Burned Out: It gets you down, we've all been there sometimes, but tonight, I'll make you feel beautiful once again

     Everyone (or at least most people) feels burned out at some point in their lives. I have been through this multiple times during various points in my life. Now is definitely one of those times. Dictionary.com defines burned out as exhausted or made listless through overwork, stress, or intemperance. 

It's easy to feel listless, restless, and useless. It'd be all too easy to lay on my couch (to climb onto my bed would require motivation), skip all of my classes, and binge on ice cream and candy. I have definitely debated doing that.

However, I have found that there are benefits to burn out, if one manipulates it correctly. As you guys have noticed by the extensive quantity of poetry review posts, I have been exploring my interest in modern poetry, from Andrea Gibson to "children's" poems to anything that catches my eye. I have also agreed to participate in more things that are outside of my comfort zone (raves, coffee, all-nighters, etc.)

Burn out is a fantastic reason to look into other hobbies. In order to not go completely crazy from stress (my tenth interview of the semester is next week, along with classes, and other stressors), I realized that I have to pick up other hobbies. 

Can't think of something to be interested in? Look around, check your Pinterest boards, ask your friends, or look up a list of hobbies, attach them to a dartboard, and then try the interest that you hit. Go with someone to an out-of-your-regular-routine activity. The possibilities are endless.

Crazy, right? Who knew there was a bonus to burn out?

So, next time you sigh the exasperated-burn-out sigh (you know the one),  just know that you are not alone, and might, in fact, be about to acquire a new interest.

Happy Soul Searching! 

 

The Madness Vase

     I swear, I am normal on occasion. However, tonight is just not one of those nights. After hanging out with my Oma, I stopped in to visit my friend Kristen, and I ended up reading. Yes, you read that right, reading.

Wow. Even I am amazed at the new level of nerd that I have just reached. And no, it wasn't because Kristen is boring (in fact, her life is super entertaining. She usually does most of the talking when we hang out because I just love her stories that much).

She showed me her latest book buys Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Johnathon Safran Foer and The Madness Vase by Andrea Gibson. I didn't have a positive experience with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but since The Madness Vase is a collection of poems, I figured that it'd be easy to read (and keep conversation).

And it was quite amazing. Haunting, in the most beautiful way. I only made it halfway through, so my new mission is finding this book and making it my own.

Here is an excerpt from her poem entitled "Sleeping"

 I’m exactly like him
We both have wrinkles around our eyes, a hundred years older than our ages
We both carry ourselves like ambulances with someone dead inside
hoping we’ll get there in time.
I didn’t get here in time.


And here is a link to the preview of these poems.

You're welcome (they are that good).