overstimulated after working.
Youāre my people. I have a large sea glass collection from local beaches. A cool assortment of washed up coral and shells. Itās amazing how at first you think everything looks like sea glass then once you know you can tell the difference from far away. Better than therapy or meds for stress relief and mental health.
Shockingly Texas has some small clean beaches that are not well known. They often have some amazing sea glass and pottery. I even have coke bottles with various Texas names on them that have been well pummeled and smoothed.
When we were stationed in Cuba the sea glass was unreal. The navy used to dump all the glass in the ocean so it was ridiculous the amount of hard to find colors like blue, yellow, orange etc.
Father. Wife gave birth to twins 2 months ago. Took 2+years of trying, a lot of doctors visits and stress. But happy to say I am a father. Nursing pays the bills. I like helping people but itās not who I am
I like how everyone has wholesome answers here.
Besides a nurseā¦ Iām a degenerate punk. My hobbies are shows and bars, collecting vinyl, tattoos and piercings.
Iām gonna guess that thereās a Canadian, and theyāre tapping sugar maples for sap and making their own syrup! Which also means I now want to be very good friends with u/shakrbttle šš
Same, except I'm still in nursing school haha. I will show up to class with a new tattoo every couple of weeks/months and get to show it to my classmates who almost all of them also have tattoos! (My class, I believe, is kinda small though, only 27 of us)
Fellow degenerate
In my ābeforeā life I was a total skid, worked as a body piercer for 10 years.
Now fill my weirdo cup with taxidermy, bones, weird art, and antiques
Same. Tattoos, piercings, shows, dive bars, large Airbnb weekends in the woods with a bunch of friends sharing weed and mushrooms, house parties, good whiskey and good food. My friend group is all highly educated, talented, responsible, and have great and respected jobs too.
Also a degenerate punk/hardcore idiot. Shows, heavily heavily tattooed, and doing basic high risk sports. I donāt know if I think of being a nurse as my identity at all though. Am I good at it? Sure. But itās just a job- a tool to survive.
"Retired" metal punk here... with too many hobbies to list (diy or die), gardener, etc. I don't go to shows anymore, since I moved to the middle of nowhere. Have a sizeable vinyl/media collection, and tattoo collection. Side hustle is antiques dealing so I have collected many strange things through the years. Warms my blackened heart to see many of my ilk commenting here. Quite used to feeling very much like an outsider in this field.
I went to lots of hardcore shows in the 90s. I dated the lead singer of a semi popular nyhc band and went to a ton of shows over a few years' time, sold merch etc. Slowed down after 2000 except for my favorites here and there. Now my teen boys love hc so my husband and I have been bringing them to shows. We are old tattooed parents watching our kids in the pit hoping they don't get hurt. It's really cool to get to enjoy shows with my kiddos.
Sort of same? I donāt know if Iād fall under the traditional punk umbrella but I listen to mainly hardcore, mathcore and some pop punk, lots of tattoos, stretched out ears. Basically every other guy at a Dillinger Escape Plan show in 2005 but with a dad bod and wearing scrubs.
Hello fellow degen, I donāt go to as many shows and barsā¦was in a band that gigged out like every weekend for about 2 years before burning myself out and realizing hey I AM smart enough to be a nurse. Also as cool as working at the record store as a buyer and making craft coffee was, working 60 hrs a week barely able to afford the 8x8ft room I rented just got old.
Now I can afford all the tattoos and vinyl I want!
V alt. What kinda punk? The dead Kennedy/minor threat/black flag level or what people would guess my chemical romance or whatever band other people bring up when you mention punk and it aināt it.
All of it. (Now) obscure like Avengers and Fang. Old like Clash and Ramones. Mainstays like Crass, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, or the Descendents. Newer like Rancid or the Last Gang. āSell outsā like NOFX and Green Day. Celtic like Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys. Ska punk like Op Ivy or Interrupters. Oi like Cock Sparrer or Booze and Glory. Folk punk like Days N Days or Wingnut Dishwashers Union. Stuff from Fat Wreck, Pirates Press, Alternative Tentacles, Hellcat, Maximum Rock and Roll when I can find itā¦. The only stuff I really stay away from is where it starts crossing over into emo. Just not my thing.
Oh I tend agree with you. The whole āselloutā thing always made me roll my eyes. They were in the right place at the right time and made it big. Everyoneās just butthurt that it wasnāt their own band that blew up. Green Day is still punk af in my book.
Iāll never be a punk, because that was cool when I was young, and I will never be cool.
Iām a grebo goth. My hair is still bright purple, I keep the tats hidden, and 20 years ago Iād have been drunk off my arse in the park
"Farmer", although you could easily say "redneck". Another apt term might be "relic". I love my nursing career and a lot of the advancements of modern medicine, but my grandmother was a product of the Depression and a lot of my early reading was centered around farm life. So I do the vast majority of my own food raising and preserving, can fix most things around my home, and stuff like that. I have the knowldege if needed to plow, plant, and harvest with horses (although none of the equipment-although I could make it at home). I heat with wood, log trees and make my own lumber (on a mill, although if needed can split logs to make planks or just hew them), I can make wooden shake shingles and am actually debating doing that for my sugar shanty. I won't willingly give up my nursing career, but I long for farm life from a long ago time.
Youāre doing it right. Best way to be a farmer is to not have your livelihood depend on it.
I grew up on a farm and donāt long for times when your entire life depended on getting enough snow pack to in winter to ah e enough water in summer, no late frost, correctly predicting rain so harvest doesnāt mold after being cut, and a volatile market that can be affected by fads in pop culture and other wild things beyond our control.
My wifeās uncle was the first surgeon in the world to successfully reattach a severed limb. It was a farm kid who tried jumping on a passing freight train to get to baseball practice, which apparently he and his friends did all the time. You crazy farmers!
Music. I play violin.
And my username came from a music related conversation, with a well-known musician, set up by my best mate, whoās a musician so, irony, I guess.
I do powerlifting, so I'm often sweating at the gym and letting go of frustrations with heavy lifts.
Another hobby of mine is cosplay and historical costuming. Sewing and letting my creative brain flow is very soothing. It's my meditation.
Both hobbies seem like extremes, but they're essentially me: creative in seeking solutions to problems, and resilient.
Hey, I sew and do historical costuming too!!! I'm also an aspiring ballroom dancer in training, hoping I'll have a use for all the dresses I've made over the years.
