There is something to be said about meaningful work. My first day of school comes, and I am hit with the randomness that my mind yearns for. A random day that involves a balance of valid and worthwhile work. One with action, conversation, exercise, dreaming, and so on. And perhaps not in the traditional sense.

For instance: exercise. I am an idealist, and exercise to me means working my brain to death. By meditation or focus. Action to me means working towards something that is meaningful, not just a todo list. However, what is meaningful work? Well, as I find out, I humble myself and think that I do not yet have the wisdom to pick out the meaningful work for myself. This is where mentors come in. Mentors in the damndest sense of the word. Mentors that lead you to greater things in life.

So I am here today. The first day of my last semester. The end of another chapter. Revelations.

Today I encountered conversations of natural and synthetic happiness, readings about paralysis and choices from the macro scale to the micro, lectures of sprinkler and fire protection, ideas of numerical analysis and prediction, the dexterity and grace of a game of air hockey, a movie about the modern culture of counter-culture, and so on. The ideas and environment that exist in an academic environment spark the beauty and relationships that exist in nature and bring them to the forefront of my thinking.

On a more practical level, I am excited about this semester as I have some higher-up duties to perform at school throughout the semester, all the while I plan to keep working away at fulfilling days of creation, writing, and expression. Hence, the artful scientist continues with yet more action-packed days.

—

While I am on the topic of everything, there is a feeling in the air that forces me to stop what I am doing and write or read. I seek to take action in non-action and a day full of empty decision scares but amuses me. Here is a list of readings and ideas that I hope to pursue in the next week or two:

•  The Paradox of Choice - Schwartz: The idea that we are faced with an almost unlimited amount of choices in our modern lifestyles and how this can lead to paralysis of action and thought.
•  The Great Adventure: Essays and accounts written by former volunteers of the Peace Corps. Excellent range of topics and experiences of worldly cultures and monumental tasks taken on and how it affected and influenced the lives of the volunteers.
• Against Love - Kipnis: Book about the trappings, routines, mindsets, and rituals that the idea of modern relationships put us humans though by marriage or otherwise. A call for all to love more and resist the urge to “work on ourselves” relentlessly as if we are double-majoring in jobs and relationships for all 16 waking hours of our lives.
• Breaking away from my todo list for most of the day and filling it instead with reflection, creation, and true action.
• Contemplating the summer of 2008 and what it may bring. Research at a fire protection firm? Coding mathematics at a Google-like place? Working closely with a fire research firm? Or taking a long term sabbatical on a somewhere mind boggling journey.
• Considering wrapping my head around the 1.5 - 2 years that I will be (probably) in Maryland studying fire science and mathematics and ensuring that I get everything that I can out of the experience while again maintaining a free, open, and exploratory mind.

—

I ride the night freeways going northbound at 75 mph on the way to my new temporary home. The red jacket keeps the chilling winds at bay by utilizing technology and a thin layer of polymers. My mind wanders to the night sky and sets in a lull, considering the different paths to go on mentally during the ride home. Choices suffocate my deliberation on any subject, and as I arrive at one thought or experience to soak in, my senses quickly jump to the next set of problems or decision to be made.

Snapshot of paralysis of the mind in real-time from a real human:

When I get home, should I have a glass of water or a beer? [2 minutes]
Moving on, should I waste some time with internet games or entertaining forum postings? [1-2 hours]
Should I write a blog post? [20 minutes]
Should I read one of the five books that I am currently in? [30 minutes-1 hour]
Should I write some more Perl code for that project? [1 hour]
I could always just go to sleep right now and forget all of these decisions. [8 hours]
Or I could practice my typing. [30 minutes]
Wait, I could try to edit those three rolls pictures that I took. [1 hour]
I should attack a few items on my todo list like brainstorming for the semester and writing a few emails. [1 hour]
Screw it, I should delete half of the items on my todo list that won’t matter in five years anyway. [20 minutes]
Oh wait, I could write down the top 10 things that I want to do for the next month, then narrow it down to three ideals, then ignore the rest so that I actually progress at something. [30 minutes]
I should grab a bite to eat. [20 minutes]
Or just meditate about everything above. [30 minutes]

Welcome to the modern renaissance life. Thanks for listening. Next time: answers?