some thoughts on this post-Ireland
Back at CNU, we have a culture that places a big emphasis on being busy, and staying busy. We push involvement, which is amazing, until looking at your google calendar is almost giving you panic attacks. I’ve loved being busy at CNU, it’s taught me about time management (and that I will probably still leave things until the last minute), it’s brought me the bestest of friends, and it’s showed me how much I can push myself. But, I also got to points where I got too busy to think. Where I was grateful that I was so busy because then I didn’t have to think about what was actually going on inside of my head. We’ve glorified this busy culture, but what is so glorious about it if you can’t even think?
I started thinking about this a lot more this past weekend when I was in the small town of Wicklow in Ireland. My friends and I decided to go to Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and before we went into Dublin for the big day, we wanted a day to relax in the countryside. We all had spent a lot of time together already, so we split off on our own and wandered around the town. I ended up wandering over to the Black Castle Ruins, and to the beautiful cliffs that were there.
As I sat down in the grass on top of the cliffs, I took a deep breath and sat in awe of the beautiful nature around me. I took out my journal to start writing, and thought about the wind. Cause sometimes you need to just think about the wind, and not stress about everything else you have to do. Sure, it’s great to be busy, but it is also necessary, especially in college, to take the time for yourself and get to know who you are a bit more. Because at the end of the day, yes you have your friends and family, but you will always always have yourself first.
I am looking forward to getting back to my somewhat busy lifestyle when I get back to CNU, but I know now that I also need a proper amount of downtime where I can notice the simplicity in life, and keep getting to know myself better. Yes it is great to be busy, but also make sure that you have time for you. Even if that seems pretty scary.