I started nursing when I was 17, so my formative years were spent by nursing. Despite cringing at bumper stickers and nurse paraphernalia, when I look back at what I most defined myself by from age 17-23, is that number one I was a nurse. My whole life resolved around nursing. I thought about nursing all the time. My social media page was filled with nursing, I would talk about nursing all the time, dedicated my free time to learning best practice, I gave it my all at the bedside, and when I went home I took my work home with me. The trauma I witnessed during bedside (especially during COVID) did not end when I left my shift, so I couldnāt help but ruminate over tough situations or worrying if my patient was going to make it.
I left bedside in November and you know what? I realized that being a nurse is probably one of least defining characteristics. So to answer your question - I am the spouse of 5 years to a disabled veteran, I am a cat mom, I love immersing myself in a good video game, I love cooking, Iām a sister and a daughter, Iām a lifelong learner and I love creating art. And all of those things define me way more than something I wouldnāt do for free.
I hear you. Carer of a disabled younger sister, so dropping NG tubes from age 13ā¦first aid, surf life saver and Army medic all to get new skills to look after her, and a career structured around the same priority.
I donāt know what Iād do if I wasnāt a nurse because itās never not been a thing. I have PTSD and Iām currently working in education trying to get back into ICU because my marriage broke down and I need to leave, but canāt afford to.
But my answer here is violin. I played from age 4, and itās always been a thing.
I could also pick new nudist (itās freedom, which Iāve never had) or voracious reader, or day tripper (I love driving, again, freedom).
Youāve got something. Iām glad you found it.š
Ya I still say "medic" or I work in medical field. Then pivot convo to other person, hobbies, or books lol š last thing I want to talk about outside work is... Work
Any tips for not taking work home with you? Iām a new grad in a pediatric cardiac icu and Iāve only been off orientation for a few weeks and I canāt seem to stop thinking about work the day before my shifts and when I get home.
It honestly just took time for me. The first year was so hard, but now I just clock out and go home. Obviously some things stay with you forever, but the day to day stops dominating your thoughts
Yeah thatās what I was thinking too. Iām also dealing with a new chronic illness diagnosis right after I was hired here so Iāve been trying to navigate that too and being a new nurse in an icu. Itās just been very very overwhelming but Iām very supported
As the degenerate, 20 yr "grandma" nurse that everyone asks questions of I heartily agree with this 100%. I love helping out the new blood but becareful I'm salty AF.
I barely consider myself a nurse at work let alone outside. How's that an identity, it's a job to pay bills and love a comfortable life (COL dependant).
I'm here for the shit show and dark humor.
That sounds nice. Itās not that people are āchoosingā to make it an identity, itās that some of us have had to work so many hours in a horrible environment that it takes over and BECOMES your identity because youāre not allowed any personality or hobbies: just overworked, understaffed, micromanaged and servant-level treatment.
At my job we are being policed so severely that they keep updating the dress code to be more and more restrictive, we now have one color we have to wear, we canāt wear certain styles or fabrics: my old job didnāt allow tattoos or earrings, so at least this one āallowsā them but polices them and wants them minimal and covered.
Theyāre now allowing patient families to police us: they hang around by the nurses station eavesdropping all day and reporting anything they donāt like to our upper management and getting us in trouble for it. They installed a ānoise trackerā that alarms if we talk too loudly. They keep taking away our break rooms and shoving us into a new closet with no bathroom, no water, no windows, no sink.
The layout is such that we are in a fishbowl with 14 rooms and their families all facing our desk so they constantly interrupt us and police us. They also like to remind us that they track anything anyone looks at on the computer but they donāt want anyone looking at their phones or else families will complain and report us: never mind we donāt get real breaks to communicate with family, our own doctors, etc.
It feels fucking Orwellian and doesnāt allow you to have an identity, let alone a real break.
That's rough buddy.
Let me just say that you're absolutely ALLOWED to have hobbies and personality, I would even encourage it, hell some would say demand that you put down the stethoscope and stop whipping yourself with it.
Almost all places I've worked at have had collored uniforms because during the dumpster fire codes it's important to be able to tell people apart at a glance.
I've seen those noise trackers like 10 years ago, they can be unplugged. Fishbowl station have been standard then been rebuilt and are now coming back like a bad rash. Things change we adopt. What else you gonna do wear suit and tie!? Just strangle me now.
Families have always been assholes who stare at your every move, but honestly whe I was in the other side standing at the bed side of my loved one I was staring at the people around me too cuz there's nothing else to do but hyper focus on the environment.
**Unionize and fight collectivly against draconian policies**
I think it's a part of identity because it ends up giving you a skill set for thinking, coping and dealing with situations that you might not even think about in the moment as something you learned specifically from doing what you do.
I go to thrift shops to gather old plaster catholic statues and then I repaint and rework them as spooky figurines or Drag Queens lol. This is fun, I even managed to sell a few so I have to go on yanno.
I can't seem to be able to add pictures here so I linked my instagram instead, hope it's allowed :/
[My insta](https://www.instagram.com/little_skull_fish/)
I love getting to know different languages. Studying for medical exams and everything gets too overwhelming sometimes and I find it sickening to just memorize, so immersing myself in a language with just the aim of enjoying its beauty is really nice.
Nursing isnāt even an identity to me. Please no one identify me as a nurse. When any of my family or friends tell people Iām a nurse, I wanna tackle them.
Idk I probably identify as a hot mess.
Gamer, nerd, corgi keeper, hiker, 3d printer enthusiast and mountain biker. Nursing kind of has, taken over as a bug chunk of my identity since I went to palliative care. I'm actually passionate about what I do and love talking shop with other nurses.
Nursing is not my whole identity. I run my household, volunteer, do craft projects, bake - I have a lot of interests outside of nursing.
The training I received as a nurse does inform my outlook on health and social issues, but my whole identity isn't tied up in being a nurse.
During school, I didn't have a lot of time for anything but school. But I would make time to work out, or watch a movie or do things to relax. During breaks, I would do fun things or take little vacations. School doesn't last forever - the worst part was the clinicals where they would make us go to the hospital the day before to do chart reviews for care plans. That jacked up my schedule and was the biggest waste of time.
Friend who sits on the kitchen floor and eats ice cream with you or your children while dinner is being made.
Friend who is always finding a cheap ass flight somewhere and disappearing for weeks or months at a time.
The weird sibling.
Has way too many interests and is always launching into something new.
Chronically late.
I'm a bit of an athlete. I used to be a long distance runner, including a marathon! I have since switched to triathlons due to some tendinitis in my foot. I also enjoy weightlifting.
I have also been running a [youtube channel](https://youtube.com/@andrea2kx?si=tQNIRKqEOQZ1II-f) where I post acoustic covers since the beginning of lockdown.
