Like Amundsen

Restlessness is an unfortunate condition that affects many of us hardworking Americans from time to time, to various levels of detriment. Some might consider this an expression of adult ADHD but that explanation seems rather lacking since the levels of diagnosis are sky-high and often an inability to concentrate can be blamed on temporary and recognizable factors. I can discern my level of distractedness and restlessness by my tendency to transpose things when I write which usually only occurs in long strings of numbers, but occasionally happens in words, particularly Greek. And this is in the context of handwriting, so typos cannot be blamed. Some part of my brain fires a little oddly every now and then, I suppose, and this tendency is definitely exaggerated on occasion.

Currently I don't have that type of inattention, but rather the sort that leads me to stare out windows at planes or watch a nice old rotary clock ticking off the seconds, peacefully rotating around and around, lulling me into daydreams and repose. It is difficult to concentrate on the same task all day, all month, all year. In the normal workforce, this conundrum is resolved by the weekend and the standard vacation although people say that Americans rarely use all the time off allotted to them in any given year. I suppose I can reason out motivations for this, but in truth I never have truly understood why one would choose to remain at work when the option of traveling through France or reading in the library exists - and the paycheck still comes in the mail. Days like today, weeks like this week, require minivacations to help motivate concentration and provide a respite periodically. So I check my email, eat something, walk around the quads, play Snood, write on this page. Every hour or so I have a few moments of different intellectual activity so I can keep my sanity, but in the end anxiety about the final deadline pushes me back into my chair, feet up, pencil in hand.

They say the average American moves seven times in his life (or maybe every 7 years... I believe it's the former). While this may be partially due to a lack of job security I think it is more likely ascribed to the sense of restlessness, of a need for freedom (i.e. new things) that plague our colonist mindset. Ever westward, and when the west was won, back east and north and south. A traveling itch. Meandering much like this writing, I suppose, which really had no need of its own to wander. So I shall settle it down in the archives, walk away, and settle myself with a banana and Euripides - stationary - for at least an hour.