The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide...

It's Monday and I'm over my lost week of jet lag and just getting by. I slept well through the weekend and it was lovely. Today I sit in my office at DU - something I do less and less these days - and as I eat my lunch I realize that what a great space I am in. I went up to the ED to heat my lunch and ran into Katie. I love Katie, and she's the only other person in this place doing a dissertation on anything remotely close to mine, so I always feel like I should know her better or spend more time with her but it never works out. In any case, when I do talk to her, and she tells me her job search and dissertation woes, I smile. She asked me if I'm just writing now, and I said yes, I'm writing a dissertation, a novel, a blog, and I'm teaching five classes and taking one. I have a family and a house, too, and oh yes, just got back from 'cross the pond.

She asks me with wonder how I do it all, tells me I must be some kind of super-woman. Truth is, I tell her, I'm not. I don't believe for one second that any other person couldn't do exactly what I do if they were so inclined. In fact, I often think that I still waste far too many hours in every day that could be more productively spent. I tried to explain to her the Tyler Durden philosophy quoted as my title today, but she just looked at me quizzically. It's true. Priorities are everything, and I decided to not make DU and grad school one of the single digit ones, and I've never been happier or more productive in my life.

No matter what you do with your life, you should love it, always take a day off from it, and never take it too seriously. Take vacations whether or not you can afford them. Realize that money is only money, ice cream is sometimes required, and that $50 for a massage IS better spent there than on groceries some days.