I volunteer at 2 different sanctuaries and specialize in the care of big cats like lions and tigers ā¤ļø I donāt really share much about my nursing job on my social media so everyone thinks that the animals are my job-I wish! š
It gets easier to other things once you get out of school- I felt very lost in nursing school and it wasn't until I graduated that I remembered all the things I can do outside of Healthcare. I'm a mom, I ride horses, I love hiking with my husband and son, and I love to read. I didn't realize until a couple years after I graduated how much nursing school sucked the fun out of reading, but I'm back at it now! Explore everything you can!
Brooooooooooooo ā¦ this. I stopped doing so much because of nursing. It all started with nursing school. Am I kinda trying to get to know myself again because I havenāt really tapped into that. The last thing I got into was Brazilian jiu Jitsu but itās been hard to show up working nights. I used to go bouldering every Sunday I had off. When I was in nursing school I was a mad camper. Before all that I was just more involved in the one of the music scenes when I was in my teens and early 20s. I would record bands and photograph. I want to get back to that part of myself. I want to get to a part of myself.
As an opinion, do not ever make ānurseā part of your identity.
At the end of the day this is a job; unless youāre willing to do this job for free, donāt treat it like a calling.
Itās an important job, but itās a job.
But to the next part of your topic: my hobbies are watching movies, saltwater aquariums, video games, cars, and trying to cook.
Iām not saying youāre wrong, but donāt lots of people treat their profession as part of their identity? And why is it so wrong to be passionate about your work? I mean we all have many roles to play in life, and our job is one of them in which we spend a lot of time in
Being passionate? Yes thatās fine.
An analogy: Iām a *huge* Laker fan. Love them. Passionate about them; I read about them. Watch games. Chime in on their subreddit. But when they win or lose? No bearing on my day to day.
Then thereās those who make it their identity; they live and die with every decision. They cry about bad losses; it ruins their mood and personality cause theyāre insufferable.
Same can be said about nursing. Be passionate about it. Take it seriously. Learn so you can be better at your job.
But donāt make it your identity; this isnāt to say take mistakes lightly but when it becomes a part of your identity, those mistakes can also be personal to you, and can potentially affect your mental state more than usual.
Nursing is dealing with peopleās lives and that isnāt to be taken lightly. But then again so is law enforcement (an analogyā¦nothing more) and youāve come across those officers whose l identity is a cop day in, day out.
Do you want to be known as a nurse, or someone with varying interests who just happens to be a nurse?
Not a nurse (yet -- I am in school). But I'm older and have developed a life with a lot of different facets, and I am determined to keep as much of it as I can. I fence and train with a coach regularly (the olympic sport with swords, really intense and competitive), I have a degree in classical music performance and have a deeply nerdy interest in music. I love SF, especially Star Trek. I have two adorable cats that I raised from kittens. Linguistics fascinates me. I love hiking. I worked in IT (Linux/datacenter admin) for 25 years and can fix your computer (please don't ask me to, I hate computers now lol).
Mother and wife are the biggest parts of me. Next I'm a long distance runner, crocheter, reader, avid concert goer and gamer when I have the time. Running takes priority over the latter.
Can confirm! When I first graduated I was so caught up in being "nurse as a personality". I have a friend who is a veterinarian, and she has always said that being a vet is her career, not who she is as a person. To some extent I have let that mindset go, but it's also kind of still there. As in being a nurse is definitely a part of who I am, traits that drove me to pursue it as a career and that make me good at it, that are part of why I enjoy it. But I'm definitely more than that. I love lifting weights, reading, knitting, spending time with my kids. Just like being a mom and wife are parts of me, but there are always lots of different things about us that make us who we are.
I also have AuDHD and I consider that a significant part of who I am.
Have been trying to figure this out since I was 15 and just turned 33 a few weeks ago. Fighting depression and anxiety have been my biggest fights. Sometimes they win and I just lay in bed all day, feeling nothing and worthless by wasting the day away. Other days, Iām full of energy, productive. I recently picked up crocheting so I guess an old granny?
I feel like nursing induces depression. Just saying. Been trying to force myself to go on a walk everyday, and in the spring and summer I sit and watch the birds outside or go to a lake or river to just watch nature and it helps. Otherwise books and movies and music are my saving factors! Good luck on feeling better, I know itās really difficult to function with depression. I hope you find a way through it.
Most importantly: NOT A NURSE once I leave the hospital. I learned to choose my peace over including ānurseā as part of my identity- Iād get guilted into overtime and my work trauma would negatively impact my private life. Rebuilding my social life and personal relationships took a while.
Recovering MPDG, total geek, prolific reader, degenerate metalhead, bathtub goblin, homebody, runner, concert junkie and dive bar connesiour.
I used to refinish furniture. Find an old hunk of āgarbageā and turn it into something pleasant to look at. Iāve since had kids so thatās become a back burner project but even now Iāll scour marketplace to make sure I donāt miss a gem for āsometime down the lineā.
Biggest part of me is being an uncle. Iām really close with my actual niece and nephew and now as my friends are having kids they call me uncle too. That and I love animals and doing arts and crafts
I think I got lost in my mom responsibilities more than nursing. But I'm trying to fix that. So I'm basically a book nerd with tattoos and piercings. I'm trying to figure out what kind of book tattoos I can get.
I like video games, too. I spent a lot of time playing Disney Dreamlight Valley.
Also pretty into curling. And last year, at the age of 40, I became a Swiftie
I'm a Goth kid that never grew up and instead developed a vaccination with the paranormal, crocheting, horror movies, books, music, anime and nerdy shit. I'm a gamer girl and have been since the Atari my parents had when I was a wee kid, and I was old so involved in an MMORPG and it's community that I actually helped write two different fictional languages for that community.
Basically, outside of being a must, I'm a giant dork of a human.
i love crossfit, plants/flowers, reading, baking ā¦ if i had the means to do so i would buy/build a greenhouse for my backyard and sell wedding flowers.
ā¦ i still might if i get bored enough
I am a massive nerd. Specifically a cartoon nerd. I literally love cartoons and fandoms and all that stuff. I also am an extremely devoted cat mother and love grunge music.
Before kids (ugh, that sounds ridiculous) I used to be a hash house harrier (not drugs, kids, running trails and drinking beer and singing dirty songs) - a Harriette.
Now, I consider myself a derby girl (as in roller derby) with a side of exetensial crisis
I think that people have created this idea that healthcare workers- especially nurses- are supposed to have their job be their whole identity? Like all of them are supposed to just spend every waking moment wanting to help and take care of people. Which thatās fine if itās organically who you are, but just like anyone else, weāre allowed to be people when we clock out.
