On Wednesday afternoon, the photocopy machine – the beloved, color, faculty-favorite in the Media Center – jammed, coughed, and burned our fingers until the only option was to turn it off and wait for it to cool off.
I started thinking: Aren’t we a bit like photocopy machines?
Sometimes, we find ourselves overworked and overextended. We aim to serve others, but find ourselves running out of paper, toner, or staples while trying to get all of the jobs complete in a timely manner. We slow down, jam, or quit all together. We someone tries to fix us, we burn them or hide the jammed piece of paper behind layers of equipment. In frustration, we stop, our face blinking in anger, until someone finally pulls the plug.
We unplug. We cool down. We reset. We realign our compass.
When we power up, one of two things happen. Either we return, ready to go – all we needed was a break to cool down. Or, our screen clearly indicates where the equipment error is, allowing us to focus, correct, and move forward.
Unplugging allows us to return refreshed, with clarity.
We have a lot in common with copy machines.