As the Semester Closes...

As the semester closes there is an urge and demand to not make space for anything but school.  I was doing the same, until I remembered why I was I was in school.  It is not to pass classes, but to educate myself as to the fundamental workings of the world over a life time.

Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel - Socrates

We get good at what we do.  I have to remind myself that I do not what to get good at passing classes or receiving a certain grade, but rather is assimilating information into my understanding of the world.  I am not just memorizing for biology, math, or chemistry, but cultivating an understanding of processes that will be extended and applied beyond the border of a discipline.  These understandings will sharpen and refine one another.

How is this done?  I realized that, for me, giving myself time to digest, probe, and explore is the way I best come to an understanding of a topic.  As such, I found benefit in making more time to just sit, walk, or do things in my life without distraction.  Not trying to cram those extra minutes with information, but rather giving time to let information age and build connections that were not immediately apparent.

To do so required two choices:

1. Not to filling all the space available with a barrage of information.  I would previously, have podcasts, lectures, and articles at the ready for any opening of 'free time'.  That is no longer, I pared down my exposure, and most importantly gave permission to do nothing.

2. Reading fiction listening to music (particularly classical and jazz).  It is seen as a waste, time that could be used for study!  But it is through fiction that I can relax and my mind can explore the world through different avenues and expanded creativity.  I find this active engagement more fruitful than the passive acts of entertaining TV or podcasts.  When I do have times were I can work with ambient sounds, I am choosing music over podcasts and have found my productivity the better for it.

I am currently reading the Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin