Oct. 6, 2011

Braaaaiiinnnnnsssss........ BRRRAAAAIIIINNNNSSS..............

That's about how I felt this morning.  I slept horribly last night, and I halfway wonder if it was the crazy wind going on all night.  Possibly....

In any case, Communication class started at 0800, and to nobody's surprise, finished at 1100.  I don't know why we start so early to have a two-hour lunch.  It just kind of throws off my rhythm.  Oh well....

Today we lectured on anxiety, grief and loss, and conflict.  Very quick day, followed by evaluations.  Not too bad, although the content was a little straight-forward and kind of common-sense.

The "lab" for this class followed lunch at about 1300, and we did a few activities and skits and watched a movie about conflict and anxiety and how to be assertive when faced with conflict.  We then took a few quizzes about our experiences with death, so we know where we stand when it comes time for us to handle it in our working environment.

The day ended with a 1.5-hour lecture from a Thanatologist, or someone who studies death and specifically grief associated with death.  It was an interesting enough lecture, although I started feeling like a zombie again.

Some of the highlights:

• Bereave originates from the old English word, berafian, which means "to rob".  So, to be in a state of bereavement means to be in a state of having been robbed.  An interesting way to think of loss.  
• Handling grief or difficulty in the animal kingdom:
• During a storm, a turtle will hole up in his shell and wait until it passes.  Often, humans do this, too, figuratively speaking; we withdraw into ourselves and wait for the hurting to pass.
• During a storm, a bald eagle will fly high above the storm and just hang out until it passes.  Humans who don't withdraw often do this; instead of working 40 hours, we work 60+ hours to keep ourselves busy enough to not handle the grief.
• During a storm, a tatonka (yes, this is the actual term the thanatologist used; a buffalo) will turn into the storm and walk into it.  This is how we SHOULD handle grief -- just deal with it head on and get it over with sooner rather than later.  

Interesting day, although a bit of a downer at the end of the day and end of the term (for lecture, anyways).  

After class, I went home and gave in to my zombified feelings and took a nap.  You thought I was going to say that I ate brains, didn't you?  Ha!  No, just took a nap to recover some sleep.  

Then, I watched some TV and will very soon be heading to bed for hopefully a full night's sleep!  No more zombie me!