Too Much

About responsibility...

There is such thing as too much. And... sometimes I wonder if I'm really ready to be an adult. I've been one for a long time now (by my standards)... and I often find myself letting important things go because I just can't seem to get to them. I still manage to watch my corny movies, though. What kind of prioritizing is THAT?

It just strikes me that there is a lot more to being an adult than one sometimes wants to admit. It is a lot easier to feel bad about your ability to prioritize than to acknowledge that you might be trying to do more than you can handle, and that you might still have some personal issues to work through before you reach your full productive capacity. I sure don't want that to be true-- I think I SHOULD be able to handle what I've committed myself to achieving at this point in my life. The evidence so far is against me, though.

For example, I've learned the hard way that I can't handle 3 online classes at the same time. I just can't keep the details of each classes' requirements and system set-up in my head for three classes in one semester. I actually dropped a class in the Fall last year because of this reality. Even knowing it, I still had to struggle through three classes last semester-- if I wanted to graduate this December, and not incur another $7,000 in debt for ANOTHER semester of school. Luckily, I can take the two classes at a time that I can actually handle for the last two semesters here. Plus work. Plus internships that I have to arrange and apply for ahead of time. Plus the final project stuff that doesn't count as a class, but takes about the same amount of time.

This semester's struggle with 3 classes cost me something. I'm actually on academic probation because it is unacceptable to receive a C grade in grad school, and I did. In my favorite class. Because I forgot that this particular professor didn't always put the full assignment information into the syllabus, and that we had instead to check the online turn-in location for additional instructions-- and remember to SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LONG PAGE to be sure we had all the info on the assignment. So I turned in a 100-point assignment with only one of the three required sections completed. Because I only knew about the one section listed in the syllabus. Shigt. Otherwise, I might have had an A.

At the same time as I am working on an internship, planning my next internship, preparing my resume for the need to being applying for jobs, and expecting school to start up again Monday... I am trying to pursue my art. The thing I can lose myself doing because I love doing it so much. The thing I could soon be selling at a profit-- if I can find the time to finish some of my projects and market them to the folks who've already expressed interest.

Also, I have friends. I'd like to keep them. So I spend some time-- much-enjoyed and much-appreciated time-- with them. And I have an apartment to maintain, and food to buy and cook and eat, and a lot of emotional baggage to work through. Not the least of which is concerns that have arisen in the past while about the health and well-being of various close and much-loved family members. Oh, and did I mention that I work 20 hours a week? And have a side job writing intellectual blogs for an online magazine three times a week? (www.libraryjournal.com) And that I've got no financial aid for school because I'm on academic probation? No stress there, right?

It's just too much. And yet, there isn't really anything I can drop. Stop spending time with friends? Yeah- and go stark raving nuts in a matter of weeks. Stop working? And eat what-- toenails?

See, the thing is-- I signed up for all this. And I need to see it through. All of it. Because this is my future we're talking about. My ability to get a job that offers both satisfaction in my work, and some sort of health care and retirement benefits, while paying an actual living wage for a single income family. So while I'm working hard to keep a stiff upper lip that actually curves UP and not down, there are definitely many moments when I wonder what the hegll I'm doing wrong here, and if I'm really qualified to be an adult. I hope it gets easier, because I don't think I can take it getting any harder. Oh. I just remembered. It's the first of the month. My rent is due. Right.

Well, that's all the time I have to spend on feeling sorry for myself today. Check back another time for a cheery, humorous, and uplifting post. I'm about due to have one. Any time now. Really.

About Joy

I've recently had reason to contemplate joy-- to think deeper than the next corny movie on my hit list, and ask myself what I am truly glad to have in my life. It's not a difficult answer.

The relationships. The good ones. Those people, places, and animals are the Joy of my life. It's very difficult to think about losing even one of them. I think that's why I've tried not to attend many funerals in my lifetime. I'd rather have my memories remain joyful. Not relegated to the past-- behind some horrid memory of black clothes and crying and lots of sniffing because NOBODY thinks to bring enough kleenex for the way your nose runs when you cry. I think life and the people in it are to be enjoyed.

So I decided that what I want to do right now is honor some of the joyful moments I've had in my life-- and thought to capture with a digital camera-- by posting random photos. I know not everyone wants their picture up here, and I know I'm not going to upload EVERY joyous moment I have on film... but I thought it would be something important that I could be happy to review later on-- a commemoration of Joy. (By the way, some of my favorite cousins have 'Joy' for their middle name. I love that about them!)

And since I cannot NOT figure out the formatting of the photos, they are in VERY random order. Sigh.

Sad

So I'm back at my Spring Cleaning-- which I started mid-finals, and then gave up when I realized I'd recycled two (not one- but TWO) wedding invitations. Spent about a week with my head in the sand recuperating and regrouping for the Summer Semester... and now I'm back at it.

Spring Cleaning.

I bring this up because I'm now at my desk (obviously, as I'm typing)-- cleaning it off and wondering how dirty the surface will be when I get down that far-- and I have discovered a wide variety of to-do lists. My favorite has only one item on it, but places for more things I never got around to writing down, and obviously intended to. The first thing on the list? "--Write things down!"

Okay-- that's just sad.