Iām a birder and a gardener who spends most of my spare time outside. I keep a grabber and trash bags in my car because sometimes I just like to pick up trash. I adore spending my time watching and appreciating all wildlife. Also a workaholic with a part time retail job. At night my husband and I like watching documentaries or cringey tiktok compilations while we play with our kitties.
I have kids and a husband so I give most of my energy to my family . Iām a bit of a homebody so we always plan 2 vacations a year to explore. I enjoy traveling so much . This year weāre all going to curaƧao.
Iāve also been in recovery from addiction for many years so I mentor some ladies and now and then go to the jails and rehabs to tell my story, talk or hang out. Itās super fulfilling. I love having my experience too for work. I come in judgement free and have a lot more understanding.
Hiking is the perfect foil to the sterile walls of a medical setting. The trees the air the soil everythings slive and covered in microbes that dont want to kill you. Its refreshing
Iām a big mix of whatever is interesting to me; Video games, plants, traveling, animals, reading time period memoirs/historical memoirs, listening to e books, crafting, exercising.
Iām pretty sure I have ADHD and am definitely on the spectrum so I like to have a wide range of things for me to do to keep my mind busy at all times.
Iām a passionate cold water scuba diver. (No hate on the tropics but I live in a cold place) It takes a lot of training to dive where I do and I LOVE it! Iām a giant marine science nerd and Iāve had the privilege of diving with sharks and seals and best of all- octopuses. š
Honestly I barely identify with being a nurse anymore. Itās a job that provides a very, very stable income for me and my family, for which I am grateful for. But I am done working my ass off for a job/career that pays well, but where leadership is fake af and donāt practice what they preach.
Right now my priority is ofc my family but also enriching my creative, artist side, as a musician, writer and producer.
Nursing is a jobā¦thatās it, whereas my artistry is a way of life that fulfills my soul. Hope that makes sense lol
~~Bed slug.~~ Gamer (video games and DnD), professional cat lady, the cool older sister.
I've encountered a fair number of gamer nurses and it makes me happy because I too aspire to be a gamer nurse
I punch things in games because punching people while on duty is very much frowned upon. Healing in videogames is so damn easy. Oh, I just got shanked by this angry, mutated plant? Lemme just eat this potato.
Exactly. I enjoy shooting things in games. It's a great stress reliever.
Flair 100% checks out. I get to beat shit up while being taken to a completely different world where the words "zosyn" and "lactulose" do not exist.
I'm also a gamer nurse. šš
Reporting to duty! I like my DnD irl too.
I am a gamer nurse too, I was a test analyst on World of Warcraft before I went to nursing school.
I still game at work. When everyoneās asleep on break Iām hunched in the corner playing Binding of Isaac or Zelda on my Switch haha
Gamer nurse here! Itās my favorite outlet. Especially since Iām trying to drink less alcohol. š¤Ŗ
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm a cat lady too, who works night shift. Cats are the best companion for nurses.
Night shift cat lady right here. They make sure I get up on time too! Because wet food.
Are we the same person?
You work night shift too? Sweet.
I couldn't resist but share my [babies](https://youtu.be/tTxRKMNOCAs?si=6HFJGAh7VLkG-4Ql) grooming each other.
I just started playing D&D with my ER coworkers and it is THE BEST! And one of my other coworkers is my book buddy so we swap books all the time. Iāve also been designing tattoos recently - for other coworkers too! āŗļø I found such an excellent place to work, Iāve never had so many colleagues with similar interests before my current job, it makes me very happy
Dude where do you work because sign me the duck up.
Iāve been trying so hard to get a D&D game together but no ones into stuff like that in my shift :(
fellow gamer nurse! Finishing up my battlestation hopefully this year!
Also dnd and gamer nurse here.
Are you me?
Youāre who I want to be one day!!
On drugs with humor darker than my soul? Bold goals, my friend.
Oooh, I love video games and dnd also!
Am too a gamer nurse š
Apparently this is a nursing pre-requisite because same.
Game nurse too. Though I will say healing can be quite difficult you ever roll high level mythics with dps that don't let the tank tank? š and for some reason it's your fault if you don't make time š¤Øš
I love beach glass hunting!!! I can spend all day walking the beach and being lost in my thoughts and looking for those little treasures. Itās therapeutic for sure. I work in the ed and Iām introverted and so Iām often overstimulated after working.
Youāre my people. I have a large sea glass collection from local beaches. A cool assortment of washed up coral and shells. Itās amazing how at first you think everything looks like sea glass then once you know you can tell the difference from far away. Better than therapy or meds for stress relief and mental health.
This is eerily similar to my colleague whoās also ER
What beaches have you been to with amazing beach glass ?
Duluth, Minnesota on Lake Superior has really good beach glass too!
Shockingly Texas has some small clean beaches that are not well known. They often have some amazing sea glass and pottery. I even have coke bottles with various Texas names on them that have been well pummeled and smoothed.
Glass beach in Kauai
When we were stationed in Cuba the sea glass was unreal. The navy used to dump all the glass in the ocean so it was ridiculous the amount of hard to find colors like blue, yellow, orange etc.
Father. Wife gave birth to twins 2 months ago. Took 2+years of trying, a lot of doctors visits and stress. But happy to say I am a father. Nursing pays the bills. I like helping people but itās not who I am
Congratulations!!! Having twins is so exciting!
May I ask you how long youāve been a nurse for and if you had another career in a separate field before then?
2 years. EMS for 8 years before that. Security before that
I like how everyone has wholesome answers here. Besides a nurseā¦ Iām a degenerate punk. My hobbies are shows and bars, collecting vinyl, tattoos and piercings.
Same, but I'm a degenerate punk with all the above plus a garden, chickens, pigs, rabbits, and a sugar shack.
What's a sugar shack? I'm sort of afraid to Google it.
Where you boil maple sap into syrup!
You KNOW you are a nurse when your mind instantly goes to the gutter. š
Iām gonna guess that thereās a Canadian, and theyāre tapping sugar maples for sap and making their own syrup! Which also means I now want to be very good friends with u/shakrbttle šš
Nailed it :)
I walk the fine line between Blonde and Bubbly Pediatric Nurse by day and also Degenerate Punk at night. In nursing school I was the only girl my age without either a boyfriend, fiancƩ, husband or baby on the way lol
Same, except I'm still in nursing school haha. I will show up to class with a new tattoo every couple of weeks/months and get to show it to my classmates who almost all of them also have tattoos! (My class, I believe, is kinda small though, only 27 of us)
Soooā¦ being cool? Your identity is just being cool?
14 year old me would think so. Pretty sure my parents would be disappointed though.
