Ramblings on simpler things

This summer, I have had a long-overdue break from the hassles of academia, the lovely 20-somethings who woke me up at all hours in Georgetown, and the endless concerns about "what comes next." While this respite could prove quite dull for some, I've found myself filling up my days with worthwhile ventures.

For example, every day, I have been completing the New York Times crossword puzzle [something that I've never done before]. Of course, I am terrible at crosswords and consistently rely on my mother and father for help, but it is nevertheless a most rewarding quotidian venture. I have also been hunting around  vintage furniture shops and secondhand stores around St. Louis for furniture for my apartment. It's quite a thrill to find a 1950's kitchen table in mint condition [yes, it's perfect!]. It's even fun to find a bookshelf [for $10!!!] that is transformed to "better than new" after a fresh coat of paint.

Surprisingly, I've found the task of finding and fixing up furniture to be the most rewarding task of them all [believe me, I was not eager to fix furniture up when my mother first suggested it would be a "fun" task].



Even though I adore reading [and continue to read throughout the summer...I'm currently reading Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk and The Big Switch: Rewiring the World from Edison to Google], the hands-on experience of searching for furniture and then making it match my vision has been my most rewarding activity this summer. There's something about making your surroundings truly your own, knowing, for example, that your desk is a product of your time and efforts, that is comforting. It's not simply the decorating that I enjoy---I appreciate using my hands to put my mark on my living environment.

While this sentiment of having a mark on one's territory could appear rather animalistic, this desire to use one's hands to transform one's surroundings is really quite human---after all, no other animal could perform such tasks. In my hands-on tasks, I'm  engaging my physical human capabilities and not just my intellectual ones. Tasks, such as painting furniture and reupholstering chairs, that once seemed dull and somewhat "beneath" me have become worthwhile projects that help me appreciate yet another facet of what defines me.

Even though I often like to pretend that I am  an abstract intellect, these tasks have reminded me that there is another worthwhile component to my very existence. Being a woman [or person, for that matter] involves embracing yourself in your entirety, and that's what this summer has allowed and encouraged me to begin to do. It's wonderfully refreshing and rejuvenating. Hopefully this embrace will continue as I delve back into academia in a few short week's time.