Chipped Bowl

My bowls are chipped. Some of the saucers are broken, maybe a small plate or two as well.
I remember when I got my dishes. I was about 14 and I had asked for these for a gift. I wanted to be ready to move out when it was time (many years later...) I imagined how great it would be to move out and have a complete matching set of dishes. Over the years I also collected my cutlery, knives, cups, towels, etc - all in preparation of THE DAY when I moved out.
Then I moved out (and by out I mean far from the Prairies, out to Newfoundland) and I was so proud to have my dishes (along with the rest of my household items).
Here I am 7.5 years later and I'm ready to part with the broken set of dishes. It's not simply that some of the bowls are chipped and some plates are broken. It's not simply that I'd rather nicer dishes (I'm thinking handmade pottery that doesn't have to match perfectly). I realize that these dishes represent moving out on my own, my first steps out into the world, and that period of limbo as a graduate student.
I am ready to be done with all that! I'm ready to finish my PhD. I'm ready to move on from "first steps" to...
and that's where I draw a blank.
What exactly is it I imagine moving on to?
"real life"? What's more real than my life right now?
Is my life going to change drastically when I have a document that says PhD on it?
Oh, one dreams it will, but I know it won't. I'll simply be entering a new state of limbo - she who waits for tenure. Assuming I can even find an institution that still offers tenure in my field...
I'd be happy just to have full time employment. Or maybe I don't even want full time employment any more... I don't know now. Maybe I want to balance my life at home with my career in academia better. Maybe I don't want all parts of my life tied to the university. Some parts, certainly, but I also highly value and enjoy raising a family. I don't know what that would look like or how that works exactly? I know some of my peers would look down upon it. And others will value those choices. Is it feasible in practice? I don't know.

That's the future. Right now I've got to deal with these chipped bowls and this dissertation that hangs over me. I'll look into the pottery and other changes when this is all done.