The last two days I have been in bed, sick. It’s just been me, my laptop, CNN, MTV and the occasional apperance from Oprah (who I have recently lost a lot of love for). Dutch TV definitely leaves something to be desired. I have discovered that there actually is a limit to the number of crappy MTV reality shows you can watch before your brain goes completely numb and you lose track of time and space.
It’s actually been a bit of a relief. Apart from my raging head cold, I feel like my mind also needed a "time out", a couple of days to just chill out and relax. A "mental health day" of sorts, as my junior high school friend Emma used to call them. I was shocked the first time that Emma didn’t show up to school and proudly proclaimed that she just needed a "mental health day". She told she had spent the day watching soaps, eating junk food, and baking cookies. Amazed, I asked her what she had told her parents, didn’t they know that she was faking it?? Wasn’t she in big trouble? She laughed in that "god-you-are-soooo-young" sort of way, and said "my Dad recommended it actually, he says everyone needs at least one mental health day a month to stay sane". I remember thinking, "wow, who was this Dad--who actually encouraged skipping school!"
After pondering the "mental health day" concept for a few weeks, I defiantly proclaimed one evening to my mom, "tomorrow I’m not going to school! I am taking a mental health day!" I stood by, excited, anticipating a battle of words to follow. My mom didn’t lift her gaze from the book she was reading and replied nonchalantly "Sure...if you want".
Of course the next day I dragged my butt to school. The prospect of staying home just didn’t seem that exciting anymore.
And tomorrow I will do the same. Adult responsibilities have kicked in. My inbox is pilling up with emails. And somehow, cold or no cold, the prospect of staying home for another day while work is pilling up, just doesn’t seem that exciting anymore.
