I only took one science class in college. I don’t remember the class very well. But I do remember that the professor wore a t-shirt every single day with a different science-related pun or joke (she also wore Birkenstocks throughout the Vermont winter). It was bold. It was quirky. I really did have to appreciate her ownership, her style. But I remember thinking that I would never dress like that.
Well, I’m sad to say that I am now one slippery slope away from being my quirky science professor. Yes, I did it. I just bought my first shirt with a pun written right on the front. And I have been wearing it, all around. To be fair, I did buy it as a personal celebration. What do you do when you have meditated 100 days in a row (without missing one day)! Yes, I do feel really proud of myself.
Meditation. Only for banana-smokers, right? No! Ok, maybe I’ve blown it with my description above if I wanted to prove that even normal people could try meditating. My friend got me into meditating a couple of years ago. I really only started it because I was embarrassed to tell my friend each day that I didn’t try it again. I didn’t see any benefit to it for a while, but it wasn’t terrible. When I started out, it was more along the lines of a short annoyance – like brushing my teeth. Something that I had to set time aside for every day, but that I wished I didn’t have to do.
But now, it actually feels really important (ok, probably again, like brushing my teeth). I have started to think about it as something more like cleaning my desk: the more work I have on any given day, the cleaner my desk needs to be. I can’t draft a document or conduct phone conferences if my computer and desk are hidden under piles of paper and old food. In the same way, I’ve actually come to believe (really believe) that I can’t start my day if I haven’t organized my thoughts and cleaned my brain out first, through meditating.
If you haven’t tried it yet, give it try. 2020 has been pretty terrible but it has left me with a lot of open space and time (time that I would’ve ordinarily been doing more fun things, like seeing friends). See if meditating is something that you can add to your day. No punny shirts required.