Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
It can be difficult to balance struggles in one’s personal life with academics and other responsibilities, but you don’t have to try to do it alone. BC has trained professionals at Counseling Services (bit.ly/BC-counseling) who can help you to find balance between your personal life and your academic life and can give you strategies for both.
There will surely be more pups! (Watch for many, many pups on February 16, the Chinese Lunar New Year that begins the Year of the Dog. Here’s a preview:
I will make sure my library assistants are made aware of this need.
Being there for others requires knowing when someone wants you there. It is easy to help people who ask for help, so be alert to what people aren’t saying. It’s okay to ask questions as long as you don’t pry (okay, if they seem distressed maybe pry a little). Alternatively, if you know someone needs help and you aren’t there for them, ask yourself why- pry a little into yourself. Understanding what someone really needs and overcoming your reasons for not helping will go a long way in being there for others.
Sorry to say that you can’t make your toes smaller. And please don’t try to. People have crippled themselves trying to make their toes and feet smaller. Give your toes lots of room and enjoy their glorious shape. If anyone makes fun of your toes, you have my permission to give them a (gentle) kick.
IAAWNAD. You really don’t want to be getting medical advice from a Wall! Please consider discussing this with your doctor, or visiting University Health Services (bit.ly/BostonCollegeHealth). And best wishes.
If you know you’ll “fail,” you should probably examine the goal. Is it really something you need to achieve, or is it something you think you *should* achieve (That is, is it really relevant to you?) Is it achievable? Maybe it’s too big & needs to be broken into steps or parts. Maybe in the past your resolutions have been vague, so it’s hard to say whether or how you’d achieve them. Or maybe they didn’t include a date, so you could always let it slide a little further until suddenly it was December 31 again. If it’s genuinely meaningful to you, specific, achievable, reasonable, and time-specific, and you give yourself a plan and some leeway, you have a better chance of succeeding. I believe in you. How about a New Month resolution on Feb 1?
I welcome and encourage happiness. As they say, smile, and the world smiles with you. Happiness isn’t a permanent state, though; remember to let yourself experience other emotions without worry. For instance, when you’re sad (and sadness is inevitable, even for walls), know that it will pass, and happiness will return. This song might help: bit.ly/mcferrin-be-happy
As a Wall, of course I’m a big fan of Pink Floyd, and have always loved their song “Fearless,” (bit.ly/floyd-fearless) especially when I need encouragement to do something difficult. I assume there are particular things you’d like to do but have hesitated out of fear or anxiety. Fear & anxiety are quite common, and can be hard to fight, and often return against our will. If you find that’s the case, being fearless might not be an option, but doing things in spite of fear always is. That’s called courage. If you’re interested in recent research, check out Anxious: Using the Brain to Understand and Treat Fear & Anxiety, by neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux. (O’Neill Library RC531 .L344 2015)
Sheer poetry! Everyone should adopt a resolution like this. The Answer Wall loves stillness, and though I enjoy settling, building engineers tell me settling walls and foundations can cause structural problems. But you humans, please enjoy settling into your communities, and please enjoy stillness. I can’t recommend stillness enough. You might enjoy the book The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere, by the travel writer Pico Iyer. (O’Neill and TML Libraries BJ1496 .I84 2014)
