Teaching and Social Life
As a teacher in a university, I find the social life to be tricky and confusing. A part of me wants to socialize with people. But another part is hooked up with several tasks I need to complete especially the ones with deadlines.
Then you hear comments like: You didn’t come to visit us last week. Or: Where have you been yesterday? You didn’t show up? We should meet at least once every week. And so on.
Well such comments make me wonder. I am in a totally different world. The academia world. Totally engaged with letcures, teaching and performing, prepping for lectures daily, going through my notes and checklists in the evening, my mind running and assessing what did I finish today and what is left for tomorrow to complete. Then comes the exam period. My mind runs the marathon again: I gotta prepare the exam draft. I need to coordinate with other teachers about the exam. What content left with the students that I need to cover for the exam? What revision I need to give them before the exam. And so on.
And the other people who live in the social life world. Their minds go like this: When is the last time I met the person? Why he/she didn’t visit me or call me or text me? No one to be blamed as everyone has his/her own circumstances and issues.
It is like you live in a world and others live in another different world.
Nowadays I don’t blame myself or judge for not being so active in social life. The academic work is not a joke. The amount of work and the load of mental and emotional pressure we take on is not something to brush away or ignore.
I guess one of the cultural stereotypes that contribute towards this dilemma is the workaholism and the need for people to perform and acheive 24/7 and keeping rest as the last option on the list.
It doesn’t make any sense to keep performing and doing to fit into this expectation. After a long day at work, my only thought is workout, shower, chill on the sopha, have dinner with my family and catch up on what happened throughout the day. That’s it.
So what about you? What is your thought about this? Do you try to do everything to meet this expectation? Or probably you have a separate mental and emotional space you privately own in your mind and heart that you believe no one can touch you there?