This is the last post I wanted to write, but it has become clear that if I do not write it, I will never write anything else. So here goes. This time last year I was preparing my file to submit to my department in expectation of being promoted to full professor. I probably don’t need to say any more, you can all check my title on the department web page now—go ahead , I’ll wait—although as one benefit, as part of the review process I did have to write statements about my research and teaching which I have posted on my academic home page as introductions to my method and goals. I got the news—I kid you not—on Friday the 13th. In April. Seven months ago. Since when, I have been living a lie. Or a half truth. Or...oh, fuck it, it sucks. Because it is nonsense, of course. I deserve to be promoted to full professor. I have published a second major monograph with a prestigious academic publisher (our standard in the department, barring an outside offer from another u...
FB: thanks. This has been a very enlightening theme.
ReplyDeleteI've become horribly aware that addictiveness probably runs in my family. I have a number of siblings who ... ermmm ... like their drink too much, and that has been an issue for me too. Though not as much as my tendency to get sucked into compulsive interests that have no benefits in the real world: playing Go on the Internet, editing Wikipedia, or answering questions on Yahoo! Answers.
But lately I took up accordion (and I mean weird accordion - Russian B-system button-key accordion). The compulsiveness has manifested in assiduous daily practice: I feel uneasy if we're away somewhere and I can't do it. And it has benefits: I'm up to a level where I can play in public, and enjoy doing it. People find it surprising and cool.
These traits can be harnessed.
Ray: You are most welcome! Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. It's powerful stuff, addiction. We have drinkers in my family, too, but I'm starting to see that it's a bigger issue, not just about drinking. It's anything that we use to suppress feelings that we would rather not have. But if we allow ourselves to feel them and understand why we have them, then we can actually address what is upsetting us. Which is hard. But ultimately healing. It's such a fine line between passion and compulsion, it's, well, sobering.
ReplyDeleteAnd musically stimulating! Congrats on your playing!