I'm spending not enough time reading journal articles, revising essays, and reviewing possible textbooks for a new class, while spending too much time reading for pleasure, playing Words with Friends, and rearranging the kitchen cabinets.
I'm making slow progress on my research, but I'm not exactly saving the world. I mean, I took a CPR class today so I'll know what to do next time a student stops breathing in my presence (read it here), which could potentially save a life, but that's not exactly part of my sabbatical project. (It's more a part of my being a responsible human being project.) And yesterday I spent an outrageous amount of time emptying out a stack of four drawers in the kitchen where mice apparently had a wild party during our recent vacation--scrambling all over our kitchen gadgets, chewing bristles off a pastry brush, and dropping little calling cards everywhere they went. Cleaning out four drawers and washing every single item in them won't contribute anything tangible to my sabbatical research, but it might help me sleep more soundly. (Although I'd sleep even better if the mice would just go away and leave me alone!)
I'm doing too much gadget-cleaning and not enough thinking deep thoughts, and being snowed in doesn't help, so yesterday I bundled up and went out for a walk in the snow. I watched nuthatches hop up and down the trunk of a tree and I tried to get a decent photo of shadows on snow, which is difficult but oddly soothing. The crisp, cold air and blue sky cleared my head and made me irrationally happy, a nice change from my earlier mouse-inspired angst. I've been doing not enough walking outside and too much sitting inside stewing over the mouse infestation problem, and it's hard to think deep thoughts when you're always listening for the pitter-patter of little pests.
And now I'm doing too much thinking about what I'm doing not enough of, which only compounds the problem. Better get busy! (But not too much.)
No comments:
Post a Comment