BWW Blog: Too Tired to Care

Let's get one thing straight: I am not a morning person. When I told my best friend that I would be taking an 8am acting course this quarter, I remember him laughing in my face. The thought of me getting up early to go to class is pretty comical, but in order for me to graduate on time, I will have to take 8am classes for the entire school year. I am currently in an 8am acting course, so not only do I have to pull myself out of bed to actually get to campus, I also have to be awake enough to be constantly moving and staying alert in a fast-paced, highly-interactive class. The first time I set my alarm for 6:30am, I woke up the next morning dazed, exhausted, and looking pretty rough as I boarded the bus without a shred of makeup on. I am going to be honest, I thought I'd despise 8ams way more than I actually do. There's something kind of great about an 8am course that I couldn't quite put my finger on until now: I'm just too tired to care.

Most of the time, when people say that, it's laced with a bitter undertone and implies a negative connotation. For me, I mean it in the best way possible. I've mentioned it in previous articles, but I am such an overthinker, and when I walk into an acting course, I am often self-conscious and hyper-aware of my surroundings and how I look to other people. I thought that this acting course would be no exception to this, but crazily enough, I found that I didn't overthink so much when I was this exhausted.

I find that the course I am in constantly pushes me out of my comfort zone, and normally, I would feel ridiculous doing half of the things we do in our warm-up. From laying on the floor and yelling to eccentric vocal warmups, I would feel so insane if a stranger ever sat in on our class. However, with class starting at exactly 8am (yes, this is that class from my last article), I don't have the energy to get in my head about feeling ridiculous, I just go for it. Being too tired to care has been great in the way that it makes me more open and receptive to everything that this class has to offer. Don't worry, I make sure that I get a sufficient amount of sleep to function the next day, but showing up at least a little tired, oddly enough, helps me focus as well. However, in case you're like me and have those mornings where you're struggling not to hit snooze, I'll share my favorite little trick with you.

Every Tuesday and Thursday before my 8am, I deliberately skip my coffee. For anyone who knows me, they know just how crazy that sounds. Lauren? Without a coffee mug glued to her hand? Sounds nuts, but hear me out: there's a strategic purpose. There is a coffee shop on the arts campus nicknamed The Greenroom, and they have the best hazelnut coffee I've ever tasted. If you bring your own reusable coffee cup, you get fifty cents off of your order, and for a large coffee with that discount, my delicious cup of coffee costs me $1.87. Since I skip my coffee before class, I am motivated to power through my acting course even on the roughest of mornings because of the promise of a hot cup of coffee afterwards. It costs me under $4 a week, and truly makes me so happy, so as silly as it seems, it gets me out of bed and on that bus before most of UCI is even awake. Although you may not have your own Greenroom coffee shop, find something that motivates you to get up, get moving, and begin your day.

As I sit writing this in The Greenroom, I am tired but content, knowing that I decided to let go of some of my overthinking and become more open to learning in my class. Yes, it's an early morning, but with my $1.87 cup of happiness, I'm going to be just fine.