by Luke Matys
It has been absolutely beautiful outside the last couple of days. I have spent a wonderful, truly self-actualizing time lying in the grass. Lying in the grass is one of my favorite activities (others include laughing, listening/making music, and then something that would make Sigmund Freud say: “Of course, you like that, Luke” (also this does not include my mother or any other known relatives of mine)). But lying in the grass holds a very special place in my heart. Growing up, I lied in the grass if there was any time whenever another kid got hurt playing organized sports. Other kids took knees on the grass, but they were truly missing out on a very enriching aspect of youth recreational sports.
When I studied abroad in Vienna, I lied in grass across numerous public parks in order to relax my body and mind as well as connect with others of different cultural backgrounds who were also lying in the grass. During the semester, I truly got a fulfilling cultural experience by lying in the grass of public parks, palace court yards, and any green space available across Europe. And now that all of the snow has finally melted and parts of the ground are not bottomless mud pits, my passion for lying in the grass has been rekindled.
Unfortunately, this newly rekindled love affair with grass and warm weather has come at the exact same time as all of my assignments seem to be due. It is also my senior year and the question, which I have never had before, of “what is the point of class anyway?” has entered my head. And to top it all off, everyone else just seems to be hanging outside with my beloved grass. What if the grass forgets me?! I can’t neglect it!
I am sure I am not alone on this campus when I say that I am losing my motivation to do any type of work that involves deadlines. I am struggling to write anything more than my name and date on any assignments. For example, I have been staring at an essay topic now for about four hours… I am just staring at it, hoping that it will blink first and politely go away. If this was two weeks ago, when it was cold and there was snow on the ground, this essay would be mine. That essay would be outlined, and close to fully written tonight. Instead, not only can I not motivate myself to outline that paper, but I am struggling to write this column. Writing this column is usually the more relaxing and enjoyable part of my week, but this week I had to switch topics four times until I settled on one I could bring myself to write. And it’s about motivation (that disgusting amount of irony would even make Shakespeare uncomfortable).
I do apologize if this column isn’t up to the standards my past works have set. I tried to write about other things that were more reflective and interesting, but I just could not find the motivation. If you are without motivation, let me assure you that you are not alone. One key to the good life is finding the balance between being motivated and being lazy. We all need to be lazy in order to be motivated later, and visa versa. There has to be that balance. If not, you will either burn out from work or fail to deliver on your responsibilities due to laziness. Both can be extremely unpleasant.
Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go lie in the grass.