Your Head Won’t Get Cold
By Jonathan Samuelson
During a round of introductions, I posed this question to the group, “Are we doing all the hats?” You see, each aspect of our lives requires us to be someone or something. A child, a parent, a student, the list goes on and on and no two lists are the same. While we’re not all the things all at once, we never really escape the baggage that comes along with those roles. If your kid gets sick on vacation, you still have to take care of them. If you get in the elevator with a colleague while heading to an appointment, you don’t get to be just a patient in that elevator. Quite quickly, we become overwhelmed with responsibility and run out of breath searching for balance. So, I pose this question to you, how many hats is too many?
This morning I was a guest, sharing my lived experience with salmon to a group of university students. This afternoon, I’m an overtired employee attempting to schedule out the next week and noting that finals are around the corner. Perhaps it’s 40 below and you’re trying to study in your dorm room, worrying about who will pack your mom’s firewood back home. It seems no matter how hard we try to compartmentalize, all the colors of life bleed together. Before we know it, the caramel is mixed with the cheesy and we’re a Christmas tin of jumbled popcorn.
We’re often juggling, which puts us half a step behind. If we could take off just one hat, maybe we could catch up and even get ahead of the game. Putting something away doesn’t mean we won’t dust it off in the future. Heck, vintage is always trending. If you find yourself in a blue hat with a gold Nanook emblem on it, maybe put the grungy gamer knit cap to the side for a bit. Prioritize, because we can’t wear a marten hat and snapback at the same time. Well, we could but that would just be ridiculous and nobody is setting snares at the gym.
As the semester nears end, or the fiscal year wraps up, take stock of the hats you wear and the obligations you carry. Do you share any of those hats and can your sibling, cousin, or co-worker wear it for a while? Of the lineup, which hat keeps you satiated and which drains your energy? Learn your limits. Try to remember what is most important right now. With the cold settling in and winter taking hold, remember which hat is keeping you most warm. Put that one on first.