Reflecting

Rebecca Greenstein, Prozdor Grade 10

The modern American’s life is stressful, busy, and unorganized. We cram our days full and barely have time to ourselves to unwind from our days, weeks, months, lifetimes. Many people don’t take some time for themselves out of every day, just to think about the day that has passed, the one coming, or the countless ones ahead. I believe everyone needs time to themselves.

I’m not a very athletic person and don’t enjoy team sports. I have tried to no avail to play basketball and softball with other girls my age. For that reason, my exercise comes in the form of walking home from school. It’s a mile and a half uphill, and with the two stoplights, it takes me about half an hour. I always use this time to look back on my day. What went wrong? What worked? How come? What can I do better the next day? Even though cars pass me at ungodly speeds of 50 m.p.h. on residential streets, I am able to block this out and go through a period of self-examination. It’s important for everyone to use time out of every day to reflect.

Despite this reflection I do while walking home, my life is still jam-packed and stressful. I have therefore spent at least three weeks out of every summer at a rustic camp in central Vermont. I am able to block out the constant stresses of my school year and have a great time with the people I am closest with. Camp has always been a way for me to release myself from my hectic home life. Even then, in a completely laid back and relaxed setting, I still need time to myself, so I find time to walk to and from the pond alone. It’s a ten minute walk that allows me to debrief from absolutely everything and feel the nature around me. Once, I was on my way to the pond and stopped mid-step for about five minutes, unable to take another pace. The utter tranquility of my surroundings made me pause and reflect even more than I was already doing. I love, and need, to take a break from everything.

Those who know me will probably be slightly astounded at this statement. I put a lot of unnecessary stress on myself to excel at schoolwork, stage managing plays, and piano. The only time I grant to myself is the time I spend walking home, which doesn’t come daily. When I don’t get a chance to walk home, I lie in bed before falling sleep and reflect. The only setback of this approach is the lack of exercise, but I think the more important thing is the reflection and not the physical activity. I know that on the outside, I’m not the kind of person who would grant herself self-reflection time, but when you get to know me really well, I enjoy downtime to reflect. After all, it’s what everyone needs in life.