As I was testing which types of blogs I should try to use, I decided I would write down my thoughts on paper then enter them all when I officially started my blog. The first few posts are mainly about things that I thought about in class with some added commentary from things that I wrote about while riding the buses to and from class.
WEEK OF JANUARY 24-30, 2011
1/25: In ENDS 101 this day, we talked about divergent thinking. We discussed how it is about throwing as many ideas out there without judging or analyzing as possible. When we participated in this activity during class, I found that the ideas that I was coming up were becoming more and more far fetched. At first I decided that this was a weird thinking process, and that it probably wasn't a fit for me. But then I realized that maybe my ideas weren't so far fetched, that I was actually stretching my creative borders! I wonder how annoyed my friends would get if I applied divergent thinking to all areas of my life..... It would take hours to decide where we were going to eat, what our plans are for the night, and even worse.... What I am going to wear!
1/26: This day was a busy day for me. Back to back scheduling from 8:00 am until 9:30 pm.I decided that the one hour of free time that I had from 1:00pm to 2:00 pm would be best spent eating soup at Jason's Deli and tanning. As I laid in the tanning bed with noise from the fans and music playing, I realized that I felt more relaxed at that moment than I had at any other point in the day. Then I started to get stressed because I started thinking "WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I BE THE MOST RELAXED IN A PLACE THAT COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE SKIN CANCER?!" Then I realized that this probably wasn't the first time I considered myself most relaxed in a high-risk situation. For example, I LOVE flying on airplanes, even though they can crash, and oddly enough, I LOVE gridlock traffic when I have nowhere to be. How could this be?!
1/27: This was another day filled full of meetings and class. I am on a planning committee for the Women's Leadership Forum. In a room full of 6 women, you can't imagine how often we digress. I, own my own, digress in thought. As we sat discussing the budget and who would be the best candidates for speakers, I couldn't help but let my inner psychologist out. I started looking at the different ways all of the women used their hands when they talked, trying to find similarities. Then it hit me! No matter what was being discussed, any time the speaker made eye contact with someone, the listener/recipient of eye contact ALWAYS nodded their head! I even caught myself doing it! I decided to make ENDS 101 my personal experiment that day. When I sat down in lecture, I decided to sit a little further back than I normally would have, the fifth row. From there I would be able to see more students. In the hour and fifteen minute lecture, I counted 73 head nods from people who the professor made eye contact with. I can't even imagine how many I missed from the twenty rows that were behind me! What is it about eye contact that makes our adrenaline sore, our heart race, our palms sweat? Is it the need to confirm the things that people are saying or is it just a normal reaction that is symbolic of the listener paying attention to the speaker? Just some food for thought.
1/29: This day, I was being interviewed for the position of Chair of an organization. When my alarm rang at 8:00am, the only thing I could think about was if the kolache that I was craving would come back up in my interview due to nerves. After being rejected from another position only 3 weeks earlier, the thought of having someone tell me that I am not good enough for the position was enough to make me shudder. I finally found the courage to shove off the covers and jump in a hot shower to try to calm my nerves. I decided it would probably be best not to eat. As I put on my first suit and the pearls that my mother gave me for high school graduation, I thought to myself how far I'd come. Two years ago, I was looking in that mirror wearing my favorite tshirt and jeans waiting to go interview to be a member of the organization. On my drive to the interview, the only thing that I could think about was the quote "Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." This is a piece of advice that I often give my friends, but when it comes to applying it to my own life, it just doesn't happen! This makes me think of how many times I have given a piece of advice but not been able to take it. My friends all tell me that I "need to take a dose of my own medicine" when I am down or when I face something difficult. What is it about "advice" that make people so self-righteous to think that they are different from anyone else? People think that they are so different from the people they give advice to that the things that they say wouldn't be applicable to their lives! Next time you are asking for advice, take a step back and think about what you would do if your friend presented this situation to you, what advice would you give them?
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