Making hay while the sun shines...
I realize that I don't read anymore, and it has been driving me crazy for seasons.
I read articles and books relating to my discipline, but I never dig in to fiction as I want to, and I never get the chance for literary exploration. My life would need to be so structured, for me to accomplish everything that I need to in a day, a week or longer. I need to exercise regularly, I need to cook more, I need to read for pleasure and explore the local wilderness and even the region around me better. I need to start kayaking and geocaching and wandering cemeteries...but I don't have friends who possess an incurable interest in the world like I do, anymore. The truly curious (Gabriel and Megan and Zach come to mind) aren't here and those who I've met in moving here are the yuppy sort who think they're adventurous but will start whining about the pricklebushes or the length of the journey or the illegality of the exploration and force you to the choice of leaving them behind or heading back to the car fairly quickly. I made my own expeditions when I first arrived here but it's hard to motivate myself to the task when there isn't anyone else to be wild-eyed with and when you're in the center of Lyme Disease country, besides. I could be motivated to put on some serious repellant but I desperately need the reasons. My mind would sleep better with regular arousal through non-journal literature but who will I discuss these things with when I'm done? I can buy the ingredients (and I've started to cook a little and it is calming) but how can I convince myself that it's worth the time to do it? It's a sad state of affairs.
I have found an uncommon friend in someone who works in my lab. We barely share a language but we've both read the entirety of the french existentialist texts and we both like assessing the role of said french existentialism in modern science fiction, and who knew?
Still, when you can get something substantive done in the lab and advance that much faster, how can you convince yourself to garden or run or make a souffle, as enjoyable as those tasks may be?
I read articles and books relating to my discipline, but I never dig in to fiction as I want to, and I never get the chance for literary exploration. My life would need to be so structured, for me to accomplish everything that I need to in a day, a week or longer. I need to exercise regularly, I need to cook more, I need to read for pleasure and explore the local wilderness and even the region around me better. I need to start kayaking and geocaching and wandering cemeteries...but I don't have friends who possess an incurable interest in the world like I do, anymore. The truly curious (Gabriel and Megan and Zach come to mind) aren't here and those who I've met in moving here are the yuppy sort who think they're adventurous but will start whining about the pricklebushes or the length of the journey or the illegality of the exploration and force you to the choice of leaving them behind or heading back to the car fairly quickly. I made my own expeditions when I first arrived here but it's hard to motivate myself to the task when there isn't anyone else to be wild-eyed with and when you're in the center of Lyme Disease country, besides. I could be motivated to put on some serious repellant but I desperately need the reasons. My mind would sleep better with regular arousal through non-journal literature but who will I discuss these things with when I'm done? I can buy the ingredients (and I've started to cook a little and it is calming) but how can I convince myself that it's worth the time to do it? It's a sad state of affairs.
I have found an uncommon friend in someone who works in my lab. We barely share a language but we've both read the entirety of the french existentialist texts and we both like assessing the role of said french existentialism in modern science fiction, and who knew?
Still, when you can get something substantive done in the lab and advance that much faster, how can you convince yourself to garden or run or make a souffle, as enjoyable as those tasks may be?