NOT more with less, just less: grumpy observation about stress

The St. Olaf campus is always plastered with posters about worthy causes and events entertaining and educational.  Many of these offerings are student generated.  Often they are connection with "Awareness Week."  Today I walked through a hallway covered with posters about stress.

Okay, I get it.  Students are more stressed these days.  So are faculty.  Some of that stress is good; without it we'd all stay in bed rather than putting our best efforts into our work both for classes and outside of classes.  And some of that stress is bad; it makes us want to stay in bed all day rather than putting any effort into classes or other admirable activities.

So, I'm reminded of Robert Bellah's urging us to "pay attention" to worthy subjects rather than be distracted by unworthy ones or obsessed by worthy ones.  His advise causes me to wonder how much stress we create for ourselves by our obsessions or distractions.  Might we reduce the stress level a bit by having an "Un-awareness Week"?

Isn't that sort of what many 19th century college founders had in mind when they located their new schools in the country-side away from the temptations and dangers of the city?  Let me be clear in my grumpiness, I'm not asserting that all those good causes and activities are dangers in themselves or temptations to immorality.  Neither am I suggesting that we abandon lectures, concerts, films, rehearsals, and the like entirely.   I'm only musing about how we might react if for a week each of us paid attention to half as many things as we do in a usual week.