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by Philipina A. Marcelo
Some people ask why I don’t blog more about work-related stuff.
Why, indeed? Well, it’s because I am against thinking about work whenever I sit in front of my “personal computer” to blog or to visit my favorite social networking site – Facebook – to relax, unwind, and connect with friends in the cyberspace.
Not so long ago, after learning how my health was being adversely affected by too much stress from work, I resolved that I will give myself relaxation time EVERYDAY and it will NOT involve work in any way! I will work hard every single day, but when I leave my workplace for the day, I leave work right there and will be back to it in the morrow. I will not bring it with me at home, and if I did - for some compelling reasons, I certainly would not sleep with it! :)
Blogging for me is a much needed break from the pressure at work – it’s a relaxation activity, therefore, it shouldn’t involve work. It’s a way to disintegrate myself from the “professional harness” for a little bit and think more freely… and even loosely, like a “normal” human being, and still trying to be responsible that what I blog about would not be detrimental to my professional life. In other words, when I blog, I’m just “Philip” and not Prof. Philipina A. Marcelo, Ph.D. - yes, I am putting a distinction between those two, too... no matter what the Education Law says! ;)
In the classroom, while I enjoy talking about Daniel Bernoulli’s equation in my Fluid Mechanics lectures, usually allowing myself to go on an inviscid "academic trance" - allowing my soul and parts of my heart to show themselves - while discussing its applications using a few episodes of Star Trek as illustrations... in my blogs, I’d rather talk about Yiruma’s music and how it is beautifully punctuated with the glory of falling in love! In the lab, while the various functionalities of whey proteins continue to leave me in awe that they usually make me lose my sense of time, I’d much rather talk about prayers and wishful thinking in my blogs – they keep my ideals intact and renew my positive views on things, which are always in danger of erosion given the enormous "shear stress" at work. In the University, while I am very vocal about my opinion that teaching and research must be pursued with equal sense of responsibility, and that I believe that those who insist that a profession in the Academia only involved coming to class from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, teaching with 20-year old lecture notes - and that’s it - are underserving of their tenure... I’d much rather talk about Bella Swan’s one true love – the beautiful Edward Cullen – in my blog! Why? Because there are things, like love and hope, that I’d rather
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feel more abundantly in my private life… which are scarce in the workplace. And, maybe they should be, too, actually?! :)Come to think of it, perhaps it's only the admin part of my job that really constitute the irritating harness, and the rest constitute natural inclinations. And yet, while I try to fulfill my responsibilities in the workplace with much reverence for my profession and for sincerely caring about people and institutions that depended on it, it isn’t the same professional experience that I'm looking for. Nevertheless, I stay where I am right now - for now - because I love my profession and the university that I serve, especially the students - they are brilliant, but most of them cannot afford the more expensive places that promise cutting-edge education. And because luck has afforded me such an experience, I thought I could bring it to them. I’m still hoping that change would come in my present workplace - for the students' sake, and for the country's sake... and when it finally does, I know it’s going to be a meaningful one. In the depths of my soul, I know that that is going to be soon enough. And then, I will move on... freedom will finally be mine! In the meantime, the contradictions make up the “professional harness” that can sometimes drain one’s energy... but I don’t have to let them drain my energy. This is why, when I leave my workplace, I choose to surround myself with the emotional sustenance and joy that one only gets when he or she is “normal” and carefree, not restrained by the harness. And so, I write about other things... the more substantial things, which my soul yearns for – in earnest - to strengthen my shield against frustration!
Some may argue that if you liked, or loved, your profession then whatever you do would never be about (hard)work. While that is generally true, it may not necessarily apply to everything about work – there’s always a few exceptions, even trade-off, I think. For instance, I love teaching… it brings me indescribable joy to see how my students’ faces lit up everytime something seem to make sense for them in my lectures - it makes all the hardwork of preparing for a lecture so worth it… but grading papers is a torture for me, and having to deliberate whether a kid fails or not is an unbelievable torment! Also, while it brings me happiness and sense of fulfillment to be envisioning a great future for my workhome, making plans to make it happen, and executing the plan – no matter how hard, and sometimes against all odds, too – and seeing it through to the finish line together with wonderful colleagues, it annoys me to be dealing with smug, uncooperative, narrow-minded and complacent people, especially when they wouldn’t even explain themselves… they just wouldn’t cooperate, and that’s it! I try very hard to remind myself, convince myself even, that all the negative attitude is nothing personal, and merely due to lack of exposure and experience to draw wisdom from... making them fall into the ugly pit of complacency without realizing, in uber smugness and utter ignorance, that they did! This shouldn't bother me too much, except that when they go down, they bring the whole workplace down with them! And therefore those who knew better should keep striving to be extra patient... and keep going, just to balance things out and keep the place afloat. But sometimes, frustration gets the better of me, too...
Oops, aggravation! STOP!
See? This is precisely why I don’t blog about work! ;)
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