Lessons

This semester, well, year really, has been one of the most commitment- and responsibility-free of my life. Having graduated out of every extracurricular organization that defined my undergraduate existence (and for a time moving across the world), I now have more free time than I know what to do with. This semester I'm enrolled in class three days a week; four days out of seven I literally have NOTHING scheduled in my calendar. In a nutshell, I'm bored as all get-out.

This was not necessarily a problem last semester; I was living in Adelaide and surrounded by people; finding company and activities was pretty easy. All I had to do was walk into our common room. It also helped that I engrossed myself in my surroundings whole-heartedly; new experiences can do that, and I didn't have much time to fully enjoy them. Still, I certainly felt the lack of busy-ness.

Multiply that tenfold now. I'm back in a city I know very well, albeit one that I still love, and it's the dead of winter. Potential for activity abound, but it's hard to rustle up the people to accompany me. Actually, I take that back; my levels of social activity would be more than adequate to satisfy me if I had more work to do. Spending most of my day inert does not motivate me well. In fact, I think having more free time negatively affects my work ethic and the quality of what I do produce. Monotony leads to lethargy and ennui, and ultimately procrastination. It also doesn't make me the greatest companion when I do get out, I think, because I'll seize that person with all the force of a reluctant recluse.

Luckily, however, my sorry and workless state might be at an end. I have an opportunity to once again become a productive member of society at a local not-for-profit adoption agency. If I do, I'll have much less free time, but I think will be happier as a result. Is it unusual for a person to look forward to working more and relaxing less?

I think this past year has taught me a valuable lesson. I ended my senior year worked to the bone, exhausted, and dispirited. I was rejuvenated by exposing myself to a society that enforces a better work-life balance and giving myself more personal freedom. In doing so, I realized that while life can't be all work and no play, it also can't be all play and no work (at least for me). Keeping those thoughts in mind for my future career, I hope to strike a good balance that leaves me happy, healthy, and satisfied both at work and beyond.