What's next?

So, I passed my masters of science defense last week and I'm relieved the stress of that oral exam is over. Now, that song from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical (yes, I have the CD) 'where do we go from here?' is stuck in my head. My long term plan is sorted out, I have a great PhD project to start right away. I'm thinking more in the short term. My masters thesis has been sucking up all my creativity for months. I guess that's good at one level. But, on the flip side, my creativity well has dried up leaving me feeling irritated. Usually, I'm constantly looking random stuff up as even more random thoughts fly through my head - right now that side of me has stopped. My mind is blank except for thesis stuff. Writing in the journal I've kept for over two decades is currently a chore.

I've read a lot about creativity over the years and I know I'll relax, my curiosity will return and I'll go back to how I was. Right now I'm just a bit burned out. The world around me is still fascinating and I'll continue indulging my curiosity in time (probably not long from now). As I look around my office, I see a stack of books waiting to be read including: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach (I've already read it once), The Planets by Dava Sobel (I enjoyed her other book Galileo's Daughter) and The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Some time ago, I downloaded all the Royal Society papers from its start to about 1900. I've only read a few, and want to read more as I find it fun to read about experiments conducted back then and what we thought we knew. It makes me wonder if a century from now, people will be looking back at the science of today and think it's quaint what we thought we understood.