The Noise

Friday night I went to a Chinese restaurant and had dinner by myself. My mother always tells me how strange it is that I like to eat out or go to the movies by myself. As I sat there eating and reading on Friday, I thought about why I like to do these things by myself. I also happen to be reading "The Knife of Never Letting Go" at this time and I recognized a parallel between myself and the concept of "Noise" in the book. All the men in the book have Noise. What this essentially means is that their thoughts are open to everyone all the time, therefore no one ever experiences peace and quiet from the Noise of men. Yes, this has the potential to be sexist, but that is definitely not the focus.

On a daily basis I am surrounded by Noise. Some good and some bad, but Noise nonetheless. Within my job the day is a constant interruption, jumping from one task to the next. Sometimes my schedule for the day is totally defunct, and my goals for the day are constantly changing. Those are the days that I feel like I have worked all day and accomplished nothing, but I guess I really need to change my perspective and ask myself if I helped someone else with their goals of the day. This time of year it is easy to fall into that abyss of negativity, especially with all those tasks that this time of year brings and that I dread so much: AMTR, fixed assets inventory, book inventory, getting all students to turn in their books (if anyone has the perfect solution to this problem, I would love to hear it), and so much more.

You are probably reading this and asking yourself how this all ties together. Well, those times when I go to dinner or a movie by myself is a time that I can totally revel in the peace and quiet. It lets me escape the Noise and do something just for me. So many of us are consumed with work that we forget to take time for ourselves. Well, I say you will only be better at your job by taking time just for you. Try it, I promise all the Noise will be there when you come back to reality.