How Becoming an English Graduate Student Killed my Love for Books

I am only in my first year of grad school and I have come to realize something very major in my life....

I AM NOT READING!!!

Now let me be clear, I am "technically" reading for my coursework HOWEVER the passion, the excitement, the wanderlust is gone from that very sacred ritual I hold so dear and was the driving force behind my decision to become a professor and to share that passion with others.

And it's entirely my fault. You see, I have replaced my imaginative wanderings in made-up worlds written on paper (not some crummy kindle screen) with mindless television dribble. And I'm talking about the worst kind of mindless television dribble... reality tv. Ugh I am so ashamed. Gone are the days of LOTR, Harry Potter, the Brontes, and Charles Dickens. I have reverted back to the adult version of the Teletubbies... Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The Bachelor, and Jersey Shore are some of my favorites. Just writing it down sends cringes down my spine and an automatic gag response.

BUT I KEEP DOING IT!!!

And I think I have figured out why. You see books take time and just a little bit of effort. It is the difference between courting and casually hooking up in relationship terms. And let me tell you something, I've been a bit slutty. I have not allowed myself to be silently wooed and deeply cared for by books. I have not given books time to resonate in my mind, filling it with imagination and passion, I have instead become lazy and passive.  Stress and strain of being a full-time student and a full-time worker have left little time and little effort for anything else but mindless television dribble.

It is time to embrace my love for books again. That is all.

New Year. New Beginnings.

So it's that time again. The New Year always brings about promise of change to your bank account, bad habits, and donut consumption, you know... the usual.

And while often times we begin the year by thinking about all things we would like to change, I want to celebrate the fact that I have accomplished so much in this year.

I will be graduating this semester and feel the burden of getting a career going, much the same as most freshly graduated seniors. However I am determined to take this year to fantastic heights.

My New Year's resolutions in the past looked something like the following:
Lose weight
Save more money
Lose weight
Start a blog (check!)

Stop spending money

Lose weight

Something to that effect and I would feel guilty that another year rolled by without a pound lost or no money saved and nothing to show for the money spent.

This year? I am going to change things around, my (new) New Year's resolutions are:

Give myself grace. room to grow. learn. 

take risks. love more. worry less.

I am very excited that the last year I was able to lose 30 lbs and can graduate with a 3.5 (despite a horrible gpa from LSU) all the while having 3 jobs and working on a thesis.

It's been a growing pains sort of year for me, but so worth it. 2014 is my year.