On the Subject of Stress

I think it goes without saying that for the past week my blog has been subpar or....non-existant. Last week I had my first couple serious college writing assignments and exams (multiple on the same day) and I think it is fair to say that the stress is starting to get to me. In coming to this realization, I began to wonder how I should remedy this, and then started to consider how Americans, on a whole, deal with stress. Much has been said about our culture relating to our work ethic. Americans are efficient. Americans are ambitious. Americans are busy, driven, productive. Essentially Americans are workaholics. I don't think we really know how to relax. Perhaps more sleep would help with the stress. Perhaps I need time to myself apart from my work, however; neither of these seem like good options because they take time away from work that needs to be done. They are anti-productive. Instead, I think the more 'American', reaction to stress is to do is to do more work in order to distract yourself from the other work you don't have time to do. There are many Americans who live this way. I think one of the things we value most is time and how to use it instead of how to use it and how to not use it. Even our entertainment mostly revolves around instant gratification. We might rather watch a 2 hour film than read the corresponding 500 page book over the course of 2 weeks. We don't like to wait for plots to develop slowly, as in many French films. We always need to be entertained. I think sometimes we confuse entertainment with relaxation. I think what Americans really need is to find the time to do nothing and to change their view of nothing. Time to do nothing can be just as fulfilling as time spent cramming to get work done and I believe it would help make us a healthier people. So perhaps although detrimental to my grade, i'm sure, leaving my blog alone for a few days has given me a chance to recharge, but to those who read my blog know that I will catch up and I am back to stay.