Hey, all.

I'm about halfway through the semester, and I thought I'd give an update on how going monk has worked out for me and what progress I've made.

First, in the beginning shit was pretty rough. I couldn't help but feel lonely, and although I felt over my ex-girlfriend, I still found myself thinking about her every once in a while. While school was still relatively un-stressful, I stuck to a strict workout regiment, managed my diet better, and consistently kept up my appearance, even on the shittiest of days. This lasted for about a month, before I got my life back into line and I really started to feel I had distanced myself from my past mistakes.

Here's where I am now:

I still workout on a regiment, but I've taken it down to 3-4 times a week because my school work (quantum mechanics, mostly) is an absolute bitch and requires ridiculous amounts of time out of my schedule. I've kept up with eating healthier and have been supplementing with protein and ZMA, and I feel great. I look noticeably healthier and have more energy, especially in the morning since I began using a sleep app that wakes you up when you're in low-level sleep. I went to the mall and bought myself basically an entire new winter wardrobe, including a nice peacoat, and I've started wearing contacts more often. This is mostly the surface level shit that underlies my real progress, which is:

I got a prescription for my social anxiety, which has done absolute wonders. If any of you have social anxiety, ask your pharmacist about Venlafaxine. Since being on it, I feel like a new person. I met people in my courses, feel fine in large group discussions in my seminars, and met a few people that I enjoy spending time with.

I've also manned up and decided to push full speed ahead for grad school in philosophy rather than physics. I have research jobs with two professors, both of whom are fantastic, and they're confident I can secure a spot in a T1 PhD program with a good enough writing sample. So, I'm finally focusing on doing what I love and what I'm good at, and not just what I'm expected to do because of the school I go to or the major I began with.

Finally, and probably least importantly, I'm way over my ex. Hearing of her horrible decisions (terrible grades in classes, drinking every day, etc) after our relationship reinforced the idea that our values just weren't ever in alignment, and that has no bearing on me as a person. I've since blocked her on every social media site. So, I'm just enjoying the single life, talking to a few girls on Tinder and in my classes here and there, but mostly just bunkering down on my work and spending my free time trying to read, relax, or indulge in the things that make me happy.

Thanks for your advice, TRP. I appreciate it.

TL;DR: Going monk was a great choice, at least in my case. Feeling healthier, happier, and things are looking up.

EDIT: My next steps are to start being more actively social, rather than just being comfortable, keep on pursuing my research so I can land that spot in a PhD program, and to not let physics steal my soul.