Simple Pleasures II
For the first time this semester I am sitting in my room wondering what I should do next. I outlined a few chapters for each of the class I am taking, I bluebooked what I have so far for my Note, I even dropped off my shirts and suit at the drycleaner’s. What next?
The new iTunes is a good improvement over the previous one, and its new fancy interface got me to listen to a number of CDs that I’ve long forgotten about. My third-floor window faces the street. The two trees right outside –one turning red and yellow and the other, a pine, remaining dark green — provide a stage for the squirrels that occasionally peek into my room as I gaze at them. Natalie Imbruglia’s voice mixed in with the noise of the passing traffic has a magical relaxing power, in a different way from Jack Johnson’s songs that by now I know too well. It is surprisng that in a city that’s at least 500 miles from the sea in any direction, the occassional noise of a passing car starts to seem like the calming sound of the ocean wave. Or is it because I’ve begun to miss the east coast? Adding to the simple pleasure of sitting by the window and listening to the street noise and random CD albums is Anna’s photo album, which I flip through from time to time to marvel at how much she has grown yet maintained the same sleeping position.
I am sleeping on average only 6-7 hours lately, even less than the 8 hours during the 1L year. It is difficult for me to go to sleep immediately after a busy day. Being mentally exhausted is a torture different from physical fatigue. With physical fatigue i could just jump into bed and it would be gone the next morning. But when I am exhausted from having spent the whole day reading, thinking and writing, it seems that I need a few extra hours to slowly unwind and decompress before I can fall asleep.
But I am really happy with the direction things are going now, and am glad that my choice to go to law school has proved right so far. I am enjoying law school even more than I did during my 1L year, which is a weird thing to say considering how many people hate law school. I guess the appreciation of those simple pleasures makes all the difference.