Reflection, Reflecting, Reflexes

This week marks the half of the semester. Looking back on it, this was a crazy semester for me. Spending about nine months abroad, six and a half in Paris and two in Kathmandu, really changed my perspective on life – made it more realistic so to speak. But, because I was away for so long, I came back behind in so many national deadlines and schoolwork.

 

Looking back at my syllabus, I realize that it is absolutely bare – and that’s for a reason. I only had a vague idea about what I wanted to do because I lived in the countries that experienced these respective forms of medicine (Medieval and Ayurvedic) and I was just so inspired. Now, looking back on it, it’s a monumental task recording the history of the respective medical forms and what they entail.

 

Do I think it’s feasible? Absolutely. Now that I can solely focus on my schoolwork, I can focus each month on a specific form of medicine and what it entails.

 

Reflecting on this semester, and this class particularly thus far, I feel like I did not start off great as well, and the fault is mine entirely. I’ve tested my limits so much since high school, and I should have realized that I’d be tired, not only jetlagged, at the start of the semester. And all those fellowship applications in tandem with schoolwork? Not the greatest combination.

 

So, as I always say, here goes nothing!

The Number 33

Just for fun, I’ve decided to read The Lord of the Rings, as I’ve never finished it as a child. And upon reading the first few pages, with its wonderful prose and dialogue (I mean, the word “eleventy-first”? Perfection), one thing stuck out to me. The age of maturity as a Hobbit is 33. Thirty-three. Hmm…

 

Many medievalists hold JRR Tolkein as one of the greatest medievalists of all time – even though he was a philologist, which is the branch of knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languages. Nevertheless, I want to look into this number, 33.

 

Jesus Christ was recorded to have died in the year 33 AD, being born in the year 0 AD. So, he died at the age of 33.

 

Coincidence that a book written by a man with a great medieval background would write that the age of maturity was reached when a man turned 33? Probably not.

 

But, this number, this idea, is inherent in comic books.

 

Let’s take the great and wonderful Superman of DC Comics. People say that medieval ideas aren’t in modern-day writings – but let’s look at this closely.

 

In many comic books, Clark Kent started to really be his alter ego of Superman when he was 30-ish. They don’t really ever say his age. So, at the age of 30, he started to save the world… Okay.

 

So, Kal-El (Clark Kent), was sent by his father, Jor-El, to save and lead the planet of Earth to a better future…

 

Hmm… now, where have I heard this before? Saving Earth and the humans? Sent by the father? Really coming into his own at the age of 30…

 

I mean, the ideas and principles of Christianity were arguably determined during the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, correct, but its proliferation and spread throughout Western Europe and it lasting effect is all due to what happened during the Middle Ages…

 

I’m not stating anything but… this number – 33. It’s pretty darn medieval.

Exercise

So, as a student who has lived in Nepal to study Ayurvedic Medicine and is writing her thesis on the subject, it would make sense that I practice what I preach.

In order to practice what I preach, I need to balance my mind, body and soul. So, my mind is fully at work at school, and I read about 50 pages a day from a non-required school book for my soul. So… body… that means… yes… exercisethe gym 

As I try to balance these three components of my being, let me explain how I feel:

‘Nuff said.