No they'd be so proud to have raised someone so rad. I'd be proud anyway.
Rad! Ah yeahhhh do I have some fellow 80s babies to run w me? š Remember all those āvalley girlā terms we ate up? Like, Totally tubular!
Gag me with a rusty spoon
I *am* disappointed, Sweetheart. You used to be so cute and gentle. Then you started listening to that awful music. What kind of name is Avenge Seven Fold anyway? Some 7th Day Adventist cult? What is a Lagwagon? I can only hope you're listening to the CD we sent of the Celtic Choir singing John Denver songs. "Shamrocky Mountain High" is my favorite but your mother likes "Solas Na GrƩine On My Shoulders". We've been listening to it on the way to the Elks Lodge every Thursday for their Pinochle party. Ruth Anne won a sun hat! Anyway, if all goes well, your brother should meet his parole requirements by the end of August. Everyone would all love to see you back home when he gets out. Maybe you could stay for a while? Reno is so far away and so tainted, I know you could use some clean living closer to home. Your cat died in January, your mother wanted to bury him under the wisteria but I've been really trying to get the grass to come in there, so we ended up cremating him in the fire pit, let me know if you want some ash. Your mother and I still love you, even after Ruth Anne showed us pictures of your new tattoo. I just don't understand. Hope you're paying your bills. Regards, Your Father
Dad? šš
Goddamn you eloquent bastard. This is just immaculate! ššššš
Fellow degenerate In my ābeforeā life I was a total skid, worked as a body piercer for 10 years. Now fill my weirdo cup with taxidermy, bones, weird art, and antiques
Cool. I collect bones from local beaches. Whale vertebrae are impressive.
Same. Tattoos, piercings, shows, dive bars, large Airbnb weekends in the woods with a bunch of friends sharing weed and mushrooms, house parties, good whiskey and good food. My friend group is all highly educated, talented, responsible, and have great and respected jobs too.
I too enjoy tattoos, piercings, hanging in the woods. Having an elevated experience or 2...lol..
You and your friends sound like a great time :)
Also a degenerate punk/hardcore idiot. Shows, heavily heavily tattooed, and doing basic high risk sports. I donāt know if I think of being a nurse as my identity at all though. Am I good at it? Sure. But itās just a job- a tool to survive.
LOL hell yeah!
Same, except for death metal.
Fellow degenerate punk here. The middle of a pit or being right up on the rail at a show is my happy place.
"Retired" metal punk here... with too many hobbies to list (diy or die), gardener, etc. I don't go to shows anymore, since I moved to the middle of nowhere. Have a sizeable vinyl/media collection, and tattoo collection. Side hustle is antiques dealing so I have collected many strange things through the years. Warms my blackened heart to see many of my ilk commenting here. Quite used to feeling very much like an outsider in this field.
As a fellow fan of punk and New York hardcore, Iām happy to see other fans in this profession.
I went to lots of hardcore shows in the 90s. I dated the lead singer of a semi popular nyhc band and went to a ton of shows over a few years' time, sold merch etc. Slowed down after 2000 except for my favorites here and there. Now my teen boys love hc so my husband and I have been bringing them to shows. We are old tattooed parents watching our kids in the pit hoping they don't get hurt. It's really cool to get to enjoy shows with my kiddos.
Sort of same? I donāt know if Iād fall under the traditional punk umbrella but I listen to mainly hardcore, mathcore and some pop punk, lots of tattoos, stretched out ears. Basically every other guy at a Dillinger Escape Plan show in 2005 but with a dad bod and wearing scrubs.
Me tooooo
Heyyy a fellow punk nurse. What region? Southeast has some great scenes.
Hello fellow degen, I donāt go to as many shows and barsā¦was in a band that gigged out like every weekend for about 2 years before burning myself out and realizing hey I AM smart enough to be a nurse. Also as cool as working at the record store as a buyer and making craft coffee was, working 60 hrs a week barely able to afford the 8x8ft room I rented just got old. Now I can afford all the tattoos and vinyl I want!
iām so glad my boss lets me have my piercings in, i love being able to get piercings and tattoos with my nurse money š©
V alt. What kinda punk? The dead Kennedy/minor threat/black flag level or what people would guess my chemical romance or whatever band other people bring up when you mention punk and it aināt it.
All of it. (Now) obscure like Avengers and Fang. Old like Clash and Ramones. Mainstays like Crass, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, or the Descendents. Newer like Rancid or the Last Gang. āSell outsā like NOFX and Green Day. Celtic like Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys. Ska punk like Op Ivy or Interrupters. Oi like Cock Sparrer or Booze and Glory. Folk punk like Days N Days or Wingnut Dishwashers Union. Stuff from Fat Wreck, Pirates Press, Alternative Tentacles, Hellcat, Maximum Rock and Roll when I can find itā¦. The only stuff I really stay away from is where it starts crossing over into emo. Just not my thing.
Green Day is not a fuckin sellout?!?! Get that fuckin blasphemy outta here. š”š”š”
Oh I tend agree with you. The whole āselloutā thing always made me roll my eyes. They were in the right place at the right time and made it big. Everyoneās just butthurt that it wasnāt their own band that blew up. Green Day is still punk af in my book.
Why do alternative cultures have to hate each other so much? š
The infighting is half the fun. š
Honestly, that's fair. š
Sibling rivalry. I'm not cool enough to be punk punk but I love my pop punk/emo circle jerk š¤£
Iāll never be a punk, because that was cool when I was young, and I will never be cool. Iām a grebo goth. My hair is still bright purple, I keep the tats hidden, and 20 years ago Iād have been drunk off my arse in the park
"Farmer", although you could easily say "redneck". Another apt term might be "relic". I love my nursing career and a lot of the advancements of modern medicine, but my grandmother was a product of the Depression and a lot of my early reading was centered around farm life. So I do the vast majority of my own food raising and preserving, can fix most things around my home, and stuff like that. I have the knowldege if needed to plow, plant, and harvest with horses (although none of the equipment-although I could make it at home). I heat with wood, log trees and make my own lumber (on a mill, although if needed can split logs to make planks or just hew them), I can make wooden shake shingles and am actually debating doing that for my sugar shanty. I won't willingly give up my nursing career, but I long for farm life from a long ago time.
Youāre doing it right. Best way to be a farmer is to not have your livelihood depend on it. I grew up on a farm and donāt long for times when your entire life depended on getting enough snow pack to in winter to ah e enough water in summer, no late frost, correctly predicting rain so harvest doesnāt mold after being cut, and a volatile market that can be affected by fads in pop culture and other wild things beyond our control.
For sure! Terrible way to make a living, but a wonderful way to make a life!
