My schedule has felt absolutely ridiculous lately. I'm holding down two part time jobs, one half an hour away from where I live and the other 20 minutes from where I live, going to school full time and I have been nailing down that full time job for when I graduate in December. And... all of this happens during the week. By the time the weekend rolls around, I'm just... exhausted.
I read a very interesting book introduction recently from "The Values that Americans Live By" authored by L. Robert Kohls. You can read the transcript here. The book is meant to help foreigners become acquainted with American culture, and the book listed out various American values that often differentiate from the rest of the world.
Time was one of the values he listed, as you can imagine. More specifically, "time and its control." Speaking to a foreigner, the introduction reads:
In a strange sense, Americans are more concerned about being on time for a conversation than they are in actually having the said conversation. They are already thinking about the next conversation, or meeting that they have to be on time to. I have seen my life absolutely morph around this, and it's frustrating and a somewhat awful way to live.
Americans even have words to describe time, as you can read in the article. We can "waste" time, "spend" time, often using words with negative attributes. Other countries must not have these descriptions of time if it was even worth pointing out.
I spent my summer in Thailand, and they had almost no concern about time. If a Thai gave you a time to meet, you could expect them to be up to a couple of hours late without much worry. And... it was okay! Thailand is certainly not the most prosperous and industrialized country, but it is a very happy country. In fact, Thailand ranks as the 20th happiest country compared to the United States at rank 105. Even the surrounding countries are happier, with Vietnam ranks as the second happiest country. Okay, what??
What are we doing wrong? Our concern over time and our other values seem so incredibly important to us and seemingly make us a prosperous and industrialized country, but how much does that matter if we aren't happy? I have started to look at the reasons that I don't have a lot of time and what exactly makes me unhappy with how I spend my time.
Is there a way to make myself feel better? Maybe. Maybe by realizing my never ending cycle of time obsession, I can begin to snap out of it and be okay with just doing what I need and want to do. Rachel, sit down. Relax. It's alright.
I read a very interesting book introduction recently from "The Values that Americans Live By" authored by L. Robert Kohls. You can read the transcript here. The book is meant to help foreigners become acquainted with American culture, and the book listed out various American values that often differentiate from the rest of the world.
Time was one of the values he listed, as you can imagine. More specifically, "time and its control." Speaking to a foreigner, the introduction reads:
"It may seem to you that most Americans are completely controlled by the little machines they wear on their wrists, cutting their discussions off abruptly to make it to their next appointment on time."
In a strange sense, Americans are more concerned about being on time for a conversation than they are in actually having the said conversation. They are already thinking about the next conversation, or meeting that they have to be on time to. I have seen my life absolutely morph around this, and it's frustrating and a somewhat awful way to live.
Americans even have words to describe time, as you can read in the article. We can "waste" time, "spend" time, often using words with negative attributes. Other countries must not have these descriptions of time if it was even worth pointing out.
I spent my summer in Thailand, and they had almost no concern about time. If a Thai gave you a time to meet, you could expect them to be up to a couple of hours late without much worry. And... it was okay! Thailand is certainly not the most prosperous and industrialized country, but it is a very happy country. In fact, Thailand ranks as the 20th happiest country compared to the United States at rank 105. Even the surrounding countries are happier, with Vietnam ranks as the second happiest country. Okay, what??
What are we doing wrong? Our concern over time and our other values seem so incredibly important to us and seemingly make us a prosperous and industrialized country, but how much does that matter if we aren't happy? I have started to look at the reasons that I don't have a lot of time and what exactly makes me unhappy with how I spend my time.
1. There is a huge emphasis at the moment to "gain experience" while in college.
Right now, I have a fantastic, well paying part time position at a small and reputable company as well as nicely paying part time internship at another company. I helped start a club, I have worked enough part time positions and have now had three total internships including the one I am at not to mention the other part time positions I have held. I did a study abroad, I volunteered, I designed a couple of silly t-shirts to help generate extra income, and when I wasn't doing all of that... I obviously had homework and school to do!2. Whenever I am not doing something "productive" I begin to have anxiety.
This may seem ridiculous, but it's true. I feel like I spend an ungodly amount of time on Reddit, but my resume says otherwise. I should be happy! I have good job prospects for when I graduate, and for a humanities major, that is no small feat. I have a career path I am considering following, plus additional, so my future job prospects are not limited to a specific field. I get to travel, I have friends, and so on. But... I am not happy. When I'm not doing anything "productive" I often repeat to my boyfriend's annoyance "I should do something right now..."3. Whenever I decide to do something, I feel guilty about not doing something else.
I should hang out with my friends today! No, but I have that paper to write... I should write that paper! No... but I have that test to study for... this list just lasts forever. Oh, the guilt!Is there a way to make myself feel better? Maybe. Maybe by realizing my never ending cycle of time obsession, I can begin to snap out of it and be okay with just doing what I need and want to do. Rachel, sit down. Relax. It's alright.
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