I almost always teach a course during my university’s J-term, but not this year. Even though the email stream hasn’t stopped, and I’m going in once a week, slowing down and writing at home has been wonderful.
During my last sabbatical I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there were ever deepening levels of rest and renewal. I had assumed I’d reach a rest/renewal point of diminishing returns after a few weeks or months, but I didn’t. You know that Mase, Puff Daddy, The Notorious B.I.G. song on your iPod, Mo Money, Mo Problems . . .
. . . I’m working on one called Mo Rest, Mo Clarity of Purpose. I have the lyrics down, but I’m still perfecting the dance moves. No doubt it will set you back 1.29 once the new iTunes launches.
Ever spun a light road bike wheel with a primo hub? With little effort it will spin and spin and spin. Takes a long time to come to a complete rest. I feel like a road bike wheel. I can’t say I’ve come to a complete stop, but I’m spinning more slowly than normal. The result is a fresh perspective on what’s most important.
The single greatest cost of my modern-default pace of life is a loss of perspective on what’s most important over the medium and long-term. For me to think deeply about what’s most important in life, I need to stop spinning. The slower I spin, the more I ask questions about life purposes, the more I ask questions about life purposes, the more appreciative I am of the people around me and the more meaningful my actions.
I wonder why almost everything that’s written about overwork focuses on stress and physical health when the most damaging trade-off is a relative loss of perspective on the “bigger picture.” As a result of this break, I’ve been more perceptive of how we sometimes resist slowing down and thereby avoid questions about life purposes.
If we watch enough television, read enough fluff, aimlessly surf the net, shop til’ we drop, bounce around Facebook, text and talk on cell phones long enough, we can avoid a question we’ve been highlighting at PLU: What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?
I need to be more intentional about unplugging each day to be more mindful of my life purposes and to rise above the tyranny of the urgent.
Pressing Pause 
Well, I thought I was going to have an easy “Winter term” (here the three weeks between semesters) by teaching “German Reunification and its Aftermath,” a course that centers on my speciality. Alas, the university system remains in crisis, they are talking about “transformative change,” and we have a new reorganization plan being pushed which required at least 10 hours of formal meetings, and other conversations. On top of that I had laryngitis for a few days (so I showed some good German films in class — Goodbye Lenin and an intriguing one ‘the Edukators’ — in German “Die Fetten Jahren sind vorbei,” which you might enjoy). So I’ve not had time to rest, or (and this relates to physical health) keep up my exercise routine.
But you’re right about perspective. To me keeping perspective is a real stress reducer, absolutely imperative in times when one gets too busy. So I really haven’t felt stress despite being hyperbusy. But yeah, some time for rest and clarity would do me good right now…alas, a new semester starts Tuesday, and I’m working with others on an alternate plan to the reorganization that has space for a division of interdisciplinary and integrative studies…and of course kids of ages 5 and 3 (being an older father is good in some ways, but they demand energy). Still, you are right. Perhaps just finding some time each day to set aside, away from all the craziness can help alot!