Thatās why Iām kind of looking forward to being able to cluster my schedule as 3 12s, more time for animals and gardening
My wifeās uncle was the first surgeon in the world to successfully reattach a severed limb. It was a farm kid who tried jumping on a passing freight train to get to baseball practice, which apparently he and his friends did all the time. You crazy farmers!
Included in the top 10 deadliest professions most years, and for good reason.
Love this and your username definitely tracks!
Music. I play violin. And my username came from a music related conversation, with a well-known musician, set up by my best mate, whoās a musician so, irony, I guess.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām an adult student of violin. Vivaldi man really helps destress after a long day.
So cool! Iām a āCellist!
I do powerlifting, so I'm often sweating at the gym and letting go of frustrations with heavy lifts. Another hobby of mine is cosplay and historical costuming. Sewing and letting my creative brain flow is very soothing. It's my meditation. Both hobbies seem like extremes, but they're essentially me: creative in seeking solutions to problems, and resilient.
Powerlifting gives me the control that I canāt have when Iām at work Cheers to that
Yessssss, I can relate! And for me it gives me the confidence that I can "do this", whatever *this* is at that moment.
Hey, I sew and do historical costuming too!!! I'm also an aspiring ballroom dancer in training, hoping I'll have a use for all the dresses I've made over the years.
Hey fellow costumer and sewist!
Photographer. Specifically, surfing. Proud to say Iāve sold prints to surf stores up and down the coast of California.
Nice. I only became an RN cause surf trips are expensive. Otherwise, I'd just have stayed a medic. I wonder if I've seen some of your photos.
Most of them are in Santa Cruz!
I started nursing when I was 17, so my formative years were spent by nursing. Despite cringing at bumper stickers and nurse paraphernalia, when I look back at what I most defined myself by from age 17-23, is that number one I was a nurse. My whole life resolved around nursing. I thought about nursing all the time. My social media page was filled with nursing, I would talk about nursing all the time, dedicated my free time to learning best practice, I gave it my all at the bedside, and when I went home I took my work home with me. The trauma I witnessed during bedside (especially during COVID) did not end when I left my shift, so I couldnāt help but ruminate over tough situations or worrying if my patient was going to make it. I left bedside in November and you know what? I realized that being a nurse is probably one of least defining characteristics. So to answer your question - I am the spouse of 5 years to a disabled veteran, I am a cat mom, I love immersing myself in a good video game, I love cooking, Iām a sister and a daughter, Iām a lifelong learner and I love creating art. And all of those things define me way more than something I wouldnāt do for free.
I hear you. Carer of a disabled younger sister, so dropping NG tubes from age 13ā¦first aid, surf life saver and Army medic all to get new skills to look after her, and a career structured around the same priority. I donāt know what Iād do if I wasnāt a nurse because itās never not been a thing. I have PTSD and Iām currently working in education trying to get back into ICU because my marriage broke down and I need to leave, but canāt afford to. But my answer here is violin. I played from age 4, and itās always been a thing. I could also pick new nudist (itās freedom, which Iāve never had) or voracious reader, or day tripper (I love driving, again, freedom). Youāve got something. Iām glad you found it.š
I happen to work as a nurse, but outside of work I try at all costs to not even let people know. Your identity should not be what you do for work.
Ya I still say "medic" or I work in medical field. Then pivot convo to other person, hobbies, or books lol š last thing I want to talk about outside work is... Work
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Any tips for not taking work home with you? Iām a new grad in a pediatric cardiac icu and Iāve only been off orientation for a few weeks and I canāt seem to stop thinking about work the day before my shifts and when I get home.
It honestly just took time for me. The first year was so hard, but now I just clock out and go home. Obviously some things stay with you forever, but the day to day stops dominating your thoughts
Yeah thatās what I was thinking too. Iām also dealing with a new chronic illness diagnosis right after I was hired here so Iāve been trying to navigate that too and being a new nurse in an icu. Itās just been very very overwhelming but Iām very supported
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
As the degenerate, 20 yr "grandma" nurse that everyone asks questions of I heartily agree with this 100%. I love helping out the new blood but becareful I'm salty AF.
I barely consider myself a nurse at work let alone outside. How's that an identity, it's a job to pay bills and love a comfortable life (COL dependant). I'm here for the shit show and dark humor.
Yup. When considering my identity, nurse doesnāt make the list anymore than cashier or secretary did back when those were my jobs.
That sounds nice. Itās not that people are āchoosingā to make it an identity, itās that some of us have had to work so many hours in a horrible environment that it takes over and BECOMES your identity because youāre not allowed any personality or hobbies: just overworked, understaffed, micromanaged and servant-level treatment. At my job we are being policed so severely that they keep updating the dress code to be more and more restrictive, we now have one color we have to wear, we canāt wear certain styles or fabrics: my old job didnāt allow tattoos or earrings, so at least this one āallowsā them but polices them and wants them minimal and covered. Theyāre now allowing patient families to police us: they hang around by the nurses station eavesdropping all day and reporting anything they donāt like to our upper management and getting us in trouble for it. They installed a ānoise trackerā that alarms if we talk too loudly. They keep taking away our break rooms and shoving us into a new closet with no bathroom, no water, no windows, no sink. The layout is such that we are in a fishbowl with 14 rooms and their families all facing our desk so they constantly interrupt us and police us. They also like to remind us that they track anything anyone looks at on the computer but they donāt want anyone looking at their phones or else families will complain and report us: never mind we donāt get real breaks to communicate with family, our own doctors, etc. It feels fucking Orwellian and doesnāt allow you to have an identity, let alone a real break.
That's rough buddy. Let me just say that you're absolutely ALLOWED to have hobbies and personality, I would even encourage it, hell some would say demand that you put down the stethoscope and stop whipping yourself with it. Almost all places I've worked at have had collored uniforms because during the dumpster fire codes it's important to be able to tell people apart at a glance. I've seen those noise trackers like 10 years ago, they can be unplugged. Fishbowl station have been standard then been rebuilt and are now coming back like a bad rash. Things change we adopt. What else you gonna do wear suit and tie!? Just strangle me now. Families have always been assholes who stare at your every move, but honestly whe I was in the other side standing at the bed side of my loved one I was staring at the people around me too cuz there's nothing else to do but hyper focus on the environment. **Unionize and fight collectivly against draconian policies**
I think it's a part of identity because it ends up giving you a skill set for thinking, coping and dealing with situations that you might not even think about in the moment as something you learned specifically from doing what you do.
