Life in the "Blah" Zone

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.

(When I say "everyone" that most likely would mean--what--one person?)

Anyway.


So. I wrote a Facebook note about this (way back when) and it sort goes along these lines.

Apathy.

It's something I myself am currently fighting against. Just this "blah" state of being. But what's worse is how common it is.

For example, if you approach a random person on the street and ask their opinion on abortion, they are very likely to say "women's choice."

I didn't ask for that, though--I want to know YOUR choice. If faced with that situation, what would you choose?

(Personally, I am pro-life. But that's an entry for another day.)

Another example--how often do we see someone on the bus that's hurting, or in the supermarket, or anywhere--and we don't say anything? I mean, I guess we often feel like it's none of our business...but if you were in their situation, would you want someone to acknowledge you? Even just smile or something?

It seems this way almost everywhere--with the blahness. My mom tells me "it's life." Perhaps it is part of life, but I don't want it to be the whole enchilada.

It's funny--my cousins were playing this basketball video game on Christmas and in the game there are college teams. When they were playing against Duke University, the stands were packed in the game. The Duke students were cheering like crazy. My cousin Sal said it's like that in real life. I told him to try playing against Manhattan College in the game, since he and I both go there and I wanted to see how the game portrayed us. It showed the Draddy gymnasium, and the stands were...well...the students seemed sporadically placed around the gym. Kind of sparse in comparison to Duke.

It seems like an accurate portrayal.

I've noticed this on my campus a lot. Events are planned--good events--by student activities, and yet, there's a low turnout. Not that many students come--I guess it gets worse as the semester wears on (maybe for the Spring semester it's the opposite?). Either way, I notice this just in the basic student attitude just walking around campus. I guess one plus side is that a lot of people at Manahttan are pretty chill. There seems to be a good mix of different personalities, thus making it sort of "normal." But the chillness isn't supposed to be taken to the extreme. I do come across some people from time to time that are passionate about SOMETHING. Like, say a sport, or student government, or art. But, for the most part, I often think I see a "sea of blah" walking around campus. A majority--maybe 60%, maybe more--seem to have no drive outside of the normal, the mundane. I imagine their typical days going something like this:

Get up
Grab breakfast in Locke's (if at all)
Schlep to class (perhaps in pj pants)
Drag self to next class
Lunch in Dante's--if they have enough perseverance, maybe they'll go to Plato's
Next class--again
Go to dorm and nap
Next class
Back to dorm
Hang with buds in dorm, doing nothing out of the ordinary--play a video game, watch some TV, bug someone down the hall
Dinner in Locke's
Shower (unless they showered that morning)
Do homework until 1 or 2 AM
Sleep

Where is the life? Is there anything creative, constructive, endorphin-releasing going on? I commute, and the commute itself can take a chunk out of my day. But if I dormed...boy, if I dormed....

I think I'd try to do something meaningful. I find I particularly like walking around the quad when I stay late for the Christ in Your Life meetings. At night it looks pretty cool. If I dormed, I think I would be inclined to walk around it every night. Not late, or anything. But just to do it. Maybe listen to some music, pray...I dunno.

The point is, I don't like the lack of passion I often see. And I guess it's typical for this to set in during college--maybe especially for those who dorm. You get accustomed to the setting, to the people, to the weird day-to-day scheduling. And there's plenty of Ramen to go around, so why bother using that stove in Jasper to make some real soup? After all, you live there...it's not like you need to rush around like I have to, catching the first of two buses before a certain time. (I can't wait for warmer weather. I honestly can't. When the sun starts setting later, that's when I can stay on campus later. Hopefully by next year I'll have my driver's license and a campus parking spot. Oh, and some new friends to hang with--along with the old.)

So yeah.

Spirit Weekend will be coming up very soon. I hope Manhattan College students attend. I know I plan to.

-Nicole-