Soulful Strides to Promotion & Tenure (Dec. 2024)
December Madness
Well, here we are. Mid-December. Holiday songs and movies are streaming on every platform we can imagine. People are beginning to fill the stores - looking for the perfect gifts. Students are finishing up exams, faculty are feverishly putting grades in, students are begging for that one extra point or 2 or 3 or I am sure 5 - to move their grade from not passing to passing or to make them seem academically stellar when they really are not. So yeah, the madness has begun.
The funny thing though is that December, although having 31 days in it, seems to be the shortest month. Perhaps because of all the stuff I just listed above in addition to all the personal stuff (we all have) that I didn’t mention. This past week, I got to thinking, what really is madness? Oxford dictionary defines madness as a state of frenzied or chaotic activity. I wholeheartedly believe this definition sums up the general state of most people (in higher education or not) during this month. But why is that? I think it all comes down to one word: expectations.
During December, other people’s expectations of you grow exponentially. Not only are you expected to cow-tail to every student, faculty member, and administrator, but there are societal holiday expectations that somehow trickle down to your personal life. Gone are the days when your calendar slows down around December 12th or so and doesn’t pick back up until January 7th. These days, it seems like everyone is simply doing more and expecting you to do the same.
Just the other day, I was meeting with a friend/colleague and we were discussing the state of being overwhelmed by all that needs to be done professionally and how it has left us so psychologically spent that we aren’t even thinking about the holiday season anymore and we are not the only ones. I actually heard someone in passing (I think I was at the gym) say they were so tired and exhausted from work that they didn’t even feel like doing the “whole holiday season” thing this year. This is where the madness has brought us. December madness and all its expectations has gone unchecked for too long. It is time to recalibrate and take our power back. The power to create a type of chaos that works to our advantage. Yes, it sounds super crazy, but go with me for a moment.
Most people, including myself, tend to view chaos in a negative light (I just did it), as if it is something undesirable and to be avoided at all times. But in the grand scheme of things, chaos is necessary. It is the driver that takes us to a destination of rest and peace. It forces a reckoning with self. A reckoning that says “Hey, Sis, let’s go!”
The end of the year should be a time of rest. A time reflection and celebration. A time for imagination of what’s to come (stay positive, please) and what we can become in the new year. December should be a time to fellowship with loved ones or to curl up in front of the tv (or whatever device you use) and watch those sappy holiday movies or cartoons. A time of finding your peace.
I know a few of you (those preparing your P&T portfolio) will carve out some time for working, but don’t let the expectations of the academy dictate your well-deserved time off or let the gift of chaos go unappreciated. This holiday season, give yourself permission to embrace December and all of its chaos. Because chaos, if reimagined, can bring us to a place of rest and peace.
“I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.”