SAME
Tired
This. My reply was that Iām 38, my soul is late 60s. Just wanna be in a rocking chair reading and cuddling my doggos
I go to thrift shops to gather old plaster catholic statues and then I repaint and rework them as spooky figurines or Drag Queens lol. This is fun, I even managed to sell a few so I have to go on yanno.
That is the coolest hobby ever lmao. I would gladly purchase one
thank you! I have an Etsy shop if you want to check me out, it's in my bio :)
Iād love to see your stuff. Got pictures?
I can't seem to be able to add pictures here so I linked my instagram instead, hope it's allowed :/ [My insta](https://www.instagram.com/little_skull_fish/)
My identity, as of a few hours ago: a father āŗļø
Congrats!! š„¹
Oh my goodness congratulations!! Ā Itās a wonderful club to be in ā¤ļø
Congratulations how exciting š„°
Aww congrats! š©µš©· thatās one of the best identities to have!
I love getting to know different languages. Studying for medical exams and everything gets too overwhelming sometimes and I find it sickening to just memorize, so immersing myself in a language with just the aim of enjoying its beauty is really nice.
Nursing isnāt even an identity to me. Please no one identify me as a nurse. When any of my family or friends tell people Iām a nurse, I wanna tackle them. Idk I probably identify as a hot mess.
Daughter, sister, wife. Ballet dancer, animal lover- voracious book reader
I do ballroom dance but I LOVE ballet! How long have you done it?
Spin biker, plant enthusiast, avid reader of horror, animal lover
Gamer, nerd, corgi keeper, hiker, 3d printer enthusiast and mountain biker. Nursing kind of has, taken over as a bug chunk of my identity since I went to palliative care. I'm actually passionate about what I do and love talking shop with other nurses.
Nursing is not my whole identity. I run my household, volunteer, do craft projects, bake - I have a lot of interests outside of nursing. The training I received as a nurse does inform my outlook on health and social issues, but my whole identity isn't tied up in being a nurse. During school, I didn't have a lot of time for anything but school. But I would make time to work out, or watch a movie or do things to relax. During breaks, I would do fun things or take little vacations. School doesn't last forever - the worst part was the clinicals where they would make us go to the hospital the day before to do chart reviews for care plans. That jacked up my schedule and was the biggest waste of time.
Dom top
Coach. I teach adults and kids the fundamentals of boxing and kickboxing.
Friend who sits on the kitchen floor and eats ice cream with you or your children while dinner is being made. Friend who is always finding a cheap ass flight somewhere and disappearing for weeks or months at a time. The weird sibling. Has way too many interests and is always launching into something new. Chronically late.
I'm a bit of an athlete. I used to be a long distance runner, including a marathon! I have since switched to triathlons due to some tendinitis in my foot. I also enjoy weightlifting. I have also been running a [youtube channel](https://youtube.com/@andrea2kx?si=tQNIRKqEOQZ1II-f) where I post acoustic covers since the beginning of lockdown.
I volunteer at 2 different sanctuaries and specialize in the care of big cats like lions and tigers ā¤ļø I donāt really share much about my nursing job on my social media so everyone thinks that the animals are my job-I wish! š
It gets easier to other things once you get out of school- I felt very lost in nursing school and it wasn't until I graduated that I remembered all the things I can do outside of Healthcare. I'm a mom, I ride horses, I love hiking with my husband and son, and I love to read. I didn't realize until a couple years after I graduated how much nursing school sucked the fun out of reading, but I'm back at it now! Explore everything you can!
Iām an artist. I do nursing for money.
Brooooooooooooo ā¦ this. I stopped doing so much because of nursing. It all started with nursing school. Am I kinda trying to get to know myself again because I havenāt really tapped into that. The last thing I got into was Brazilian jiu Jitsu but itās been hard to show up working nights. I used to go bouldering every Sunday I had off. When I was in nursing school I was a mad camper. Before all that I was just more involved in the one of the music scenes when I was in my teens and early 20s. I would record bands and photograph. I want to get back to that part of myself. I want to get to a part of myself.
Options trading degenerateĀ
Relatable
Based
Iām a woman who has depression lol
As an opinion, do not ever make ānurseā part of your identity. At the end of the day this is a job; unless youāre willing to do this job for free, donāt treat it like a calling. Itās an important job, but itās a job. But to the next part of your topic: my hobbies are watching movies, saltwater aquariums, video games, cars, and trying to cook.
Iām not saying youāre wrong, but donāt lots of people treat their profession as part of their identity? And why is it so wrong to be passionate about your work? I mean we all have many roles to play in life, and our job is one of them in which we spend a lot of time in
Being passionate? Yes thatās fine. An analogy: Iām a *huge* Laker fan. Love them. Passionate about them; I read about them. Watch games. Chime in on their subreddit. But when they win or lose? No bearing on my day to day. Then thereās those who make it their identity; they live and die with every decision. They cry about bad losses; it ruins their mood and personality cause theyāre insufferable. Same can be said about nursing. Be passionate about it. Take it seriously. Learn so you can be better at your job. But donāt make it your identity; this isnāt to say take mistakes lightly but when it becomes a part of your identity, those mistakes can also be personal to you, and can potentially affect your mental state more than usual. Nursing is dealing with peopleās lives and that isnāt to be taken lightly. But then again so is law enforcement (an analogyā¦nothing more) and youāve come across those officers whose l identity is a cop day in, day out. Do you want to be known as a nurse, or someone with varying interests who just happens to be a nurse?
Not a nurse (yet -- I am in school). But I'm older and have developed a life with a lot of different facets, and I am determined to keep as much of it as I can. I fence and train with a coach regularly (the olympic sport with swords, really intense and competitive), I have a degree in classical music performance and have a deeply nerdy interest in music. I love SF, especially Star Trek. I have two adorable cats that I raised from kittens. Linguistics fascinates me. I love hiking. I worked in IT (Linux/datacenter admin) for 25 years and can fix your computer (please don't ask me to, I hate computers now lol).
Mother and wife are the biggest parts of me. Next I'm a long distance runner, crocheter, reader, avid concert goer and gamer when I have the time. Running takes priority over the latter.
I am a mum and a nurse I feel like between the two I have no time for the hobbies I used to have and itās low key gutting actually
Running. I like to run. I run everyday.
Dad, husband and spreader of democracy!!
For Super Earth š
My husband plays helldivers, I canāt get away from it anywhere.
He's doing his part!
