It's okay to be sad

The past couple of months have been hard. I would even extend that to a few months of sadness since the month leading up to Match Day was fraught with anxiety and stress. Since then, my life has been full of tears.

I’ve cried in places I never thought I’d be comfortable crying at, including multiple public parks, on an airplane, dinner at a fancy restaurant, on a catamaran cruising the Greek islands, during our class picture, in the school auditorium in front of my whole class, and the list goes on. By this point, I’ve gotten really good at crying silently, whether it’s in a public restroom stall or a car ride with friends.

I also stopped giving a shit if seeing me cry makes someone uncomfortable. Life is not all unicorns and rainbows and sadness needs to be normalized as much as happiness and the highlight reel of life that is splattered all over social media. This isn’t to say I cry in public to make a statement. I cry because I can’t hold in my grief any longer and need an outlet. A deluge of tears seems to do the job very well, if only temporarily.

Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m still so sad. I like to think that I’ve accepted the fact that I didn’t match and that I’ve made a plan for the next year to succeed. But every time I think I finally have things under control, a random comment or thought will trigger a wave of sadness and I feel the tears welling up.

So I’ve accepted the fact that I’m not over anything and allow myself to continue to feel the way I feel, only truly suppressing my emotions when absolutely necessary, such as during an important meeting with the ortho chairman (powerful men don’t like seeing women cry). Other than that, I embrace my sadness, let it all out, and hope that as the days pass, I will cry a little bit less.

When people ask if I’m doing okay, I don’t even bother with pleasantries anymore and go straight into, “No, I’m not.” Most times, I leave it at that but often I add, “I’m in a rough place.” Most people don’t know what to do with that, but I figure they should stop asking if they don’t want an honest answer (these are people who know my situation, not randos on the street).

I had a brief respite from sadness on vacation, where, for the most part, I was able to forget how shitty everything was going. I became an aunt (!) and the subsequent barrage of newborn pictures has brightened many of my days. I also spent some quality time in the motherland with family I hadn’t seen in years and relaxed for nearly a full week on the family homestead. It was soooo nice.

The peaceful homestead

Then I came back to reality where I had to pack up all my things, leave my best friend with whom I’d lived for 13 years, and move to an apartment I absolutely hate in a city where I know nobody. I had planned this early move before graduation to start kissing some ortho butt at my new program, get started on research, and start attending conferences to get my face out there before the onslaught of intern year began.

But these plans seem to be backfiring just as badly as my ortho dreams. The apartment I had rented on a house-hunting trip before vacation was supposed to be “luxury” and full of natural light but instead is dingy and dated*. The research coordinator is dragging her feet about getting me on a project and has stopped answering my emails. The general surgery coordinator said she will TRY to get me a month of ortho, although it’s not guaranteed (I was promised a month by the PD during my SOAP interview, which is the only reason I chose this program).

I know nobody at the morning ortho conferences and it’s weird to start introducing myself to random residents, especially since I don’t even know how that introduction would go. Am I a 4^th year med student since I haven’t graduated yet? A future surgery resident? Either way, I’m still embarrassed I didn’t match and feel like I’m being judged every time I mention it, which is something I need to work on hardcore for the next month or so.

In short, moving early seems to be a terrible mistake thus far, taking me away from my friends prematurely and getting nothing in return career-wise but rather sinking me back into despair and hopelessness about my future.

I had made pretty good progress over vacation to the point where I would go days without shedding a single tear. But I’ve seemed to regress pretty hardcore with this move and am back to being incapacitated with grief at least once a day.**

As before, I’m working on taking things day-by-day, finishing everything I need to get done so I’m still a functioning member of society, and looking forward to July 1 so I actually have something to do with my days instead of wallow in self-pity.

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*Apparently in this city, they REFUSE to show you the actual unit you’re renting. I insisted on seeing something other than the model unit (which wasn’t even my apartment’s layout), so they very reluctantly showed me an empty unit that would resemble mine in trimmings and would be of the same quality as mine. Let’s just say that their definition of resembling my apartment is very different than mine.

**For those concerned about my mental health, I may be extremely sad but that’s about where my symptoms of MDD end. Well, I haven’t been sleeping much or eating well, and I’ve lost interest in some things (such as packing or caring what people think of my emotions). But I’m functioning as well as any fourth year med student, that is, I don’t want to do anything, and for the most part, get everything done that needs to be done. So overall, given the circumstances, I’m doing well-ish.