Finding Solace

It’s not a stretch to say that this past week has been rough. Regardless of where one falls on the political spectrum, it has been pretty harried in general, for everyone. The events of this week and the ongoing fallout have most likely taken a toll on all of us, as we probably are all struggling to focus on finishing out the semester in the midst of all the chaos. If you’re like me, you’ve probably had some news station or another on in the background while you were studying this week. I can’t say that it has made for the best study environment, but I can say that it probably has made my blood pressure rise a point or two.

It’s made it that much more pressing for me to find a bit of solace while so much is happening. Distraction will do me no favors as it relates to my grades, so it’s imperative that I find a way (well, all of us really) to remain unmoved and focused on the goal of finishing out the semester (and looking forward to the next one) here at MC.

Some of the ways I’ve found so far to refocus on school are:

Focusing on my long range goal – you may remember that last week, I talked about ways to create and stick to a plan for the future. Continuing to review this plan and remember my long-term goals have helped a great deal with keeping me from getting lost in thought regarding current events.

Extended research – now this sounds like creating work for myself… and I suppose it is! But, honestly, there have been some really great topics coming up in my classes lately and taking a little time to explore those topics in a bit more depth has led to learning some awesome new facts and information that I hadn’t previously been aware of.

Hanging out with classmates – I’ve begun to make the acquaintance of a few of my classmates, and we have had the opportunity to hang out a bit, which has been immensely refreshing and a welcome distraction from some of the non-stop news cycle.

These are just some of the ways that have helped me to not only NOT get sucked into (well, at least not too much) the ongoing saga that is playing out in the news, but to also discover new ways that school and homework can be interesting; not all homework has to be boring and repetitive! And while I can’t say it’s worked perfectly as I’ve still watched a little of the drama unfold, I have found that it has helped quite a bit.

How do you find solace in the midst of chaos?