I love my job. A lot. It is the best job in the world – for me anyway. Naturally, I work more hours than is technically expected of me. Many professor that I know do. Labor of love. Although there were several instances where I experienced burn out (including last week), in general, I am good at enjoying a good balance between work, rest, and other aspects of my life. I always make time for extracurriculars and enjoy them tremendously. They help stave off burn out, for the most part, unless they too become “things to do” and contribute to it.
Between the end of last semester and the beginning of this one, I did the following.
- I finished three yoga programs with an online yoga and meditation platform with which I have had a subscription since COVID. I have not been to a yoga studio since March 2020. I built a home “studio” instead, with props and all, subscribed to the platform and continued my yoga practice. Motivation is never an issue with me. I can roll out of bed any day and do my downward dogs first thing in the morning without having to psych myself up. I completed the following programs and felt great at the end of each session. My body too.
- Every Saturday for the last four months, I studied Ge’ez, the language of my Axumite ancestors, with a linguist. I now began to understand reading Ge’ez text. In the past, I could read anything written in Ge’ez without understanding because the script is the same as Tigrigna, my mother tongue.
- I read non-work-related books.
- How to Say Babylon – finished it
- The War of Art (not the Art of War) – finished it
- Better to Never Have Been – not finished yet
I am going to finish the last book. But then after that I want my next extracurricular to be doing nothing, you know as in just sit and stare at the wall. I am so looking forward to Reading Week to do just that!
Mahtot [Mah-tote] Gebresselassie, PhD 