I've had a rough time lately, I have to confess. This is not always the case, of course. Often I feel as if the rails on which I run are greased and shined and spit-polished to an acme of smoothness, and I'm left to slide dreamily on, nonchalantly ignoring the harshness of the land over which I travel.
That hasn't been the case recently; if anything, I feel as if I've gone off my tracks entirely. In large part, I think, this feeling is due to the coldness that has come over my relationship with sleep in the immediate past. I realized last night that I had slept for perhaps a total of 12 hours from Thursday to Sunday, the self-depriving effects of which I am still feeling acutely. God knows none of us sleep much, much less nearly enough, and certainly that's a problem which avails itself of a whole host of whimsical anecdotes and observations ... but I'm not really in that mood right now. Plus, I think I wrote that column last year.
So instead, here's what I've got today: A very perceptive friend of mine pointed out, as I was lamenting the hideousness of a day I recently had, that I suffered from the ailment of extreme labeling; that is, I always concluded my days by wrapping them up in a bow and placing them carefully in the "good" box or the "bad" box. This is obviously bad because there is no "mediocre" box, really, much less an "up-and-down" box or a "middling" box or a "relatively satisfying" box or any of the other countless ways we could (and more reasonably should) describe our days.
It's worse, though, because it means that I always have to come to a conclusion about my days. I force myself to sum up a day and reduce the incredible complexity of our experience to something that can be held in the very small cup of either "good" or "bad." It's as if each time I leave my apartment I open a damn sigma notation and close the parenthesis as I settle down for the evening. Sorry. I'm taking calculus this term, and it's starting to become wearing.
In any case, I think this is bad (as my friend pointed out) because it really extracts a lot of the virtue from living as deeply as I do in a world as tremendously varying as ours. Say I have 50 conversations a day, go to three classes, share three meals, talk to two professors, go to a club or two, do some reading, sit in this or that beautiful place, taste an invigorating wind and see a depressing sight: How's that supposed to be a word?
Now, I think a lot of us do this. It may not be as severe a case of this particular malady as I have, surely, but we are all (our generation, really) obsessed with figuring out in which file our experiences belong. How often do our conversations revolve around our loves and our hates or this good thing and that bad thing? It might be easier to answer the converse.
Now, I might be being unreasonable; obviously we have to develop some sort of rubric by which to measure our lives. Still, though, whether or not he's complaining about the lines at Newcomb Dining Hall or she's having trouble staying on her feet when practicing her kicks or he's lost his tuxedo jacket, even these things are pretty hard to reduce; the lines at Newcomb have occasioned some really good conversations for me with people to whom I often don't speak, and falling down whilst high-kicking will certainly make for a good story, and one must certainly have had a lot of fun to lose one's tuxedo jacket.
Anyway, my friends, God knows I'll not stop labeling things any time soon, nor is it particularly likely that I'll moderate the extremes into which I sort my waking life. But be that as it may, and running-rails fall smooth or rough as they please, the weather's turning, and we're creeping toward that long, overfeeding Thanksgiving Break, so whether your days are bad or good, I hope you manage to find succor in, if nothing else, "Lost." It's plainly the best thing on television today.
Connor's column runs bi-weekly on Fridays. He can be reached at sullivan@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
It’s okay not to be okay
By Mai Hukuoka | 3 days agoWhether talking to a friend, a loved one or a professional, it is so necessary, and human, to need more than you can provide for yourself.
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | 5 days agoWhat the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
