Boy, winter break sure went by fast. The past four weeks of sleepy midday wake-ups, watched and rewatched TV series and unlimited barefoot showering was admittedly much needed, and I, for one, am not feeling fully prepared to return to living life bound by even a trace of responsibility. It's the first week back, and I have already begun thinking of ways to procrastinate on assignments I haven't even been given yet. But aside from granting me the priceless opportunity of revisiting every glorious episode of "Game of Thrones," the time off from school provided me with an excess of time to revisit something that I consider even more necessary.
Here is how I see it: during the academic year, we spend countless hours doing. Reading and writing, analyzing and focusing, grappling with the complex—we bounce from one activity to another, expected to remain attentive and give each commitment our best effort and achieve our goals. All the while, we accumulate stress until we find ourselves suddenly bound to ideas and words and deadlines in the external world more than we are to our own thoughts and insights. Sure, it's easy to look at all the downtime that winter break allows for as laziness. Maybe to some, that's merely all it is. However, recently, I began to view "doing nothing" as an almost necessary process of reconnection with myself.
There are obvious benefits to be found in "knowing thyself," as Socrates recommended way back when. It allows us to recognize what brings us happiness and what makes us tick, and it brings out a remarkably palpable self-certainty. What is even more interesting is that research has shown that those with better self-knowledge have higher academic performance.
If your experiences have been anything like mine, you might be scratching your head at this piece of scholarly minutiae, because it seems like the only way to do a decent job of functioning is to be wired literally all the time. But perhaps carving out some time to "do nothing" is a viable solution to keeping sane once the semester kicks into full gear. Keep the spirit of winter break alive and find yourself before you even begin to lose yourself.
What, you may be wondering, sorts of activities even qualify as "nothing"? Well, a good start might be doing something that helps you remember that there is, in fact, a person there, beneath that seemingly never-ending to-do list. Read a book for pleasure, draw a picture, play an instrument, take a walk, let yourself daydream without guilt. Don't forget that you are the most important part of yourself.
Stay sane, my friends.
