I’m a Little Bit Hippie, A Little Bit OCD Worker

10/14/2006

Well, I’m more OCD worker than hippie. Okay, a LOT more. I actually told Josh the other day that I wished I was a little more hippie and he looked at me like I was crazy. I countered by saying that there’s something comforting about being chilled out in a van down by the river while singing kum-by-yah with friends around a campfire and having everything be so totally awesome, dude. Maybe I’m stereotyping the modern-day hippie, but my current life of OCD worker is really taking it’s toll. I’d like to believe that I didn’t choose this lifestyle, but then deep down I know that I did – and I wonder if I’m not mildly suicidal in my choice.
Here’s a typical day for me:
6:00-6:45 – hit snooze on alarm
7:00 – get out and rush around getting ready for work
7:20 – drive to work
7:45 – 3:00 – teach in a blur, hope I remembered to bring a lunch
3:00 – 3:30 – attempt to contact parents I need to talk to, pick up room,etc.
3:30 – 4:00 – drive to San Jose State University
4:00 – 6:45 – sit in class, take notes, hope my assignment is finished
6:45 – 7:20 – drive to Foothill College in Los Altos
7:30 – 10:00 – sit in class, take notes, hope my assignment is finished
10:15 – 1:00 – get home, eat something, try to do homework, hang out with Josh
1:00 or so – crash & sleep

How long can a person sustain this? And, again, am I committing a weird kind of over-work suicide? Am I totally mental to try to finish a master’s degree while working full time? And can I trust myself to actually chill out a bit after my master’s degree is done? Or will I just hop back on the OCD worker train?
I’ve off set some of my stress by playing volleyball three times a week, which is definitely a good stress relief. I usually do homework non-stop on the weekends except when I call a time-out and do something like take a nap or read a book. But, I’m completely socially non-existent.
I’ve always mocked the hippie lifestyle, but now it’s not looking so bad…