Gloomy Sunday
Today was rather disheartening, wasn’t it? The weather made me wish that I could curl up in a blanket and sleep the day away. Unfortunately, it was not to be. I had homework to do, a philosophy paper to write, a thesis chapter to finish, and a conference paper to practice delivering. Such a long day…
Until about 6:00 this evening I was feeling out of sorts. It was almost like the feeling you get when you haven’t showered for a day or so, or haven’t brushed your teeth…but internally. Like I hadn’t brushed my soul or something. I suppose it was to be expected, given the disjointed nature of this weekend. People seem so down right now, and it depresses me because things are going so well in my own life. I want to share that with others, but I also don’t want to rub it in their faces. It’s a fine line, and I fear that I hopscotched over it a bit too much this weekend. I also engaged in little bouts of arrogance and cattiness, not as much as I have in the past, but still more than I would like to. Ah well, it’s good to be reminded of my shortcomings every now and then. I knew this newfound optimism would be hard to maintain. Setbacks are inevitable. A little yoga, though, and I once more felt grounded.
Despite my little stumbles, this weekend also saw many positive developments. For one, I finished a large amount of work without stressing myself out. This in and of itself is cause for celebration. And I finished another chapter of my thesis this afternoon. This means that I am officially at the half-way mark. I’ve written about 32 pages of it so far, which is by far the most that I’ve ever written on one subject. I still have a lot of work ahead of me in order to finish it by the end of March, but for the moment I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the distance that I’ve traveled so far.
And I practiced delivering my conference paper this evening. I only have 20 minutes to present about ten pages of material. I met that time limit, but only barely (I had to speak somewhat quickly to make it). I want to follow a conference rule of thumb, though, and be a little under. It’s incredibly rude to go over your time limit, but it’s very welcome if you go under. I have until Friday to pare it down, which isn’t so difficult. And, for the record, I’m still excited.
And today, I went to Best Buy and left without buying anything remotely frivolous (I did buy an ink cartridge, but that is hardly frivolous). And it was incredibly hard to do so, especially considering that I have been wanting a copy of Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” for some time now. I have been very good about my spending this semester, so far, and have spent remarkably little on frivolities. But I don’t want to completely deprive myself of all consumer pleasures. And so, I have made a deal with myself. I receive a paycheck on Friday. If I can resist the urge to spend money on frivolous things, then I can download “Blue” off of iTunes. Sensible, no? Until then, I will just have to content myself with Sarah McLachlan’s cover of the title song.
Until about 6:00 this evening I was feeling out of sorts. It was almost like the feeling you get when you haven’t showered for a day or so, or haven’t brushed your teeth…but internally. Like I hadn’t brushed my soul or something. I suppose it was to be expected, given the disjointed nature of this weekend. People seem so down right now, and it depresses me because things are going so well in my own life. I want to share that with others, but I also don’t want to rub it in their faces. It’s a fine line, and I fear that I hopscotched over it a bit too much this weekend. I also engaged in little bouts of arrogance and cattiness, not as much as I have in the past, but still more than I would like to. Ah well, it’s good to be reminded of my shortcomings every now and then. I knew this newfound optimism would be hard to maintain. Setbacks are inevitable. A little yoga, though, and I once more felt grounded.
Despite my little stumbles, this weekend also saw many positive developments. For one, I finished a large amount of work without stressing myself out. This in and of itself is cause for celebration. And I finished another chapter of my thesis this afternoon. This means that I am officially at the half-way mark. I’ve written about 32 pages of it so far, which is by far the most that I’ve ever written on one subject. I still have a lot of work ahead of me in order to finish it by the end of March, but for the moment I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the distance that I’ve traveled so far.
And I practiced delivering my conference paper this evening. I only have 20 minutes to present about ten pages of material. I met that time limit, but only barely (I had to speak somewhat quickly to make it). I want to follow a conference rule of thumb, though, and be a little under. It’s incredibly rude to go over your time limit, but it’s very welcome if you go under. I have until Friday to pare it down, which isn’t so difficult. And, for the record, I’m still excited.
And today, I went to Best Buy and left without buying anything remotely frivolous (I did buy an ink cartridge, but that is hardly frivolous). And it was incredibly hard to do so, especially considering that I have been wanting a copy of Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” for some time now. I have been very good about my spending this semester, so far, and have spent remarkably little on frivolities. But I don’t want to completely deprive myself of all consumer pleasures. And so, I have made a deal with myself. I receive a paycheck on Friday. If I can resist the urge to spend money on frivolous things, then I can download “Blue” off of iTunes. Sensible, no? Until then, I will just have to content myself with Sarah McLachlan’s cover of the title song.