Organized Chaos

As an unfortunate Type-A Library student (as my lovely colleague Brianna Marshall outlines in her blog Not So Stern Librarian) my life has been somewhat insanely busy as of late.  Between working at the Archives of Traditional Music, volunteering at the Black Film Center/Archive, taking countless UITS instructor-lead classes, and taking four for credit classes, I fully admit to coming home and literally crashing into my bed.  It is from there that I have been working on my homework and accessing my various incredibly nerdy side-projects (like MU*ing).  When actually present in my small school-owned apartment, I'll admit there is not much room for me to do anything else, save for sit at my desk.  My room is situated at the corner of my building, and while having a lovely wrap-around window which lets in natural light, is oddly shaped, and thus does not leave much room for me to spread out.  Thus, after a week or two of hectic 12-hour+ days, my room starts to resemble the natural habitat of a certain potbellied farm animal.  However, I can tell you where EVERYTHING IS.

Welcome to organized chaos.

Organized chaos, I feel to an extent, is at the core of my being.  I am an incredibly organized person.  I have a planner which never leaves my side, and is literally the only way I can keep track of life.  There are few things I truly need to function, and a planner is one of them.  I have resisted, so far, the call of an electronic calendar, but I feel like it is an innate possibility for the future - especially next semester, when I will be taking four classes on top of both a job and internship.

I believe my ability to accept chaos stems from my transition from a somewhat absentminded adolescent to my Type-A adulthood.  I may now have the need to incessantly count calories, separate M&Ms into specific colors, and arrange my books in my backpack according to size, but there was a time when I was so lackadaisical it would drive my mother insane.  Having, I assume, evolved into a more enlightened state of organization and preparation from my continued work in academia, I can thus accept and even embrace that line from the Serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.

In the fast paced Library Science education world, I have much more important fish to fry than making sure the cardboard box graveyard at the foot of my bed stays in a neat pile to be recycled.  I would much rather spend my time reading up on Music Libraries or working on potential conference proposals.  Besides, when I do become a Librarian, organized chaos will often be the name of the game.  Good thing we're already bosom friends.