Me and that horse from that Narnia book

I don't know why this is so ingrained in my brain (except that I have the books virtually memorized, maybe?), but today I was thinking about one of the Narnia books, The Horse and His Boy, the one with the boy and the girl and two talking horses escaping from Calormen, the EEEEEBBIILLLLL Middle-Eastern-like country to gain their freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom in pure Narnia (yes, I love the Narnia books, but C.S. Lewis had some, well, problematic ideas...). Anyway, somewhere in there, the kids and the horses are running from some bad guy - the kids riding the horses - and the omniscient narrator points out that Bree, the male horse, wasn't pushing himself quite as hard as he really thought he was. And the narrator goes on to opine that the problem with being a slave (as Bree had been in Calormen) is that because you're so used to having someone else make you work as hard as you can, that you lose the ability to drive yourself.

Anyway, I can think of a hell of a lot of other, more pertinent problems with slavery, but this has come to mind in the last week, because I have accomplished nothing, practically, since finishing finals. I sleep till 9 every morning and stay up till midnight, I don't shower till 1 or 2 in the afternoon, I scarcely move off the couch. Which is all well and good for a couple of days, but I have plenty to do: the apartment is a tip, I have to mail my sister's Christmas package, I have to renew my car's registration, I should do some work for the clinic (which requires going to campus), and a whole bunch of other things.

But I can't. bring. myself. to. do. anything.

All I can think is that after being driven by the external demands of law school all semester long (and it was a fairly tough semester, I would say), I have lost the ability to drive myself. Me and Bree.

(Which I guess means I need a lion to come along and chase me to get me moving, but I could live without the accompanying terror and pain and whatnot.)

Comments

[Janice]

Roar?

I hear you about the lack of internal motivation. If it wasn't for the damned final final being scheduled for tomorrow, I'd be in a puddle of sloth. Sadly, I have to get everything done in terms of holiday cleaning TODAY since all my free time until the 25th will be spent on marking. *sigh*

[undine]

You are (justifiably) tired! It's a boomerang effect from all the work.

[Notorious Ph.D.]

I only just now submitted my grades. Now, it's family chaos up until I return home on the 31st. I then have 3 weeks to work on my writing, but honestly? The first week is going to be devoted to total sloth.

[Terminal Degree]

I think I have those book practically memorized, too! (Are you going to see Dawn Treader during the vacation?) :)

[Dame Eleanor Hull]

Screw that. Take a milk bath with rose petals, like the Calormene girl whose name I can't remember, eat some Turkish Delight, sip your mint tea, and enjoy the break.

[Another Damned Medievalist]

You know, I'm thinking of it as recovery time. My macbook has been commandeered till Tuesday (apparently the little fix plus Snow Leopard upgrade is actually a 'it won't let us fix it, even after the upgrade, so we're re-imaging it and oops! we forgot we got off early today and won't be back till Tuesday). So a lot of my work is not available to me. Several friends pointed out that this might just be a good time to take a break from feeling obligated. I can't entirely, but I *can* give myself permission to do some stuff around the house that I feel like doing and just sit and watch movies and knit. So I will do that! And maybe the rest will make me more productive.