Do You Ever Wish You Could Be Committed to an Asylum for Awhile?

[johnnyilluminat]

I'm at the library right now, and hopefully I will plow my way through Robert Louis Stevenson's In the South Seas. It has a lot of good stuff in it that I can use for my third chapter, but it isn't the most engrossing work either. Strangely, I think Stevenson is the kindest and wittiest of the three authors I've read for my dissertation so far (

Comments

[lbangs]

I really hate to read this. I'm sorry matters are so glum.

I read some Renaissance history during lunch. Leaving the library, I thought about how wonderful it must have felt, after centuries of living like ancient Egyptians in constant fear of the eternal afterlife, to finally shove that dreary elephant into the back corner and focus on the sheer joy of being alive in this world right now. I sucked in a few deep breaths and stared up at the blue sky plastered between the tall deco buildings, and I suddenly surged with that simple bliss. There is worlds to say about breathing, thinking, and being, free from fear of torture or hunger.

And I'm not saying you should feel the same way; that's just how it went down, and your post made me think about it...

I hope your horizon gets brighter soon. I know it sounds corny, and it can be a curse as well as a blessing, but one fact is always true - you never really know for sure what's up ahead.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

[johnnyilluminat]

Thank you.

[lilbrigid]

I'm sorry you're so unhappy. I've never written a dissertation, so I have no idea how grueling it must be. BUT, once you're done with it, then you'll be that much more appealing to colleges and universities, right? Also, I know I'm something of a Shirley-Temple-loving optimist, but you never know what might happen if you put in a few applications. You've got nothing to lose but your own mind, I guess.

If you ever need another break from the blues, you're always welcome up here again. :)

[johnnyilluminat]

I probably will email the department heads of a couple of local colleges--you're right that I never know.

Thanks for the invite. I do feel a little better today;)

[lilbrigid]

Good! I hope the good mood can stick with you. :)

[anonymous]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well at the moment, and I really hope you'll be better soon.

There's not much I can do, but I'll leave you a well-known Japanese proverb, that is always uplifting to me:

Fall seven times, stand up eight.

So, keep the head up, Jeff.

The other Jeff (1922)

[johnnyilluminat]

Thanks Jeff,

I've heard that proverb before, and I like that the emphasis is on perseverence rather than on being a world-beater...