Summer Self Analysis

It's interesting, when you have a relative lack of responsibility and a little time on your hands, how much you can learn about yourself. Now, I understand that for the last six years I was not the busiest person in the world, not by a longshot. However, my mind was almost always engaged in something that required it's attention. If I wasn't working or spending time with friends, I was cleaning or organizing, or fixing whatever recently broke at my house, tending to my dog or my yard, and if all else failed I was planning how to utilize whatever amount of free time might be in store for me in the near future, be it one hour or one week. In fact, I would even plan what to do with free time I knew I didn't have. Now, here I am with little to no responsibility, no house, and more free time than I have money to indulge in it with. And this is what I have learned...

I seem to have an obsession with puzzles. Not just jigsaw puzzles, but those will do in a pinch. Mostly, I have realized that I cannot not try to do the puzzles in the newspaper every day. The good news in light of this obsession is that I don't get the paper in Atlanta. In Baton Rouge, however, or New Orleans, or even in Lakeland, FL (where I was this past weekend), I cannot resist the Sodoku (not sure how to spell that), the word jumble, and even crossword puzzles. Now, crossword puzzles are kind of like golf for me: I am absolutely horrible at them, but just one little taste of potential success pushes me to try even harder and waste even more time. Luckily, as mentioned before, I have a lot of time to waste.

In addition to reading, watching movies, running, eating, a cruise, and a few weddings, what does this summer puzzle obsession tell me? Well, I think I am simply suffering from a case of chronic boredom. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed spending time with my family and travelling and all around relaxing. I am thrilled that I have had time to read and watch movies to my heart's content. However, I am realizing that I just need a little more mental stimulation to keep me going.

Alternatively, there may be another explanation. I think that deep down I am starting to suffer from some minor symptoms of EWS (Engineering Withdrawal Syndrome). As a born engineer, I suppose I have a need for closure. I absolutely love what I am studying now as I work on my masters degree, but honestly there just aren't enough "right" answers to suit me. I have immensely enjoyed the pleasure each day of tackling a puzzle, however simple it may be, and knowing that I can eventually determine (on a good day) what the one right answer is. This of course does not apply to crossword puzzles, which I cannot complete to save my life.

Only time will tell if the diagnosis is chronic boredom or Engineering Withdrawal Syndrome. If I get back to school this year and forget all about puzzles, then it must have been boredom, already cured. If I still find myself searching out occassional (or frequent) puzzles, then I will know it is EWS, something I will have to treat for the rest of my life.