With my students gone into their IB exams, spring is a time for exploring the big questions. The first one: Why do I spend so much time on minutia?
I go through whole days focused on small moments:
“Where are my keys?”
“Did I turn off the stove?”
“How many rides do I have left on my train pass?”
“What is my password for the Iberia Miles program?”
“Do I have enough money for coffee?”
“Do I have a lesson plan for class tomorrow?”
“Where are my keys?” (This comes up a lot)
The answers to these questions are relatively simple.
-My keys are in my bag. (They always are.)
-Yes, I turned off the stove. (I have always turned off the stove, not that it does anything to alleviate my 20-minutes-from-home-and-I’m sure-my-apartment-is-on-fire induced panic attacks)
-Generally, I have between 1 and 3 rides left on my train pass (I’ve also recently discovered that I can add more rides before they officially run out and the train pass somehow keeps track of which rides were added first and uses them. Magic.)
-Usually, I have enough money for coffee. (If I don’t, my boyfriend helps out. He’s very generous and it’s in his best interest to keep me well-caffeinated.)
-I’m at the miraculous point of teaching where I generally do have a lesson plan for class the next day. (One I have already spent pain-staking hours considering and planning out in previous years, so I can just make sure the information is still accurate (and that I have a current answer key for those pesky physics questions) and go in and teach something.)
It’s important to have the answers to these questions.
These small considerations are essential for my day-to-day functioning. However, in the restless spring air it feels like I’m walking down a beautiful path and these questions keep me focused on looking at my feet.
I want to look up and make sure I’m headed the right direction.
As usual, my path to self-assurance in the general direction of my life started with an internet search about successful, happy people and their hobbies.
The good news: There is a wealth of advice of successful, happy people and their hobbies!! (here is what they do before 8 AM, here is morning to night, here is what they avoid, here is an infographic!)
The other good news: I already do a lot of this stuff! I exercise, I read (memes count, right?), I eat breakfast. I’m halfway there!
BUT in doing all this stuff, I don’t want to get lost in the minutia. Instead of constantly thinking about where my keys are (because seriously, they’re always in my bag).
I want to focus on exploring the big questions:
-What do I remember about the last news story I read?
-What kind of trees do I walk by on my morning commute? Why do they grow there?
-Does the person I’m talking to have brothers and sisters? Hobbies that might be interesting to discuss?
-What is a good adventure for this weekend?
-What was I doing this time last year? What’s changed since then?
-What color were the walls in the last room I was in?
Picture below of a trip (not even a year ago) to Botswana, an adventure I don’t think about nearly enough.
