Ramblings on Cyclical Routines

I don't have any direction with what my "blogging" activities of late, other than a few words and senses that have been in my mind this past week. Time continues to fly by and its hard to believe that its almost Halloween, but this week was a weird one especially. I'm finding quickly that the weeks that go by are just one giant cycle of time. I know it sounds pretty elementary, but the weeks fly by and then another weekend is on the horizon. This past one has been no exception to this pattern.

The wildfires of the last week created a new "cycle of time" given that most of my routines of going to class, grabbing quick bites in the Caf, working in the Commons, staying up late doing homework disappeared from the radar screen. The blazes started Monday and we were eagerly awaiting word of classes being canceled and they finally did on Monday afternoon when we found out that Tuesday would be a day off from school. Early Tuesday morning, I awoke to my roommate checking his e-mail including one from Bobby B himself, announcing canceled classes for the rest of the week.

The news spread quickly and carload after carload of students made the exodus from campus. We immediately began setting up stations across campus for donations and got volunteer information out to students who decided to stay put and stick it out for the week. The few and the faithful who stayed on campus gathered in the Caf for meals alongside our great Cabinet members and tried to congregate together in the evenings out of sheer boredom and wonderment as to the weird days that would end so quickly. With the clouds of ash and bad air around us and students seen on campus with makeshift face masks made out of bandanas, it was a unique sight that I hadn't experienced before. I had been a part of of countless snowstorms, nor'easters, and even blizzards with up to 4 1/2 feet of snow at some times, however, I had never experienced such a thing as having a week off from school because of a fire.

All in all, as is the feeling when you are homebound for a week because of a blizzard, I am looking forward to returning to the all too familiar routine of continuing classes on Monday. The apartment will be back to its beautiful self with a great ocean breeze and we'll be able to again do the "cycle" that we know best...attempt to find something nutritious to eat with little energy to exert or money to spend, go to class after class after class, overcommit ourselves with unbalanced schedules and struggle to manage lives of being college students with only a few hours of sleep each night after we've overdosed ourselves on caffeine in the form of coffee, energy drinks, etc.

So I'm stuck with the eternal question that I've been struggling with of late, do I want to have space and time for the unexpected and unfamiliar during my "cycles of time" that I call each week that I live, or do I want to be comfortable with knowing (to a certain extent) what each day in the "cycle of time" will look like. My goal is to live life in the former, but how does this look like with one who strives for effectiveness and productivity? This my friends, is the question on my mind right now.