Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Chambers of Secrets

(blog assignment 1)
A shameless admission: I am a self-diagnosed media addict, and left untreated for a number of years I now suffer from chronic procrastination attention deficit day-dreamer syndrome, or PADDDS*. A childhood of hiding Vanity Fair behind Amelia Bedelia led to what is now the repressed memory of my mother confiscating my overgrown Rolling Stone collection, screaming "DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF!"

And an aspiring journalist was born. It seemed like the most productive way to put my passion to use. Of course, then I got a Facebook. and a Myspace. and three or four blogs, thus absorbing the better part of a valuable adolescence not with crucial academia, but with Meggie Hanchette's status updates and reviews of the new Radiohead album--while painfully hunched over a laptop.

Just as I was about to check myself into media rehab and confirm my chiropractor appointment,
college professor and media connoisseur Brett Chambers imparted some of his wisdom upon my journalism class:
"Facebook encourages ADD"--at first I thought, wait what'd he say? oo look at that bird! But as I continued to digest his advice to the budding pioneers of new media, I realized my condition was common and curable. It was Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making Us Stupid" (which I just googled), that first enlightened me of the internet's potentially negative effects. Until now, however, I was unaware of any effective remedy. According to Professor Chambers, who manages to stay well-informed but not all-consumed by the internet, what it really comes down to is good, old fashioned will power:
1. "Success is built on persistence and determination."
2. "Do what you have to do first--then what you want to do."
3. "But above all, fulfill your own dreams"

I left this discussion with a new found motivation. My attention deficit had been offered a stimulus package! With these tools, I could learn to harness a passion and mold it into a career. Having untangled myself from the world wide web long enough to envision a productive future, I had stepped into the reality of potential success.

To all who suffer from PADDDS: with the advice of Professor Chambers, there is hope for us yet.


*entirely made up