“Lazy Jane,” a poem by Shel Silverstein, is one of my favorite poems of all time and one that I often go back and read.  I find myself attracted to this poem at this point in my life because, sadly (or not so sadly), I have become a bit like Jane post-graduation.  Alright, maybe a lot like Jane.

Since my class and internship responsibilities have ended, I have a had a lot of free time on my hands– something I haven’t had since beginning the DMT & C program. The first week after graduation, I felt like I had to catch up on “life” things, i.e. clean my apartment, get a haircut, and do laundry for the first time in a month.  Once all of those sorts of things were taken care of, I was able to start relaxing.  Some of my relaxation has consisted of finally getting all the sleep I didn’t get in grad school (that is not a myth, you really don’t sleep in grad school).

My post-grad relaxation has also included things I’ve been wanting to do but haven’t been able to do.  For example, I traveled north to Devon St. and ate Indian food for the first time.  I went to the beach and read while lying in the sun.  I treated myself to lunch at the cafe down the street.  These are the things I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, but hadn’t had the free time to do.

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But what about my big ol’ brain?  That thing I used a lot in grad school.  Unfortunately, I cannot completely forget about it in my post-grad bliss.  I still have to write blog posts for Marginalia and papers for the GL-CMA certificate program (oh yeah, and my thesis).  However, I’ve noticed that it’s been harder for me to get motivated, and even harder yet to actually write. When I went to write a four page paper for a GL-CMA class, I literally sat in front of my computer for half an hour before I managed to write a page and a half.  A page and a half.

I guess it’s like that saying, “Use it or lose it“.

What I think I’m trying to get at is the importance of remembering the definition of recuperation, as Rudolf Von Laban explains it.  Relaxation is not complete stillness or passivity, but rather an engagement of the opposite movement qualities one was once engaging in.  If you are always moving slowly, move fast to recuperate.

Although I do think my laziness has certainty served me well, and something I ultimately deserve/d, I think I need to get back into the ebb and flow of work and play.  This time around though, it’s me who has to begin to outline my schedule rather than time restraints placed on me by class and internship responsibilities.  If I don’t get back into this ebb and flow, I might lose all the brain power I gained during my graduate education.