11.29.2004

Have I Passed the StressHold???

I'm stressed.. I'm sure those reading my blog are stressed.. and half of the world is stressed out in one way or another. For me there are 2 kinds of stress.. There's that knee buckling, bottom of your stomach stress that motivates me to get moving, and then there is the stress that gets me so upset and so stressed out that it causes me to do less work than if I hadn't been stressed. I've started, in the last year, to wonder what stress does to our bodies. When I went to have a massage a couple of months ago, my m.therapist noticed that I had a tense, knotted area along my right shoulderblade. Now.. whenever I get really stressed out, I notice that my shoulders tense up and it all sort of focusses to that area behind my right shoulder. Why am I wondering this? I don't know.. but I can feel the effects of stress coming on. I'm always tired.. I stop sleeping, I get jaded with the amount of work and it makes me procrastinate even worse. I just worry because I can't get myself to really care about school or about anything that meant something to me.. I think I need a dose of reality.. why didn't it work last year?? I'm stressed.. I can't sleep.. this is getting worse and worse..

11.18.2004

BloggedyBlogBlog

On my way to Scarberia yesterday I ran into my old roomie Kate.. Over the past 2 weeks we've tried and failed to hang out with each other. It makes me wonder.. I'm always so busy with school and everything that I don't always have time to hang out with the people who make me realize that the stress of school isn't going to last forever and that it's not the end of the world. I suppose all that's left to do is to enjoy the rare moments that I get to spend with some of my friends and look forward to a less busy time of my life! Thanks for the double subway company yesterday kate!! Definitely a mood upper (also due to the great mp3 mix you had!!). I'm excited, we're planning a Roomie Christmas II! It'll be better than the last!! I'm glad that school is almost done for the holidays.. but at the same time, is it just me or does time go way too fast these days? Well.. for one thing I think I might have to cave and do some laundry this weekend.. eek! Not something I want to do, but it must be done.. my room is overloading with dirty laundry.. eww.. I better watch out or Saniye might come over and start tidying up again!! haha.. anyways.. this has been a pointless post.. but hey.. it's all good!!

11.09.2004

The Wonder Drug

Habits.. I was watching the news today and they were discussing a new drug on the market that has been "proven" effective in helping people quit smoking and conquering obesity. The drug, "best on the market" goes straight to the pleasure centre of the brain and crumples our cravings.. hm.. if it doesn't distinguish between eating and smoking, I wonder what other pleasure cravings it extinguishes.

I'm falling into old habits again.. schoolwise I mean. I've begun to worry again if what I'm doing is right for me.. not really even the program I'm in anymore, but just being in school. I worry because I find myself not really caring or being that interested in school. It's not just procrastination for my assigned readings, or procrastinating that next paper.. I don't do work sometimes because I really don't want to, or I can't find the relevance in what I'm doing. I spent awhile today trying to map out the rest of my university career.. and I can't get over the disinterest that I looked at my courses with. But then, I went to the UN website and was browsing through the Job Postings, and I realized why I'm doing this.. I can't wait to get into the world and work. I want to work in International Relations.. that is something I'm passionate about. I think maybe it's just not the best time for me to be studying right now.

I've been stressing so much lately, but the stress isn't throwing me into work like it should be.. I still get by doing the bare minimum.. something I really don't feel comfortable in doing. Today has been a particularily stressful day, part of a very stressful week.. and I can't believe how relaxed I am. Right this moment, I can't concentrate because of a mix of stress and confusion, then I looked outside my kitchen window, saw how beautiful and white the sky is, even though it's very dark outside. I realized how lucky I am to be where I am.. doing what I'm doing, and it shames me that I'm not enjoying what I'm doing... rather I can't stand it.

So confused.. I wish I could find the answers somewhere in the white (potential snowy) starless skyline.. Listening to Joni Mitchell at 11 pm on a Tuesday.. procrastinating again probably isn't helping my situation. I don't get this trap I've fallen into.. this indifference..

Although I am excited about the next few days, Watts Lecture tomorrow night, Conference on Saturday: I get to hear the Prez of the Czech Republic speak, I still feel so apathetic at the moment. Reading my friend's blog and talking to people about overseas initiatives and placements, I realize that I haven't put any thought into my future workplacement in ages.. What will I want to focus on, where do I want to go.. How will I adapt? These are all important questions.. and I don't even know where to start.. I have so many fears about the placement, yet I'm so excited sometimes that I feel like I'll burst. It's still a long ways off.. but I don't think it will get any easier.. there are so many places in the world, so many projects, how can we spend only one lifetime trying to get everything done?

So off I go.. to do more work and question every minute the relevance/consequences of my studies. Well I suppose it's better than simply blindly going about my daily routine. As Plato says "The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living"... true.. but examining life too much sometimes can be such a pain!