Recently, I had been having problems with stress.
I'd been bombarded for weeks with assignment after endless assignment for my classes, set upon by the hounds of financial responsibility (even more so with the looming financial crisis), barely managed to make it to my campus job on time and struggled to live up to my responsibilities as co-editor-in-chief of the Dominican STAR. I was at the breaking point a few weeks ago. The academic powers that be seemed have thrown everything they could at me: papers, projects, newspaper production, meetings, lectures, obligations, the list goes on and on. My social life was rapidly decaying and at the same time it felt like I had no time to myself.
But then I finally began reciting a mantra suggested to me by a family member: "It can wait."
My family realized, through phone conversations and the occasional visit back home, that I was falling apart under the weight of my commitments. So my parents suggested I take it easy and tell myself that things can wait; my personal health and sanity come first.
After a much-needed weekend hiatus from school life, spent on the couch at home and at a good old fashioned rock n roll show, I felt like a new person. By getting out of my stressful environment, going home, and immersing myself in a favorite band for a few hours, I found I could suddenly deal with everything. All I needed to do was step back for a second.
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3 comments:
Was said band Radiohead? ;)
I completely understand--I'm in a similar situation juggling a full-time course load, writing for the paper, working at up to three different jobs each week, all while trying to maintain my sanity, bank account, and relationship with my boyfriend...and it's hard. But what I've come to realize over the past few years is that every semester I reach a breaking point, but that I always get through that brink of despair and survive. Sometimes you just need a little R&R, prioritization, and to ZOOM OUT to really see what matters and what's most important to your personal well-being.
Kudos.
Said band was actually My Bloody Valentine, but a Radiohead show would have done a swell job of taking care of the stress too!
Here's another thing I posted a while back in my pseudo-blog. I think it speaks to Tom's point.
Silence your devices.
It’s so much fun to be in a university. I get to run around a lot and usually find myself in some interesting venues. Last week a photography professor gave a fascinating presentation on “Leaving Aztlán: Towards a Working Definition of Contemporary Mexican Art,” raising fundamental questions of identity and representation among artists who traverse boundaries between Mexico and the U.S. Today two faculty members, one in biology and the other in theology, spoke on the scientific and ethical contexts for thinking about “Life in the Ocean Depths: What is it? Whose is it?” Yesterday, Spanish Studies students were doing readings of Don Quijote de la Mancha with the director of the Cervantes Institute, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of that great novel’s publication.
On Monday I had to give a little talk at A Big Meeting, along with our core curriculum director, and it was sort of about this: I love my iPod as much as the next person. But a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education got me thinking. The article in the October 7th edition, written by Scott Carlson (no relation) was titled “The Net Generation Goes to College.” It suggested that today’s college students “are smart but impatient. They expect results immediately … are able to juggle a conversation on Instant Messenger, a Web-surfing session, and an iTunes playlist while reading Twelfth Night for homework.” The article wasn’t sure whether the students are getting the fine points of the play.
I’m pretty sure they’re not.
A video-game designer and futurist was quoted in the article, and said that we need to rethink “why kids need an education,” noting that “things that have traditionally been done—you know, reflection and thinking and all that stuff—are in some way too slow for the future…. Is there a way to do those things faster?”
Um, no.
Sometimes it’s nice to be able to multitask. Sometimes it’s necessary. But we have to know when to turn it off. We have to develop the capacity to monotask, to do Just One Thing—well. There’s a saying in the Dominican tradition: Contemplate and give the fruits of that contemplation to others. But—not so fast! Fruit needs time to ripen.
I met with one of my students yesterday who told me that he never tries to study in his dorm room. Not that ours are any louder than others. It’s just that he finds other spaces, quieter places, where he can concentrate, screen out the distractions, and really Pay Attention. By going there, he’s telling himself that it’s time to focus on One Thing. Focus, and then go deeper. He’s got it right.
So practice your monotasking. Turn off your cell phones and pagers. The show is about to begin.
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