The holidays came and went too quickly as they always do – and it is now time to get back to academic life in earnest.
Well, to be honest, I didn’t completely stop work on my academic interests. At post-graduate level, you see your thesis everywhere. It becomes a psychological problem of some sort. A socially acceptable form of madness. So, while for instance it would be viewed as problematic if you were to be compelled to smoke a joint of marijuana before Christmas lunch and after it, or carry your stash of pot everywhere and need to take a break to smoke and maybe miss Boxing Day tea and left over Christmas Cake – the same rules do not apply to postgraduate students. I continued to obsess over my studies; missed out on some of the pudding, left over turkey, et cetera because I felt too guilty to completely stop. I am sure that this is not healthy behaviour, but it is viewed as admirable and good because unlike smoking pot (which is also a legitimate activity) it is encouraged to the detriment of one’s mental health.
So, the academic calendar has started again and it feels as if I actually never quite stopped working. I am already counting down to the next ‘holiday’ and hopefully next time I will rest completely (fat chance!). Here goes another Semester! 🙂
Anon's Paris 