I didn't dress up for Halloween this year. Maybe I was just being a party-pooper, or perhaps the quest to find the perfect costume, which for today's modern woman includes fishnet stockings and a "cute" corset of some kind, seemed like more trouble than it was worth. I was simply planning on wearing Halloween socks from Talbots, and that's about as festive as it was gonna get.
But when I woke up on Halloween morning, I realized I didn't need a costume; I could conveniently go as myself -- a zombie.
I definitely felt like a sleep-deprived, barely-living creature, and I'm pretty sure I looked like one, too -- pale skin, dark circles under the eyes, hair in complete disarray. I probably even sounded like one, as I was reduced to emitting a steady stream of grunts, sighs and monosyllabic greetings to those around me. And on the rare occasions when I was able to muster the mental energy required to post a semi-interesting away message, I had difficulty selecting an appropriate emoticon to represent my emotionless state of being.
In light of the fact that most of my class discussions this past week have been lackluster at best, and all around me people seem to be a) complaining how tired they were, b) falling asleep in class or c) sleepwalking, I'm fairly certain I was not the only zombie walking around Grounds lately. Indeed it's quite telling that we've been in a sorry state when we fall asleep drinking caffeinated beverages in public places. Case in point: I saw three people sleeping in the comfy chairs at Starbucks the other day.
So what has caused us to resemble creatures from "Night of the Living Dead?"
I think what many of us have been experiencing lately is the after-effect of midterm season, that time of year when our very beings are held hostage by a merciless barrage of exams, papers and other soul-sucking assignments meant to assess half a semester's worth of learning. Midterms are intellectually, emotionally and physically draining. They represent the worst of times.
But now we're entering the recovery phase. The end is in sight. There's light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a delicious turkey on a shiny silver platter. The two-week countdown to Thanksgiving Break begins today.
So how are we to make it through until then? Can any amount of leftover Halloween candy possibly supply the energy booster we'll need to plow through the next two weeks?
It's time to get inspired. I feel this is a prime opportunity to discuss inspiration, because I've found that, as the workload piles up, we sometimes lose sight of why we're doing it all in the first place. I've often complained about all the reading I have to do, but the reality is, I chose to major in English and Spanish. Am I a glutton for punishment for opting to pursue a course of study that involves long novels and countless close reading assignments? No. I chose it because I love literature. Books excite me. Words -- particularly adjectives and double entendres -- thrill me. A finely-constructed, carefully-wrought sentence is enough to make my heart sing.
And therein lies the key to reviving our souls: finding inspiration in the work we're doing. Now I realize it may be difficult to find something inspiring about the nature of chemical bonds or the finer points of the federal tax code, but evidently, there must be something about those topics that excites you, stokes the flame of your intellectual passion or at least mildly strikes your fancy.
I told myself when I started writing this column that I wasn't going to resort to using clichéd quotations to illustrate a point, but as I feel we're all in need of a good pep talk, I'm willing to make a concession. And so, as the eminent philosopher Howard Thurman once said, "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive."
So let's find something that makes us come alive, something that can reinvigorate our souls. I, for one, am ready to banish my midterm-induced zombie state and embrace my inner geek. But I'll need to make a quick trip to the candy bowl first.
Lauren's column runs bi-weekly on Thursdays. She can be reached at pappa@cavalierdaily.com.
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