This post will be my first and only attempt at being insightful and giving "advice" on serving in the Peace Corps. I didn't create this blog to bore people with cliches discussed in a study group of an Intro to International Development or Intro to Philosophy course and how I understand them and you don't. So as promised, I have stuck to mainly embarrassing moments where I make a fool of myself.
But one day, on a train ride though the misty wild flower covered hills of Fez (ahhhh CLICHE ALERT) I was listening to Baz Lurhmann's remix of Mary Schmich's 1997 Chicago Tribune column "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" and was feeling the ebbs and flows of nostalgia weigh on my heart (damn it, I did it again) so I decided to at least attempt to write ONE insightful post. Actually, ok, lets be honest here, so I am not actually going to WRITE it. I am simply going to highlight some of the most insightful things Mary Schmich wrote and comment on how they relate to life in the Peace Corps.
"Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4 PM on some idle Tuesday."
So, no one came to your English class. Your counterpart was late to a meeting, again. You can't seem to get anything done and your Peace Corps service is not as fulfilling as you thought it would be because no on here is "poor enough" to need your help. YOU WERE LIED TO so you wrote your frustrations out on FMPCL (F*** my Peace Corps Life). Listen pancakes, cry me a river, build me a bridge, and GTF over it. People will come to your class eventually, you will start showing up late to meetings and end up being right on time, you will eventually get something done, and your service will be fulfilling because whoever doesn't leave Peace Corps a better person was a POS to begin with. Fact. So why worry about it? Ultimately the trivial day to day going ons are the things you should be enjoying (even if you don't understand them or they frustrate you) as they prepare you for the real troubles that come your way.
"Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself."
Please do not compare yourself to other Peace Corps volunteers or be jealous of their projects. I have yet to meet a normal Peace Corps volunteer, including me, and abnormalities can't be compared with other abnormalities. That is what makes them abnormal, it is science. Anyway, you think I am normal? No, I am not normal. I should show you my W2 form from 2011 and compare it with my W2 form from 2012 where my only "income" was from the Peace Corps...WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE!?
Also, GET OFF FACEBOOK. The volunteers who are on Facebook all the time talking about how great their life is, is it really that great if they are always on Facebook? I mean, where do they get all the time to do their amazing projects if they are always writing about them on Facebook? And let's be real, the only reason people on Facebook think I am cool is because I take all my pictures using Instagram. True story.
Listen, we should all take the time to share our stories and celebrate our accomplishments, whether that be on Facebook or somewhere else. But please don't be THAT volunteer. You know the one that I am talking about, the one who ALWAYS talks about how amazing their life is and how much work they are doing. Are you really enjoying that one sided conversation. I mean really? No, you aren't. It is like blah blah blah blah bladdiblah for HOURS and you know they are only doing it to make themselves feel better. I mean, do you honestly even believe the words that are coming out of their mouths. No, you don't.
"Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's."
First, I will literally de-friend you if one more annoyingly self-aggrandizing or ignorant comment shows up on my news feed. I swear to it on a box of Mike and Ikes that I will do it. Wait, I shouldn't be on Facebook...
Second, cut yourself some slack. Honestly, do you have any idea what is going on around you right now? Honestly? Literally, every single day I have no idea what is going on around me and I have been here for a YEAR AND A HALF. I should know better, but I don't. I pretend that I do, but I don't.
Finally...
"Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth."
The most important thing I have learned in Peace Corps is that no one knows what they are talking about. They might think that they do, but they don't. You know why they don't, because they aren't you and ultimately can't tell you what to do with your life or what to do with your service. Take people's advice, don't take people's advice, but remember that advice can sometimes be someone else's insecurities coming out, and you don't have time for that s**t. Actually, sometimes advice can be someone sharing their vast and well earned wisdom. I honestly don't know the difference. But I suppose never trust someone with crazy eyes.
The end.
For Mary Schmich's full article go here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column,0,4054576.column
For the Baz Lurhmann remix go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI
But one day, on a train ride though the misty wild flower covered hills of Fez (ahhhh CLICHE ALERT) I was listening to Baz Lurhmann's remix of Mary Schmich's 1997 Chicago Tribune column "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" and was feeling the ebbs and flows of nostalgia weigh on my heart (damn it, I did it again) so I decided to at least attempt to write ONE insightful post. Actually, ok, lets be honest here, so I am not actually going to WRITE it. I am simply going to highlight some of the most insightful things Mary Schmich wrote and comment on how they relate to life in the Peace Corps.
"Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4 PM on some idle Tuesday."
So, no one came to your English class. Your counterpart was late to a meeting, again. You can't seem to get anything done and your Peace Corps service is not as fulfilling as you thought it would be because no on here is "poor enough" to need your help. YOU WERE LIED TO so you wrote your frustrations out on FMPCL (F*** my Peace Corps Life). Listen pancakes, cry me a river, build me a bridge, and GTF over it. People will come to your class eventually, you will start showing up late to meetings and end up being right on time, you will eventually get something done, and your service will be fulfilling because whoever doesn't leave Peace Corps a better person was a POS to begin with. Fact. So why worry about it? Ultimately the trivial day to day going ons are the things you should be enjoying (even if you don't understand them or they frustrate you) as they prepare you for the real troubles that come your way.
"Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself."
Please do not compare yourself to other Peace Corps volunteers or be jealous of their projects. I have yet to meet a normal Peace Corps volunteer, including me, and abnormalities can't be compared with other abnormalities. That is what makes them abnormal, it is science. Anyway, you think I am normal? No, I am not normal. I should show you my W2 form from 2011 and compare it with my W2 form from 2012 where my only "income" was from the Peace Corps...WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE!?
Also, GET OFF FACEBOOK. The volunteers who are on Facebook all the time talking about how great their life is, is it really that great if they are always on Facebook? I mean, where do they get all the time to do their amazing projects if they are always writing about them on Facebook? And let's be real, the only reason people on Facebook think I am cool is because I take all my pictures using Instagram. True story.
Listen, we should all take the time to share our stories and celebrate our accomplishments, whether that be on Facebook or somewhere else. But please don't be THAT volunteer. You know the one that I am talking about, the one who ALWAYS talks about how amazing their life is and how much work they are doing. Are you really enjoying that one sided conversation. I mean really? No, you aren't. It is like blah blah blah blah bladdiblah for HOURS and you know they are only doing it to make themselves feel better. I mean, do you honestly even believe the words that are coming out of their mouths. No, you don't.
"Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's."
First, I will literally de-friend you if one more annoyingly self-aggrandizing or ignorant comment shows up on my news feed. I swear to it on a box of Mike and Ikes that I will do it. Wait, I shouldn't be on Facebook...
Second, cut yourself some slack. Honestly, do you have any idea what is going on around you right now? Honestly? Literally, every single day I have no idea what is going on around me and I have been here for a YEAR AND A HALF. I should know better, but I don't. I pretend that I do, but I don't.
Finally...
"Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth."
The most important thing I have learned in Peace Corps is that no one knows what they are talking about. They might think that they do, but they don't. You know why they don't, because they aren't you and ultimately can't tell you what to do with your life or what to do with your service. Take people's advice, don't take people's advice, but remember that advice can sometimes be someone else's insecurities coming out, and you don't have time for that s**t. Actually, sometimes advice can be someone sharing their vast and well earned wisdom. I honestly don't know the difference. But I suppose never trust someone with crazy eyes.
The end.
For Mary Schmich's full article go here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column,0,4054576.column
For the Baz Lurhmann remix go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI
