tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825055425170299721.post902385290709976625..comments2024-03-20T16:34:04.414-04:00Comments on Alex Zorach's Tea Blog: How Into Tea Are You? How Is Being Into Dance Like Being Into Tea?Alex Zorachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08335878680429494039noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825055425170299721.post-64136326389722793272012-03-26T09:31:07.754-04:002012-03-26T09:31:07.754-04:00This is interesting...I actually have encountered ...This is interesting...I actually have encountered this "encouraged" obsession mentality, not just in creative endeavours, but in many career and professional activities.<br /><br />One place I especially encountered it was in graduate school. A lot of grad students would talk to me about having "no life" outside of their studies. People would often talk about grad school as if it were this all-encompassing thing that sucked up all their time. The thing is, for me, it wasn't. When I was at U. Delaware, I would do my homework, finish it, do my T.A. duties, and then I'd do other student activities, mostly populated by undergraduate students: swing dancing, I joined a feminist organization, attended campus ministry group meetings, took up birdwatching. I personally found that finishing my work was easier when I didn't succumb to the pressure to try to look like I was working 24/7. Whenever I'd try to work with people who were in this mentality, it seemed that most of the time they just sat around procrastinating anyway.<br /><br />It bothers me when people, like professors, or other students, actively encouraged the obsession mentality. But at the time, I don't think I had the self-confidence or assertiveness to stand up to it in a way that was non-confrontational. I often just felt frustrated and alone, disconnected from people. Sometimes I wish I could go back to grad school and assertively voice my perspective, that I know how to work effectively, that I learned that in college, and that for me, it involves limiting the amount of hours I spend on a specific type of task. It was not till two and a half years out of my second grad school experience that I wrote my manifesto on <a href="http://zorach.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/working-hard-vs-working-intelligently/" rel="nofollow">working hard vs. working intelligently</a>; I wish I had had that document to point people to back then.<br /><br />Sometimes I think it's less about specific careers and professions than it is about a widespread cultural mentality, within America, and perhaps within other cultures (I see it sometimes in foreign students as well)...I also think it's worse on the east coast than it was on the west coast or in the midwest.<br /><br />Either way I don't like it and I like what you say--"Nothing is so important that it is worth sacrificing the overall happiness of your life for it." -- that's a great way of putting it. I think in the end, people do many kinds of work better when they're happy anyway!Alex Zorachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08335878680429494039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825055425170299721.post-18061389984246235572012-03-24T10:47:36.048-04:002012-03-24T10:47:36.048-04:00Well said. I've had essentially the same thou...Well said. I've had essentially the same thoughts before. Being an artist/musician is much like this--it can become obsessive, because there is a high and deep joy associated with tapping into creativity, and in fact, to survive as a professional artist, one is often forced to be obsessive, or at least this mentality is encouraged, more or less. However, whenever I find myself on this track, I always try to take a step back and ask, "wait, what's the point of this again?" Nothing is so important that it is worth sacrificing the overall happiness of your life for it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com