BY EMILY WINN
St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland
“However, I think there is much to be said about shifting your view of life from doing to being. The question of what do you have to do, should change to how do you want to be.”
For the past three months, I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad in Maynooth, Ireland. An Irish town of about 15,000 people, Maynooth was a wonderful place to live. Maynooth is about a forty minute bus ride outside of Dublin city center and provided the perfect respite for me to reflect, learn about the Irish culture, and learn about myself.
I lived on a college campus, next to a beautiful church. I was able to integrate into Irish culture, take classes with Irish students and professors, and make connections with many people. Ireland as a country is beautiful, with a very distinct culture that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The Irish natives I encountered were warm, friendly, and more focused on living in the present than I am used to.
My study abroad experience was truly once in a lifetime. I feel so blessed that I was able to travel abroad at all, and that I could travel not only all across Ireland, but to many other European countries as well. I took 5 classes at Maynooth University and had the chance to play on the soccer team. However, these are all things I did, and while they were life changing, they were not actually the most impactful part of my experience.
Going into my study abroad experience, I had high hopes to travel intensely, spending every weekend in a different location. I wanted to do and see as much as I could in the small time I was given. I quickly attempted to make plans for all the weekends, filling up every second with an adventure. This is the way that I have always lived my life, wanting every moment to be full, to feel that I am taking full advantage of opportunity. This mentality leads to everything becoming part of the to do list. This to do list includes the normal activities such as grocery shopping and doing laundry, but also included things such as “get coffee with so and so” or “make time for myself.” In considering every aspect of my life as part of the “to do” list I was not giving the personal parts of my life enough credit, and they began to blend together with the less enjoyable, routine activities.
This mentality is common in American culture, and I quickly found that it did not mesh well with European culture, and especially Irish culture, and I felt a disconnect. While I was trying to do as much as I could, my Irish counterparts were focused on something else: being in the moment and enjoying every part of it. In noticing this disconnect, I realized that I myself was so caught up in the doing, that I missed out on the being, and this was not only limiting my study abroad experience, but not allowing me to be the fullest version of myself either.
Now it is easy to feel overwhelmed by all the to dos, especially during this time of the year. There are so many things to get done in time for Christmas, so much to accomplish in the last days of 2021 to prepare for the new year, and only so much time. However, I think there is much to be said about shifting your view of life from doing to being. The question of what do you have to do, should change to how do you want to be.
Especially in a time of disconnection fueled by social distancing and the pandemic, it is more of a time than ever to just spend time with loved ones, and be, not do. I believe that God created each and every one of us in his image, and in a very unique and loving way. And I believe that God does not care as much about what you do, as he cares how you treat others and how you live in the moments that you are given. During this Christmas season, focus on being. Do not let the things that need to get done fall to the wayside but focus on the actual action of doing those things and find thankfulness in the smallest of moments.
Although it took me living on another continent to realize the value of being, I hope to carry this mentality with me for the rest of my life. I realize how much more content and energized I feel when I shift to this way of thinking, and I am a much more thankful and humble person because of it. The pace of life I am returning to is very different than the pace of life I experienced in Ireland, but I will work hard to remember how at peace I felt in Maynooth, Ireland.
I saw so much and learned so much during my time abroad. But above all, I understood the value of appreciating every opportunity and every individual moment I am given, and I hope that this message leaves you all with the same mentality.