Bubbles

I’ve had such an exhilarating day.. just picture yourself indoors, doing university work… going to one lecture… then going back indoors.  Yes, i may have got some progress in my university work load, but the last half an hour i almost went insane. I couldn’t stand being in the library and in the stuffy air and all the sniffing and people who decide that it’s okay to talk on their mobile phones in a quiet area…..

So I had to get outside.

And here I am , sitting outside the library with a chai latte, typing jovially on my laptop. I don’t know what it was- but i feel so much more at peace outside, i had the increasing feeling that i was slowly being sucked in to a narrow minded academia world where people talk like journal articles and reference everything they say whilst listening to ilectures and trying not to check facebook and then trying not to put post its on the person next to you’s divider (which conveniently was my boyfriend in this case)……. You get the idea.

As much as i love studying my subjects (I do genuinely enjoy my subjects this semester) I think i need to make sure I have time to actually enjoy and experience this time in my life, as well as studying. To be honest, organisation and self motivation are my recently introduced friends, so i think i can go overboard with trying to compute everything.

But believe it or not, i’ve actually started doing my assessments early and doing drafts and I EVEN HANDED IN AN ASSESSMENT EARLY! That’s right. You heard it.. Last year i don’t think i handed one assessment in on time… (with 2% or 1 mark penalty a day? !!)

So I suppose i am trying to comprehend this new “emily”- the one who can get organised and can do uni work- with the creative one or any other sense of self i may have held over the last few years. Hmm, maybe BALANCE! would be a useful concept here. And I think maybe everyone else might go through a similar experience- at least in trying to balance all the different aspects of life- and learning how to ‘put on the different hats!’

Do you remember that concept from primary school? Putting on your thinking hat? I remember when I first learnt this concept in year 1 I thought it was fantastic! It was devised by a guy called Edward de Bono  (if you want to check out the wiki article, click here!) For example, if we had to solve a question, we’d look at the different perspectives from the different hats we had on. (We actually had coloured hats, i loved it!) All the different colours meant a different perspective- eg Red was for Emotions and the bad points or judgement was black. In reflection, it taught the class how to consider different perspectives and then to evaluate the problem/question.

So how does this apply? …..

Well, looking at things (aka uni work, sense of self) from these different perspectives. Before you laugh or shake your head, let me explain. Firstly, we should all wear coloured hats. Secondly, I think it’s important to be able to look at situations, who you are, different people, relationships with different perspectives so you can see the whole (or big!) picture. And to also use the analogy to apply to all the different areas of our lives, (eg work, university, social, family, friends etc) and separately they do not form a whole, but when all areas are considered, they form a whole… Me! Or You! (Or physically, a rainbow hat!)

Anyhow, these were the thoughts flying around in my head for this evening. Unfortunately I have finished my chai latte and have to keep it between my legs because the wind keeps knocking it off the table!The sun has almost set, and the clouds are a faded pink… starting to turn into the rich monochrome of the night sky. So I must say goodbye!

Before i do, what do you think about sense of self? Thinking hats? Colours? University libraries??

 

xx