Boooorrrriiiing

Hello everyone – I need your help. You see, Monday was my last day of internship at the hospital I worked at. And although that meant I had to be there by the ungodly hour of 8h30 in the morning, it did give me something meaningful to do. And I learned a lot, and it was such an enriching experience, bla bla bla. Now it’s gone. All I have left in front of me is three weeks of learning for the educational psychology exam. I’ve already flunked it once, which shows how much the subject thrills me. Sure, it’s my last ever exam before I get my diploma, so not that much can go wrong, so I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. After all, if I fail again I’ll get exmatriculated just as well (aaahhh!).

I have not come here to bitch around, nay, but to forgo an exploration of solutions. Since my schedule is wide open and consequently time has no more palpable meaning to me, I am going batshit insane with boredom. Three whole weeks with nothing to fill them but learning… and gym, three times a week (yes, I have upgraded). So here’s my question to you: how do you hard working, time schedule having people out there maintain a healthy work-life-balance? I spend my learning breaks by seeing what’s new on the interwebs, but that can only entertain for so long. TV and series and such equally make my brain mush, and I can’t read for all the reading I’ve done over the day, thus making my eyes cross. Going out into nature is always nice, but then I get this creeping feeling of having to actually do something instead of just sitting around. And actually going out and doing something always costs money, plus it would be nice to find company who also has time to tag along.

Don’t get me wrong – all these ideas look fine to me. I know everything has pros and cons. I just thought I’d write a shout-out and ask you guys: any hot advice on how to fill time, get my mind on something else, get a load of the shoulders? What do you do to unwind?

You gotta have faith, faith, faith-ah

Yes, I am quoting George Michael. Don’t judge me. Actually, keep that not-judging thing in mind throughout the post, please, because I am venturing into the slippery slope topic of religion. I watched an episode of Morgan Spurlocks “30 Days” on TV yesterday – a show in which someone attempts something for 30 days – where an atheist woman moved in to a very christian community. Ah, human experiments. I love them.

Did you know that Americans trust atheists even less than homosexuals, immigrants or Muslims? It’s like they’re so far down the list, it’s not even worth picketing against! The majority wouldn’t even vote for a presidential candidate who doesn’t believe in god, even if (s)he were otherwise perfect for the job. The whole show was like a world upside down for me. Even though it is known that the USA is a country with a strong faith, and the Europeans like to make fun of, I don’t think it’s that different over here. Sure, state and church are more separated, but what about what the people believe in – in the privacy of their own homes or heads?

I had a conversation with my mother recently, in which I think I hurt her feelings pretty bad. I told her (I don’t remember how we got to the subject) that I didn’t believe in anything (religion-wise). To me, there is no higher purpose. No master-plan. No guidelines, dogmas, leading force, whatever. I believe in science and facts, but still have my own morals and principles. I go by what I can conceive through logical thought. I believe that when you’re dead, you basically become fertilizer and live on through the memories of loved ones. Still, our time on earth should be put to good, should be useful and meaningful. For it’s own sake. That’s also why I believe in the good in human beings. I do not judge people and devise them into good or bad. I believe all humans are of equal worth – only their actions can be good or bad, and everyone can learn to change those.

But of course, that is a much more complicated way of thinking. I have no book I can look up or being I can turn to, to tell me what is right or wrong. The father in that episode could not conceive how someone could live this way. I think neither could my mom. She went to a school run by nuns and believes in a higher power (even if it’s not in the strict catholic sense), my older sister is rather an agnostic than atheist (so she can’t say for sure what’s up), and my seven year old little sister even asked me if I believed in god. It’s a very touchy subject. Sure, it’s harder to go through life without any certainties and not having a road-map. But I think religion is opium for the masses. Some need it to feel safe, to find answers. I don’t. And even if I wanted to – it would seem fake to me, because to me they are prefabricated answers, so it wouldn’t help me in the end.

Still, just like the atheist woman in the show who encouraged her kids to read the bible – just to know what the others were talking about – I think that an open dialogue is important. I do not want to put other people’s beliefs down just as much as I would like to be respected for where I stand. So what about you, dear readers? Do you have faith? Have you ever had trouble with your standpoint(s)?

Ah, the poor youth of today…

My family is coming to visit for Easter. Not that we celebrate much - although I would love to cook a big meal – it was more of hiding and seeking eggs in our yard back in Jersey. But now I have my little sister to think about and frankly I’m concerned. Her main motivation to come see me is that she had heard from my older sister that I own every episode of Grey’s Anatomy. She’s seven, and she watches that with my mom. Now I know she can’t understand everything that’s going on, but still it’s unsettling. Especially since my older sister implied that it was my fault the whole family is turning into series junkies. At such a young age! *sob*

When my little sister is left alone in front of the TV, she usually watches typical childrens cartoons. Only I’m not sure this is any better. I know it sounds clichéd, but I do believe the cartoons I watched as a kid were saner. Sure, there was a time when I wanted to be a purple flying pony when I grew up (true story), but other than that I think my view of the world was pretty realistic. Nowadays, though, they have shows for girls that are called “Bratz” – based on lollipop-figures and vanity - which is definitely not something I would want to encourage. But on top of that, the unrealistic image portrayed to young girls is getting more and more ridiculous. And what I think is dangerous is that it’s going in a sexualized direction. Ok, sex sells, I get it. But can we leave the kids out of it, please?

For those of you who think I’m exagerating, I have some examples:

Dora the Explorer:

before                            after

Strawberry Shortcake:

before                            after

 

And for chrissakes, they even made the Care Bears skinnier. Now it’s personal.