Work & Play

Work & Play
Jenna Schroering, a Bellarmine University freshman, would like to know... How do you partake in so many activities and still keep a social life?"

Dear Jenna,

You ask how my many activities leave time for a social life. Your question is wise because is shows your recognition that the need for a social life is vital to your well-being. The book, Bowling Alone, addresses the problem of social isolation in modern society manifested by the phenomena of single bowlers enjoying a recreational activity that was formerly a team sport. Social isolation is a fatal disease.

When I went to Washington in 1989, the Courier Journal published a profile about me. The article said that my ‘idea of a rousing good time was going to a bar association meeting’.

The funny quip was mostly true and reflected my ability to weave social activities into and around my work as a lawyer. In more recent years, I have added other activities such as a writers support group, a photographers club, church activities, civic and social work each unrelated to the job that enables me to make ends meet. Some of my available time comes from time-management but most derives from diminished family responsibilities that go with my season of life.

Before attending Bellarmine, I completed training in the United States Marine Corps. Our day began at 5:25 am (it still does) and by 9:00 pm we had accomplished more in one day than I ever thought possible in two. By the time I arrived at Bellarmine, I resolved that I would try to live the same way, effectively doubling my life (time) expectancy. My legal text writing (American Law of Mining 2nd, Coal Law and Regulation) was done before 9:00 a.m., during travel time and in hotel rooms after my workday was complete.

While at Bellarmine, a professor (tutor, role model and now a lifelong friend), excused me from class attendance and the purchase of the course book. He told me we would meet weekly to discuss what I was working on. He said if I was ever going to achieve my potential, I needed to learn to work on my own, to practice self-discipline, to budget my life and allocate my time according to my own priorities.

I also have been taught and tutored by an especially harsh teacher called failure. I have scars to prove everything I learned.

Each of these experiences contributed to my ability to mix work and play but it remains a constant challenge to do so. Like people who are thin and fit, I have to work at it—-there’s no short-cut, dear Jenna, and no secret formula. Stay well, DV.