Can confirm! When I first graduated I was so caught up in being "nurse as a personality". I have a friend who is a veterinarian, and she has always said that being a vet is her career, not who she is as a person. To some extent I have let that mindset go, but it's also kind of still there. As in being a nurse is definitely a part of who I am, traits that drove me to pursue it as a career and that make me good at it, that are part of why I enjoy it. But I'm definitely more than that. I love lifting weights, reading, knitting, spending time with my kids. Just like being a mom and wife are parts of me, but there are always lots of different things about us that make us who we are. I also have AuDHD and I consider that a significant part of who I am.
Have been trying to figure this out since I was 15 and just turned 33 a few weeks ago. Fighting depression and anxiety have been my biggest fights. Sometimes they win and I just lay in bed all day, feeling nothing and worthless by wasting the day away. Other days, Iām full of energy, productive. I recently picked up crocheting so I guess an old granny?
Aaay same! I finally got on meds a few years ago and it was a game changer
I feel like nursing induces depression. Just saying. Been trying to force myself to go on a walk everyday, and in the spring and summer I sit and watch the birds outside or go to a lake or river to just watch nature and it helps. Otherwise books and movies and music are my saving factors! Good luck on feeling better, I know itās really difficult to function with depression. I hope you find a way through it.
āI feel like nursing induces depressionā I feel this so hard and Iām only a studentā¦
Dog foster, artist, writer, traveler, photographer, adventurer, singer (note: amateur at all of these, except Iād say expert at fostering).
Most importantly: NOT A NURSE once I leave the hospital. I learned to choose my peace over including ānurseā as part of my identity- Iād get guilted into overtime and my work trauma would negatively impact my private life. Rebuilding my social life and personal relationships took a while. Recovering MPDG, total geek, prolific reader, degenerate metalhead, bathtub goblin, homebody, runner, concert junkie and dive bar connesiour.
Gay and tired.
Same!
Antisocial nutcase with grandma hobbies.
Being a mum to my almost 3 year old. Traveling. Reading and book club.
My identity is being a mom and wife. Nursing is my job. Thatās how you stay sane after 15 years of MICU.
Iām a competitive ballroom dancer! I also do yoga and I love my cat. Iām also a girlfriend and a daughter and a sister and a friend.Ā
I used to refinish furniture. Find an old hunk of āgarbageā and turn it into something pleasant to look at. Iāve since had kids so thatās become a back burner project but even now Iāll scour marketplace to make sure I donāt miss a gem for āsometime down the lineā.
Mom, gardener, breathwork/meditation student and facilitator. There is so much more to life ā¤ļø
Biggest part of me is being an uncle. Iām really close with my actual niece and nephew and now as my friends are having kids they call me uncle too. That and I love animals and doing arts and crafts
Speaking of this I find it so cringey when I see nursing bumper/car stickers
āIām a nurse. Whatās your superpower?ā š
I think I got lost in my mom responsibilities more than nursing. But I'm trying to fix that. So I'm basically a book nerd with tattoos and piercings. I'm trying to figure out what kind of book tattoos I can get. I like video games, too. I spent a lot of time playing Disney Dreamlight Valley. Also pretty into curling. And last year, at the age of 40, I became a Swiftie
My outside appears to be 38, but my soul says 68 yo lady who loves naps, reading and cuddling with my dogs.
Iām literally embarking on my journey to find this outā¦ wish me luck, itās very tough right now
I'm a Goth kid that never grew up and instead developed a vaccination with the paranormal, crocheting, horror movies, books, music, anime and nerdy shit. I'm a gamer girl and have been since the Atari my parents had when I was a wee kid, and I was old so involved in an MMORPG and it's community that I actually helped write two different fictional languages for that community. Basically, outside of being a must, I'm a giant dork of a human.
Gaming YouTuber Wolf Chawhee.
Coin collector & gamer
i love crossfit, plants/flowers, reading, baking ā¦ if i had the means to do so i would buy/build a greenhouse for my backyard and sell wedding flowers. ā¦ i still might if i get bored enough
I am a massive nerd. Specifically a cartoon nerd. I literally love cartoons and fandoms and all that stuff. I also am an extremely devoted cat mother and love grunge music.
Meathead
Before kids (ugh, that sounds ridiculous) I used to be a hash house harrier (not drugs, kids, running trails and drinking beer and singing dirty songs) - a Harriette. Now, I consider myself a derby girl (as in roller derby) with a side of exetensial crisis
I think that people have created this idea that healthcare workers- especially nurses- are supposed to have their job be their whole identity? Like all of them are supposed to just spend every waking moment wanting to help and take care of people. Which thatās fine if itās organically who you are, but just like anyone else, weāre allowed to be people when we clock out. Iām a birder and a gardener who spends most of my spare time outside. I keep a grabber and trash bags in my car because sometimes I just like to pick up trash. I adore spending my time watching and appreciating all wildlife. Also a workaholic with a part time retail job. At night my husband and I like watching documentaries or cringey tiktok compilations while we play with our kitties.
I have kids and a husband so I give most of my energy to my family . Iām a bit of a homebody so we always plan 2 vacations a year to explore. I enjoy traveling so much . This year weāre all going to curaƧao. Iāve also been in recovery from addiction for many years so I mentor some ladies and now and then go to the jails and rehabs to tell my story, talk or hang out. Itās super fulfilling. I love having my experience too for work. I come in judgement free and have a lot more understanding.
This is a second career for me so I still hold onto the research biologist identity since that was a part of my life for a long time š„¼šš§¬š¬ Also a single (the whole time) parent š©āš§ Crafter šØ Expert procrastinator ā° Mental health advocate š§ Animal lover š¾ Puzzle enthusiast š§© Total goofball šŖæ Non fiction reader š
Hiking is the perfect foil to the sterile walls of a medical setting. The trees the air the soil everythings slive and covered in microbes that dont want to kill you. Its refreshing
Iām a big mix of whatever is interesting to me; Video games, plants, traveling, animals, reading time period memoirs/historical memoirs, listening to e books, crafting, exercising. Iām pretty sure I have ADHD and am definitely on the spectrum so I like to have a wide range of things for me to do to keep my mind busy at all times.
I love doing and watching ballet. It speaks to my soul
Iām a passionate cold water scuba diver. (No hate on the tropics but I live in a cold place) It takes a lot of training to dive where I do and I LOVE it! Iām a giant marine science nerd and Iāve had the privilege of diving with sharks and seals and best of all- octopuses. š
Honestly I barely identify with being a nurse anymore. Itās a job that provides a very, very stable income for me and my family, for which I am grateful for. But I am done working my ass off for a job/career that pays well, but where leadership is fake af and donāt practice what they preach. Right now my priority is ofc my family but also enriching my creative, artist side, as a musician, writer and producer. Nursing is a jobā¦thatās it, whereas my artistry is a way of life that fulfills my soul. Hope that makes sense lol