08/28/22
I’m writing this a bit later than expected, but it’s a Sunday, so I think in France one would say that the week isn’t over yet…?
This was to be expected—traveling takes up a lot of time and energy. I always forget this simple fact, and on most trips I end up remembering it the hard way. You would think that over time I would become better about taking this into account, but it seems that as time goes on things take up more time and energy and I remember them even less.
I’ve realized that until now, I’d made the grave mistake of believing that tourism = vacationing, but oh how wrong that is! Earthlings travel to metropolitan cities around the world for “tourism,” often on breaks from school or work that are normally designated for “vacation,” but rather than relax they go on a whole expedition that is probably more tiring than their own school or work.
Perhaps I set myself up for exhaustion by over-planning well before the trip even began. I always thought that I enjoyed making itineraries and carefully planning out schedules, but sometimes it seems I’m really just setting myself up for failure…
As I have learned in my travels on Earth, a good trip is often a balance of planning ahead and being spontaneous. Ideally on a perfect trip you could do whatever you wanted to at any time. However, some things must be set in time ahead of time, like a slotted museum visit or a restaurant reservation. Holding to a strict timeline is no fun though, and sometimes at a certain hour of the day you end up wanting to do something else or being too tired for the plans you’d originally scheduled. Ah, just writing about this has me stressed out!
But of course, all of that is of no matter. I have found on Earth that I have to accept that things will very often not turn out the way I imagined them in my head. I wonder then though whether the solution is to 1) not imagine things in my head, or 2) to be more accepting of the inconsistencies?
Most importantly, I am remembering how useless irritability is. The issue is that it hardly ever leads to action—rather irritability often results in nothing more than feeling unpleasant and having nothing to do about it. Irritability is also self-reinforcing, since an irritated person is usually more sensitive to further irritation and thus a further uselessly negative mood.
I believe I just went on what one might call a “rant.” Well, that’s enough from me. I would just like to say that I love my wonderful parents. I am glad that despite my irritability and my stress, they continue to lift my spirits and appreciate everything I do. I appreciate them, too.
Stargirl slumbers…
