Upheaval.

I never experienced the veracity of the saying “bad things come in threes” until just recently. Glynn and Dr. Hime were far enough away from Vinny that I didn’t count them as three; instead, it was two and one. My previous breakups were usually all by their onesies, though I think one might’ve been accompanied by a short illness around the same time.

This time, I think I understand. While it isn’t three “bad things”, per se, it is three major stressors all colliding at once and running me down like a string of defensive linemen [I'm not much of a football fan, so I hope that analogy holds]. Work has been difficult in ways that I didn’t plan for it to be, as well as in the ways I did make mental preparations for. Sister just left for college. A relationship I was in just ended [or, if we want to get all metaphysical, changed forms/energies].

Back-to-School Anxiety.

I’m getting stressed out about my job. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks going to trainings and meetings and listening to specialist after specialist talk about what working with the students is like, and the challenges of one of my students in particular. I’m tired of that. I just want to get the students, to see what they’re like, to learn about them from them.

Mature v. Old: Differentiate. Discuss.

I had a better narrative written here, but have decided not to post that. I find it too revealing; not necessarily of myself, but of others. I don’t know how these people would react, if they were to read such an in-depth story of our interactions in such a public space. This, of course, assumes that the individuals involved know of this thing’s existence and check it with any sort of frequency ever. However, I’ve gotten my ass bitten severely by assuming otherwise in the past, so I figured I’d play it safe[r] this time.

Transitions.

There’s a reminder that I heard a lot at the school while I worked there [I suspect that I'll be back there once the new school year kicks off]; transition periods are hard. For some students, that meant Mondays after returning to campus from a weekend at home. For others, it was time spent in transit or switching from one activity to another. Regardless, some students require what is politely deemed “more support” during transition periods. This extra support can range from leading a student through processing hirs feelings [without explicitly naming the processing as such, since many students are reticent to use coping mechanisms that are openly labeled as such], to lowering expectations, giving more time to transition, and being generally more understanding of any irritability or anxiety on the student’s part. Sometimes we all need “more support”.

Trying to Keep the Chuck Yeager Drawl.

I graduated. It actually happened. I held my diploma in my hands. I quickly handed it off to my family to take home, to save the diploma from myself.

Spelunking.

Caving was amazing. Fantastic. I left without taking any anti-anxiety medication, unlike last time. I also didn’t bring any along with me. I was going to do this on my own. And I did. I pushed myself at several key points during the trip, and turned back at a really reasonable place. I contorted my body into unnatural shapes and slithered around like the most awkward snake ever. I spent between five and six hours underground.

That Day.

The day that spawned a month of rampant consumerism that left one bix-box employee dead and has probably psychologically traumatized scores of parents and children is almost over. And it was honestly a pretty good day.

Stretch.

…that’s what today is, at least to complete The Meme.

[Explosive?] Decompression.

It is so good to be home.

An Observation.

Lots of our discussion in our Commodities and International Conflicts class over the past week or so has centred on medical uses for drugs, and the abuse of prescription drugs. At some point the professor made a point of going over the fact that “mature capitalism” and our society as it is today contributes a lot to the rise of mental health issues. I am not disputing this fact; technology brings destructive power and the power to disseminate knowledge of that destructive power. What frustrates me about what he said was more how he said it; there was an almost-dismissive tone in his voice, as if to echo what people with anxiety and depression issues should just “get over it”.

Believe me: if I could, I would. [The next paragraph could potentially be triggering [SI], so it gets a cut. Ha ha pun.]