Busy or just lazy?

Very often people would say to me, "You seem rather free! Is it just you or is it because Arts modules are simply too easy?"

Friends who know me well enough would expect a earful from me if they express the second opinion. I am actually busy and can be busy if I choose to. If not for the language module that I am currently taking, I would have written 3 conference papers by now. My current workload consists of 1 core module and tons of research work for both myself and my supervisor. I get paid for some of this work of course, but this is not the point.

The point is I have never told anyone that I am busy, but this does not mean that I am not. If you see me idling or bumming around, it does not mean that I am free and that a Masters degree is easy to attain. It simply means that I am not showing how busy I can be. I see no point in telling people that I am busy because I believe that everyone else is and it serves no purpose to compare with others how busy I am. One strange phenomenon that I see around me is that people LOVE to declare themselves busy for fear of seeming lazy or having too much free time in their hands. Whenever I embark on a trip to Taiwan or elsewhere, the natural reaction I receive from others is, "Wah, how come you are so free?" or "Wah, you so rich eh?" My disclaimer is: I have planned my time and schedule properly and have also striven to balance both work and play; I am not rich and more often than not I either travel on research funds or leech onto my kind friends and stay at their homes while abroad. The key is decent time management. It would be a sin to declare myself an expert in this field, but I am learning and have been testing my ground. Time is mine and everyone else's and it is up to the individual to decide what he or she can do with it.

As to why people may perceive me to be free, I reckon it can be due to the following reasons:

1. I walk slow enough and seem to take time for granted.
2. I seem oblivious to deadlines and would still go out for books or with my friends for a good meal or movie.
3. I am always seen planning for overseas trips.
4. I am always holding a book and reading it at a leisurely pace as if I am reading a novel or something.

Whatever the case may be, I want to cry out loud that EVERYONE is busy in his or her own way and there is no cause for comparison. As my old rhetoric goes, if you think that Arts modules are so easy to score, please take them and do well for them. I have seen and experienced much enough to conclude that many "critics" simply fail to grasp the true meaning of reading and learning, and they cannot even find the thesis argument or statement of the author that they are reading. Having said this at no offense to anyone, I just want to say on a personal note that I am taking life and my studies at my own pace and time. I am not going to compromise the quality of my life for material pursuits. Neither am I saying that I would loaf around and accomplish nothing. I will continue to do my best and accept whatever "best" that I can achieve from my current lifestyle.