Stress (please!)
I learned two things on the first day of grad school. The first was that “worker satisfaction is not correlated with increased productivity” and therefore just keep workers happy enough that they don’t quit. My first inkling that Industrial-Organizational Psychology would not be for me.
Professor Dobson then told us that we were basically wasting our money on grad school. “You could read all these books on your own. The only thing you’re paying us for is ‘Creative Tension’ so you’ll actually do the work.”
Segue to a life of retirement and travel, the polar opposite of grad school Creative Tension. One of the first things I noticed after retiring was that I could wake up at 4am and go back to sleep! No work stress and Things to Do lists jarring my brain to get up and slip in a few hours before the kids wake up. I could relax, sleep, breathe!
I also let go of Efficiency. And multi-tasking. Tasks I used to whip off hurriedly I now dwell on - or, being honest, even expand a bit to fill time. I don’t have to take the fastest route to the store, or whip off a quick email reply when there’s time to give it some space and thoughtful consideration first. No screen with 14 open windows of half-read articles - I can open an email or follow a link, complete it, then close it and move on to the next item of interest.
Slow, Thorough, Thoughtful, Calm - not adjectives that Student Rick or Professional Rick would have attracted nor wanted. It’s healthy to not view Time as a scarcity or “wasted”, but with the appropriate nudging it does represent the opportunity to live a rich and occasionally productive life.
A Small Side of Stress, Please
Sometimes a little dash of hot sauce would be good for this easy-rider palate. Stress exists for a reason - to heighten our awareness, energy, focus. My self-imposed commitment to publish a blog somewhat weekly keeps me writing, taking pictures, and analyzing/processing. I do read, but a Professor Dobson telling me I’ll be tested on it next Thursday would help me burn through and retain more pages.
I notice this over-relaxedness in handling travel. What used to be stress and hassle is now Normal, which is good. But I’m also not as careful and alert. Left my backpack (with passport and money) on a bus in Portland. Just found out we need to apply for a visa to enter Cambodia. Forgot to pack my lightweight sleeping bag for the Banff hike (thanks for the loaner, Michael), and carried an extra uneaten 2 pounds of trail mix and protein bars because I didn’t particularly plan lunches and snacks.
I’m not complaining. After a lifetime of choosing high-stress long-hour leadership jobs, it’s a Joy to learn to amble and shuffle and meander. I just need to remember to manually crank up the pressure when there’s an occasion for more alertness, timeliness, high-performance.
Six-Minute Poetry
So I turn to outside sources to apply the pressure. I do way more pushups during morning calisthenics class at Rio Chante than alone on the porch. Volunteer to write a grant that has a deadline. Purchase language lessons. Paying money and group accountability are two sure-fire ways to up the urgency and motivation.
Another example is an online poetry class I’ve signed up for. For the first time in decades, I’m being pushed to actually write and share poetry instead of just letting clever word combo’s flitter and glitter and alitter in my appreciative noggin. I enjoy the guidance of our facilitator and the supportive group of like-minded creatives, but mostly I’ve paid $40 for her to blow a whistle and set a timer for 6 minutes.
Yes, six minutes. That’s all we’re given, and 360 seconds later there’s a blob of words on the page that otherwise never would have been born. Why have I not managed on my own to put six minutes aside over the last decade to whip off a poem? Oh ya, creative tension. Thank you, Professor Dobson.
Railing
Where was I when Contentment was crowned King?
Where was my flagrant flagellant spirit, so used to combatting complacency
So fed by Adventure and Turmoil and new New NEW?
On which birthday was the Past my present instead of the Future?
Calmly opening the giftbox of Stagnation rather than ripping into a knights-worthy Quest Quagmire?
Slowly untying and unwrapping what should have been ripped and torn and unleashed in frenzied folly?
I don’t fear Old, but the settling of Mold and Musty and Crusty and Cold
Cold crumbling of the fiery passion that once defined and refined me
The morning-after fire’s soft embers boil tea, not blood
But ahhh, my toes are warm, the tea wafts ginger and spice
This old man Me shifts and grins
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Currently in...
Hoi An, Vietnam for Feb-March
Heading to...
North Vietnam, Bali (April), Philadelphia (May). Please share any sites, people or ideas by email.
Would love to read a volume of your poetry…one day. 😊 Amen! To “I don’t fear Old, but the settling of Mold and Musty and Crusty and Cold
Cold crumbling of the fiery passion that once defined and refined me”
Remember the poetry readings at my house in Akron?