Reifying the Abstract

In the movie Finding Nemo, Dory’s relaxed song helped me assume that same nonchalance. When times seem long or blending into the next busy stage, only to be momentarily broken by periods of quite, I love watching the clip from “just keep swimming.”

Swimming or propelling oneself forward to overcome an obstacle is an example of thinking practically; unfortunately, we get into a routine where we go to our classes and don’t actually enjoy the material. Sure, class can only be interesting to some degree; those introductory level classes seem to only skim the surface of the depth that you wish to explore.

Classes help structure my day: how I spend it and who I run into; unfortunately, classes don’t always teach you what you will actually carry into the next stage of your life. If you plan on becoming a doctor, obviously, intro Bio is a prerequisite for more difficult material. 

I’ve always been the kind of person who won’t do something if I think its a waste of time.

Kyle might ask me, “Alexis, are you going to lecture today?”

Instantly three questions pop into my head:

1) If I miss the class will I suffer on the midterm? 

If that’s  a no, I move onto number 2:

2) Is there a 50% chance that I will (a) fall asleep during lecture, (b) daydream about my date on friday, or (c) spend the period making plans for the rest of my day? 

For number two, the answer is always a+b+c. Or possibly an abstract variant of (c-a)^2 - (2b/a)….

Regardless, if the a+b+c has taken on a larger value for that day. I follow what I want to do, not what I feel like is expected of me. Adhering to this stubborn logic has not only gotten me grounded on multiple occasions, but has done some damage over time.

3) Did I sleep at least 4 hours last night?

If the answer is no, there is a 99.9% chance I will fall asleep and miss lecture anyways.

NOW, it’s 10:50am, ten minutes before my bio class. I’m sitting in a secluded alcove lost in reflection….time for something more concrete! On to bio it is!!! Especially since i skipped last lecture.

(via thingssheloves)