On Being Hectic

Two summers ago, Frannie and I spent five weeks in Europe traveling around with a bunch of twenty-somethings on a bus. We met a girl named Kate from Australia and I was fascinated by how many words she used differently than I did. One such word was "hectic." We went out dancing, and at the end of the night she said "tonight was heaps hectic!" I had always considered the word to hold a negative connotation. I would use it to complain about busy and stressful days when nothing went my way. Kate used to word to mean something completely different. Kate meant "tonight was super awesome!"

Lets rewind a little bit. In college, I overextended myself and was involved in literally as many things as I could fit on my plate. Most of the time I was happy with my busy schedule, and whenever I did find fee time I would ended up picking up projects or finding things to do with every minute of my day.

After applying to medical school I decided that I needed a break. I felt like I was always busy and hectic, so I deferred from Tufts for a year. I took up a 9 to 5 volunteer job as an Americorps VISTA in the Service Learning Department of Anne Arundel County Public Schools. After work, I would go home for four to five hours of free time.

What did I learn during my year off? I don't like free time. Now don't get me wrong, I need about an hour or two a day to unwind, relax, cook dinner, maybe watch a tv show, etc, but too much free time is not for me. My AmeriCorps position did not keep me occupied, so I picked up projects and activities to fill my time. I still found that I had too much free time.

So this week was "heaps hectic," both in my meaning and the Aussie meaning of the word. I was busy, stressed out and overwhelmed from 8am in the morning until 1am the next day. But looking back, I had a spectacular week and I learned and accomplished so many things.

I may complain and whine about how stressful my life is and how much I have to do, but last year proved to me that I wouldn't have it any other way. When I get too much free time, I automatically fill it. My friend Alex always used to stop me when I complained to tell me that I asked for my busy life, and she's right. I need to remind myself that this on stressful weeks like this week, and change my concept of the word hectic. I may be busy, but for me, busy is super awesome, heaps hectic!

So I know I'll regret this, but when I complain about how hectic everything is, remind me that that I like hectic. 

*Disclaimer: I don't mean to say that a hectic (busy + awesome) life is always a healthy life - I constantly work on finding a good balance between my personal preference for a busy life with enough free time to remain sane. I just wanted to explain why I often overload myself with extracurriculars and activities. Definitely something I need to continue to work on!