Day: March 8, 2016

Today is all about the brain being all over the place. I’m back to reading speculative/hard sci-fi and it is reminding me to think about every day things. I realize that sounds odd, but the stuff I’m reading questions the way we conceptualize every day life and has brought back the question of whether or not we are actually free-thinking beings or if everything we do is a response to a script we were socialized towards from birth. This is the question that initially tipped me towards sociology and psychology and remains that question that reminds me to give time to daily free thoughts. Like these.

Some Thoughts:

1. The WWE has never had a Heavyweight Champion they define as black. I know, the Rock is quite black, but they rather view him as Samoan and advertise him on that basis. So, since ’63 the entertainment league has avoided the black champion and, the league has been notoriously racist over that same time period. It doesn’t take long to figure out that the league is a mirror of Vince McMahon’s inner desires. Yet there are still enough bright superstars to keep most viewers interested. Less so now as he plays out some soap opera drama with his son. Even my kids are bored.
2. One of the issues I am dealing with is a completely disjointed english class. One of the students who actually is making an effort to learn something pulled me aside after class and remarked on the lack of chemistry in the class. Perhaps this impending week off reflects a good time frame to regroup–just like I’ve been trying to do with the Mythology class.
3. Wrestling is helping my kids to discern between reality and fantasy–when they want to. They accept that everything about wrestling appears to be false, but they are unwilling to accept that wrestling itself is false. Its like understanding that the ingredients of a cake can’t really exist and then happily eating a slice. You should see them around Christmas.
4. Spring break is upon us and I haven’t figured out what to do. I recently had a series of conversations that served to remind me that the majority of our lives are based around sports. I want to do something different this break that is not at all sports related–especially now when there are no practices to be held.

Einstein is quoted as saying, “It is not that I’m smart, it is that I stay with the questions much longer.” I hadn’t been able to directly apply that to my life until recently. After a long weekend and a particularly hard day in classes I realized that part of what is making me so frustrated these days is being around people who simply don’t care.

I have a history of not being around the right people. You can track my lifelong productivity by that scale. The better quality of folk I associate with, the happier and more full my life is. This is not to say I’m not around good people, but the majority of my day is spent around people who aren’t making my life better. Of course, defining better or good is a slippery slope in of itself. That is why I am falling back to the Einsteinian view on this particular philosophy. I’m not staying with the questions long enough. Moreover, I’m not staying with the people who are staying with the questions and that has become more and more apparent.

I can count the amount of time I spend with friends in seconds per week. I spend more time with students who don’t remotely care about their education than I do with friends and than I do with students who care about their education. Such a thing wears on you and leads to serious burnout. Worse, it leads to brain rot, mental drain, and an inability to be a creative force and stay fresh and innovative.

Tuesdays and Thursdays I find myself in a room full of excited writers. I love the experience and it renews me every time. Still, it is not enough. I need more of that interaction in my life and not just as a teacher. I need thinkers and doers and people who are pushing the envelope in one way or another. That is what NYC was to me and that is likely why the sleepy suburbs are making me chafe.