Here's one good thing about Zoom: if I mute the video, I can "attend" a committee meeting with my eyes shut--as long as I occasionally offer a snippet of insight and don't start snoring.
My eyes are fatigued. They need rest. They definitely don't need to be open throughout an hour-long committee meeting where my input is neither sought or required. So I hide behind the "mute" button and relax while gentle waves of committee-speak wash over me.
I couldn't relax at another meeting, though, because the content was too disturbing: Options for maintaining integrity on final exams (when all those online proctoring companies give me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach). Options for adjusting the campus calendar or teaching methods in the fall in case we can't return to face-to-face classes (which made me want to either seek early retirement or go find a bridge to jump off of). Options for encouraging many more faculty to teach summer classes online to assist students who may have fallen behind (when I really need to devote my summer to getting caught up on the research and writing projects that have fallen by the wayside as I've worked to switch to online teaching, not to mention the need to revamp all my fall classes in case we have to continue teaching online).
For the sake of my mental health, I think I need to attend fewer meetings. A little knowledge is a powerful thing except when it kicks you in the gut over and over and then, when you've fallen, stomps on your head. I need to tend my wounds for a little while before incurring new ones, so for the moment I prefer to keep my eyes clamped shut.
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