Hey Beehaw!

I’m a burned out academic leaving the field. I’d like to learn something new as a means of recovery and healing from the trauma of this intense field. So, what should I learn? What do you recommend and where could I start?

That’s it. That’s my ask. Any and all recommendations welcome.

Have you considered a musical instrument?

Learn to play Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.

It's a retro style game with a strong focus on survival and science! You can play at your own pace.

https://cataclysmdda.org/

I have not. No. Recommendations for the musically un-initiated?

What, may I ask, is Sayens? Not the French research collaborative I assume?

Spend some time paying attention to the sounds that different instruments make. Remember which ones you like.

Borrow, rent, or buy one. (Preferably not a terrible one; the cheapest model of any given instrument is often not worth the frustrations it can cause.)

Maybe get a teacher, or maybe follow some online lessons, or maybe take a class, or maybe just experiment on your own for a while.

Make sounds. Maybe with other people. See what you come up with. It can be solitary or social, scientific or artistic, studious or playful.

If you eventually feel you've hit a plateau and want to continue improving, consider learning some music theory and technique.

It's a deep and wide subject.

Knitting or woodcarving.

Both are cheap & easy to start and you begin with doing things that are useful.

You may end up in a more artsy trajectory or just keep at creating useful things.

"Academic" suggests you might have an ongoing opportunity to audit classes. Throw some darts and see if anything appeals to you. I started out in computer science, burned out on that in a quarter, took a quarter off, switched to linguistics, and then that plan was dead in the water the following fall after walking into my college newsroom.

One field I never took a class in? Journalism.

Interesting. I qualify for some classes and I've been doing qualitative work (focus on interviews and focus groups) for a long time. Investigative Journalism, especially now, has always intrigued me.

Thanks! Good suggestions. Woodcarving appeals to my shitty carpentry chops. I never considered it, but will investigate.

Maybe one of origami, juggling, crocheting, playing an instrument, creating a website

A ukulele rests in the corner of the flat that my kid uses for school music lessons. Cant hurt to fire up YouTube and try.