Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Crash

I am currently experiencing what is well known, if not popularly called, The Crash. Visiting family is gone back to their homes, traveling's done, and it's the first time the body has a chance to cope with all the stress it's put up with recently. I feel like I could sleep for days, I'd like another week to really get my shit together and be ready to go back to work, but there's zero chance of that happening. in 24 hours I'll be in the mail room again, wondering how many more packages I can sort before I give myself an aneurysm and have an excuse for a break.

I take Crashes seriously. When I Crash, I take it easy, I don't push myself, and I let whatever reserves are gone get replenished. I know plenty of people that don't. They pride themselves on how they can just push past it, ride their own momentum, and get through it; good for them. Me, it doesn't work like that. I can push through Crashes as well as the next guy, but I also know that if I do, I'm pretty much guaranteed to get sick. Crashes may be a hassle, but I can deal with hassles, but I spent enough of my life laid up in a sickbed to not want to be there if I can possibly avoid it. Even if that means not staying up late for a week in a row.

My first semester as a college professor is done, and I think it went pretty well. I won't have my evaluations back until later this month, but all my students passed, I had fun (so what if the students did), and nothing went horribly wrong. I'm teaching another class this coming semester, one that plays a little closer to my strengths, so we'll see if I can keep that momentum going for a whole semester.

My writing... has slowed. Not stopped, and I suppose that's its own victory, but I wanted to have more done by now. A full time job plus a part time teaching job equals a much larger strain on my reserves than I estimated. It was the right call and I'm happier for it, but this is not a long-term thing. I'm meeting with people and am trying to change some habits to get back on top of things, my writing and fitness being the two big things, but it's going to come down to willpower. We'll see.

Happy New Year!