Sunshine Dust

On Wednesday, I sat in the waiting room of the physical therapist's office, frantically trying to piece together the various assigned questions from an article for my Molecular Genetics discussion section. I would go straight from PT to class... so it was either now or never.

When I got called inside, I was just about done. My therapist had me warm up on a bike, get my legs moving. Worked great because it gave me a chance to finish my article. I sat down, pulled out my papers, and the lady on the bike next to me said something that's just been resurfacing itself in my thoughts recently.

She said "Hunny, don't you know? You can't sit here studying - you need to take some time for YOU. For yourself. It's YOU time."

Obviously this woman doesn't know that reading articles on the mechanics behind genetic sequencing IS my version of "me" time ... and I know she meant well... but it was the hint behind her words, her induced mentality, the societal implications behind her words that gnaws at me.

Me time. Me time... whatever that means. How many times do we hear this? "You need to just think about yourself in this relationship" "You have to take care of yourself before you can even think of taking care of others"

I think I may have given that advise to a friend... and maybe even to myself! It makes sense. Self-awareness, self-care and consideration is vital for obvious reasons and for growth. So what about it makes me uneasy?

It's the ego. Ambition and pride. Self-absorption and the individualistic mentality where it's all about memememememmemememememememememe. It's sickening.

Of all the particles and electrons and fields and forces and atoms and events of our universe, humans (as far as we know) are the only species of higher intelligence. Is it really possible that all these atoms have combined to form perfect biological chemistry so we can just sit on facebook all day long? So that we can have some me time?

Hmm.