Remember when I said something a while back in my mid-career crisis about how one of the ways we set ourselves up for crisis is by spending 10+ years ignoring what we love in favor of The Job? And how one way to start feeling better, post-tenure, was to reconnect with all that stuff?
Yeah, well, apparently I talk a good line, but am really bad on follow-through. Part of this is that, as I've aged, I tend to like more and more to spend time alone, just recovering my resources. I get easily overwhelmed by too much activity. I can do a four-day conference of nonstop people everywhere (Hello: Kalamazoo?) or go to a party if such is required. But then I shut myself away for a while.
But the other part is that I'm still convincing myself that spending an! entire! day! doing nothing but recreation is somehow going to put me horribly behind on what I need to do. That, given the choice between Something Fun and work, I should choose work.
Case in point: Historiann is in town for a bit. Or rather, not too far away. I invited her & the family down for an afternoon of fun. She countered with "Let's go on a day-long adventure to [fun place I've never been but have always meant to go]!"
My first reaction was to immediately decline. Because that's a whole day. And I should be grading. Or revising my Kalamazoo paper. Or whatever.
And then I remembered that I used to like fun.
So, to sum up: I'm going on an adventure tomorrow, with Historiann! All day! To a place I've always wanted to see but have told myself that I just don't have time, and maybe next month. And honestly, I have this feeling that all will be well. Better than well, even: Fun. Which is not something you're supposed to feel guilty about on the weekend.
But, because I am who I am, I'll be doubling down on the work today. Baby steps, after all.
7 comments:
Yay for healthy attitudes and hooray for H'ann helping lead the way.
Have fun! I always remind myself that when I'm on my death bed, I sure as fucke won't be regretting that I didn't spend more time working and less time enjoying my family and friends.
I wish I could be with you guys, too!!
That's great! I found myself really grateful for fun time at SAA this year, because otherwise the whole experience would have been less than perfect. (I'm being generous.) Having fun, I remind myself often, is also important. Hope you have a great day!
Somehow as I age I've started incorporating more time for fun (or what I call fun) into trips. An example is a couple of years ago I presented at a DC conference and drove so I could take in Gettysburg on the way back. You ever want to plug in a spare day at Kalamazoo let me know. I have wheels and I've heard there are actually fun things to do in Michigan (and N. Indiana isn't far away).
Thanks for playing hooky from grading & other end-of-term chores with us! We had a great time and you all should be totes envious of us and how much fun we had.
Plus the "blogger cheesecake" moment...
Time with H'Ann and family is always fun!
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