Five weeks and I'm still sticking to it! Yes!
Today is Thursday and I have no classes to teach on Thursday. Usually, I use my days off (Tuesdays and Thursdays) to do errands and basically run around like mad. But I planned ahead, moved some things around, and made today a free day so I could go to Disneyland. I haven't been since last year when I sang with the choir there. I bought an annual pass on that trip and I never got to use it. Anyhoo, I went with a buddy and I spent the day riding rides, eating kettle corn, and taking a break from the crazy work that has been eating my head.
I haven't been on Splash Mountain in years, but it was a really hot day so we decided to go. I forgot that the theme of the ride is Song of the South. For a time when I was growing up, my Dad used to read my sister and me stories about Brer Fox and Brer Bear and that clever Brer Rabbit. And one of the things Brer Rabbit used to talk about was his "Laughin' Place." Brer Rabbit used to go there to laugh at how he'd outsmarted Brer Fox and Brer Bear. He also went there when things weren't going so well; it was a place to step back, reassess, and find ways to turn disadvantages into advantages. In short, a Laughing Place is a place to look on the bright side, whether reality makes that easy or not.
I had forgotten all about the laughing place, and I can name you a dozen times in the last few months when I could have used one. There have been some really tough moments where I just wanted to escape to a place where I could get some time to think by myself. So while I was on Splash Mountain, I started to think about where my Laughing Place is. Where can I go to get away from everything and everyone? What place feels so comfortable that my stress level goes down just being there?
I thought long and hard about this, and what I came up with proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a nerd to the core. My Laughing Place is USC's Doheny Library. Like most libraries, it's quiet and cool and full of books. I spent so much time there when I was a student that I can pretty much find my way through it blind. Besides the hours and hours I was in there doing my class assignments, I spent two years researching my dissertation in the Cinema Library, the Music Library, and the regular stacks. God help me, I love it there. To me, it represents knowledge, but that library also represents something even more important: possibility. I can think there. I can plan there. I can gather my thoughts in the serene silence, and strategize. When I leave, I always feel revitalized and full of ideas.
As a bonus, out in front of the library, there's a little rose garden that surrounds a beautiful fountain. On my way in or out of the library, I smell the roses, just to remind myself that I'm not in so much of a rush that I can't enjoy the simple things. I always stop and smell the roses. No matter what.
I guess part of it is also what USC has meant to me. Nine years ago, when I was miserable teaching middle school, and I decided that I wanted to get my Ph.D. and teach college, USC was the place that was going to help me achieve that dream. When I was taking classes there and working my part-time job in the library, it was the place where that dream was coming true. I remember taking moments here and there to appreciate the fact that I was doing actually doing what I said I was going to. To me, it's magic because of that. It is a place where a dream came true, minute by minute, day by day, over five amazing, life-changing years. The day I graduated will always be one of the best, most magical days of my life.
So now, when I need a little magic or when I need to remember that dreams come true if you work hard and take some risks, I go there. I'm judging from the lack of shocked looks that none of you is surprised. My Laughing Place is a library. Hmm. Imagine that.
~Hero
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