Lorelai: “Okay, uh, listen, I’m going to go out and get the paper.”
(We are in season 3, episode 21 of Gilmore Girls “Here Comes the Sun”. I realise that the line isn’t much to look at, but I implore that you stay. Back to today’s scheduled programming.)
Lorelai (Rory) Gilmore III, overwhelmed with schoolwork and college admissions, snaps at her mother Lorelai Gilmore II: “Okay, well, don’t show it to me because I have no time for recreational reading until June.”
I know that many of my peers feel this way.
I feel this way.
Wedged between readings, problem sets, essay-planning, office hours, co-curricular commitments, part-time work, remembering to call home, feeding oneself, paying rent, and generally trying to disprove the laziness and narcissism you and your friends have been accused of, there seems to be little room for personal development.
Or, if there is time, one feels obliged to fill it. Time unoccupied by social stimulation or work feels like time wasted, no?
When we hear about self-care, we hear about how important it is to our mental and physical health. Self-care, I’m sure Maslow would agree, is important to eventual self-actualization.
We are prescribed at-home spa days, hiking trips, dinner plans with friends, exercises in mindfulness, etc.
We don’t do most of these — if any — because they are inconvenient to incorporate into our lives as we currently live them — conveniently: quick, cheap, and serviceable.
Reading, however, is an easy, non-committal place to start with self-care and personal development. Begin to read like a Gilmore.
Read more about: