Embedded Files
KNOWING WHEN TO GIVE UP
There was much rejoicing. (Source)
We've all been there. It's late. We've been through approximately four pots of coffee. We've done the face-slapping thing so many times we might have caused brain damage. We've jumping-jacked until we can jumping jack no more. The project isn't done, it's due tomorrow, and we are totally, completely exhausted. We have no original thoughts left, and our mental faculties are on par with those of a prairie dog.
This is never a good night for anyone. We can usually avoid such disaster-prone scenarios with our mad time-management skills, but that doesn't mean they never happen. The night before is no time to start an essay, but even when we aren't being driven by a deadline, we can still run into some major creative writer's block. This is where our paths diverge in a wood, similar to Robert Frost's, and like Bob, we've got two options:
Power through
Give up
Today, I'm actually advocating giving up. Weird, huh?
READING: NEVER GIVE IN?
If we listened to Winston Churchill when he told us, "Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense," we would be mental zombies. Winston definitely knew what he was talking about, but in the instance of this quote, he was speaking more specifically about not giving up against fighting against fascism and the genocide of a people by world powers.
So, that's a little different than "never, never, never, never give in on this algebra assignment."
As much as I love Winston, there are times when Ralph Waldo Emerson says it better:
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered by your old nonsense.
Emerson was a poetic guy. That's probably why his job title was "Poet." Without getting too sentimental here, I have to say that Emerson nails it. Sometimes it's okay to give up. At least, it's okay to give up for the day. Sometimes the brain juice is running on empty. Maybe you couldn't sleep the night before or you're burned out from five nights in a row of six-hour homework sessions, but for whatever reason, you don't have the magic (sorry, Rick Astley. You just got Rickrolled.)
It happens to students, it happens to chefs, it happens to writers, and it even happens to super famous artists. For today's reading, check out what a bunch of successful artists had to say about recapturing the magic in the article below.
(Oh, and I probably don't have to say this, but I will anyway. The secret to not getting yourself into such a brain-dead state? Effective time management, i.e. using all those strategies we've gone over in this unit. Yes, sometimes you just can't go on, and it's okay. But you should make sure you've done everything you can to avoid getting into that situation in the first place.)
Google Sites
Report abuse