Tired of tragedy pt.2

In my last blog, on an example of the average student, I suggested that the projects we undertake do dictate the way we look at the time passing by. And subsequently, they influence the kinds of projects we engage in next to those we’re already preoccupied with.This being the case, different projects, the causes we’d usually care about and that ask for our engagement often stay unattended precisely because they carry a different notion of temporality. Some of them, like a Campus debating event or ad hoc call for participants in some interesting social experiment happen in the short span of time, too quickly to appropriately respond to them. On the other hand, there are events that take weeks, months, even years to unravel and because of that, we are more likely to “lose track” of what is going on with, for example, the refugee crisis and complex clusters of issues that need individual, local and national attention.

So, what is our heroine supposed to do? Is there a way in which she can “breathe in” everything that she wants to take part in and not lose her sleep?

I think that this question cannot get a satisfactory and simple answer. I think that the search for the appropriate “recipe” by which our heroine would manage to meet all the deadlines, causes, calls to action, petitions, interventions and protests is absolutely a wrong way of looking at things here. To illustrate, imagine all those obligations and causes formalized into events as some sorts of social “hurdles” that need to be jumped. They vary in frequency and height and often include prizes for the fastest ones. Now, if she is faced with: a) limited time and b) limited resources, at some point she will fail to engage in those jumps and often leave the game frustrated.

In my opinion, the issue here is not our heroine not trying hard enough

In my opinion, the issue here is not our heroine not trying hard enough, but rather, in the mind-set that those causes, such as refugee crisis, formalized in events, such as Sunday hanging out with refugee children – are the only way to proceed. When she is experiencing the causes via some event that’s organized by the community and she is unable to join or participate to the extent to which she would deem appropriate, she is often letting it slip away and feels frustrated for not doing enough.

In place of this, some other ways of engagement are possible, the ways which may better complement with Campus Time and Her Time. In one case, our heroine discovered that her social innovation project might also be done in line with the issues pertaining in refugee shelters in the city. In another scenario, our heroine found out that her thesis can also introduce a social impact framework which she can present to her Department. Another heroine figured out the way to engage artistic community of our Campus to collect funds for a good cause abroad. These are only few examples of ways in which our heroine rejected the format in which she either can “jump the hurdles” or feel bad for not succeeding in doing so. Different notions of time can be thought of as existing externally from us, nevertheless, the tiredness with events is a sign that a rhythm needs to change. And, who is to do that besides ourselves? Ultimately, we master ourselves within the passage of Time.

_Advertentie.