Anit-Spinning!

Hey there you all!!

I got Lloyd reading this next "blog" that was written by his daughter, Sarah. She is going to the University of Colorado and planning on going to Law School next fall. Anyway, she wrote this next piece as I "stole" if off her her school blog. I hope you enjoy it!

Take care of yourself!
Gus

In my last of FIVE academic advising appointments this week, my advisor, calmly looking over my schedule and graduation requirements, asked me an interesting question. Amidst “Do you participate in any clubs?”, “What are your plans after graduation?” and “You know you have to take a test for that, right?”, she slowly looked up at me and pointedly asked, “How is your head not spinning?”
Half joking, I responded by telling her that it indeed IS spinning and that I am just an amazing actress. She did not, however, find this to be as amusing as I hoped and proceeded to lecture me for 20 minutes on the value of “downtime” and “asking for help.” Mostly because this lady was now on the verge of making me late for work, but also because – as most of you know – “asking for help” often makes me lightheaded, I did not exactly receive her message with open arms. In the last moments of the conversation, as she tapped her pencil on my knee to re-grab my attention (OH NO SHE DIDN’T), she said it: “You know, Sarah, you can’t do everything. And even if you’re going to be stubborn and try, you need to figure out a way to get your head to stop spinning.”
Deprived of sleep AND caffeine, my initial reaction was to politely (and yet, obviously combatively) tell her that “Thank you, but I already have one mother. And she’s prettier AND nicer than you.” Miraculously I was able to resist this temptation, and my real mother will be glad to hear that I instead shook her hand, insisted I was late and really must go, and flashed a warm smile.
For the rest of the day, however, I could not get this woman out of my head. After a few cups of coffee I realized that maybe – just maybe – a small part of what she said was true. We all need things from time to time that “stop our heads from spinning,” and perhaps I haven’t exactly been dutiful in finding those “things.” At least that’s what I thought on Friday.
Then came Saturday…which, I’m glad to report, was perfect. It started simply – with a screaming alarm clock at 7am, with yogurt and granola, with green tea, with laced up running shoes, and a fully charged iPod. The weather was beautiful, and the town even more so. Leaves are changing, the air is chilly and crisp, and at 7:30 am, the hoards of obnoxiously stupid college kids are at bay. It was in the first 10 minutes of my run that I re-discovered one of those anti-spinning “things” : Boulder Creek. Running along this path is nothing short of a moment of “zen”. As I ran past fly fishermen, full strollers, drenched dogs, and fellow early-morning exercisers, I could feel my head clearing stride by stride. The spinning was starting to slow.

At the end of my run, legs numb, chest pounding, I found myself in the middle of one of my favorite places in the entire world: the saturday morning Boulder farmer’s market. I glanced across the rows of tents, the tables of food, and the sea of people, and the spinning slowed a little more. In what I can only attribute to an act of God, I remembered that I had stuffed 10 dollars in my iPod armband, just in case. Ahhh, let the grocery shopping being. Apples, Tomatoes, Bread, Tortillas, and a smattering of free samples later, my job was done. Arms full of goodies, I began the trek back home as I intently munched on what can only be described as THE BEST APPLE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. The spinning slowed a little bit more .
When I found myself home, standing in our front yard, I realized what a productive day it had already been. It wasn’t productive because I had read or even opened any text books, or because I had written a essay or a personal statement, but because I had allowed life to get quiet for a while. The stress melted, the spinning stopped, and the contentment settled it…not because of any great event or because I had gone out of my way to escape obligations and commitments, but rather because I tuned out all the noise for just a few hours and let only the most important things filter through.
So to answer your question, Ms. Psychology Advisor, it’s early morning runs, the boulder creek path, farmers markets, and apples. That’s how I keep my head from spinning.
Cheers
-S.