Intellectual Stimulation

My last year in Spartanburg before I moved to Annapolis, my main complaint in life was that I was bored. I didn't feel stimulated at all- in my job, my social life, my spiritual life, and particularly not in my intellectual life. It seemed that I was getting "stupider" by the day...I felt like I was stuck in some stagnant room that I just couldn't leave! My brain was shriveling up from lack of use and stimulation.

I've written about the 4 things I need in my life to maintain balance- spiritual fulfillment, athletic fulfillment, musical fulfillment, and intellectual fulfillment. Moving to Annapolis quickly satisfied the first three when I joined a community chorus, a running club, and found a good church. My job was fairly challenging, but not what I would call "intellectually stimulating". Before I fell into my busy social life, I was reading a lot of books on topics ranging from theology to spy novels. In the past 2 years or so, my reading time has been reduced dramatically. Yet, I don't feel that my intellectual needs are not being met.

This makes me wonder what has changed since I established intellectual fulfillment as a need in my life. Have my standards for intellectual fulfillment changed? I'm not sure. My job is more challenging, but not in an academic way....moreso in technical matters. Problem-solving and such. Part of me worries that as I move farther and farther from my time in the realm of academia, my capacity for creative, global thought is diminishing. In college, I was always asking the hard questions of life and I loved gathering more and more knowledge, often abstract, impractical knowledge.

I think and hope that maybe I'm just growing into a mature adult. The thirst for intellectual knowledge that I had in college has decreased- but I've learned so many practical things that help me along in life. Since my other 3 needs are being met, I think both my job and my social life provide the intellectual stimulation that I need. While a part of me misses my young, idealist quest for answers, I'd much rather be sitting on the back deck with friends and a glass of wine discussing politics, the state of the world, and spiritual matters than sitting on the steps of Old Main devouring a book. And that, I hope, is a sign of maturity.