Stop the glorification of busy

You could think of this post as a mini campaign, a plea for change, another one of my attempts to solve world peace.  However you see it, I hope that after reading it you consider to help stop the glorification of busy.  Some people thrive in busyness and some people, like myself, just don’t.  When our society glorifies multi tasking and overbooked schedules it’s hard to believe that not being busy is okay.  I cannot even count the number of times I have felt guilty for taking an hour of free time to do what I please while everyone else is running around cramming as much as they can in to the short twenty four hours that make up a day.  Believe me, from high school through my first two years of college I packed my day with as much time as I could for friends, homework, class, meals, meetings, work, dance rehearsals, more homework, and sometimes a bit of sleep.  I’ve been there, done that, and know that it’s not for me anymore.

I’m not saying that everyone needs to drop everything they’re doing and live a less busy life, although it’s worth a shot if you ask me.  I’m just saying that its not a competition.  We don’t need to “out busy” any one else.

When I first started writing this blog post, I had all intentions to convince everyone to slow down and stop overbooking, but who am I to tell you what to do?  Like I said, some people thrive in their busy lives.  But perhaps you could ask yourself, do I want to be this busy with overlapping meetings, incomplete time spent with friends and family, and almost zero time to relax and be alone, or is this what our never stopping, multitasking society has decided for me?

Stop the glorification of busy.  We all have twenty four hours in a day, but you can choose how you want to spend them.  I tried to keep this post less of a rant and more of something to think about, but my I am going to rant for one sentence and that is it.  If you do choose to be busy, don’t complain or brag about it because its not a competition. Stop the glorification of busy.

Think outside the box

Lent.  From my experience, people begin to scramble as Ash Wednesday suddenly approaches to decide what they are going to give up for the next 40 days.  From pop, to sugar, to junk food, and Facebook, most people resurrect their New Year’s resolution that already failed and use Lent as a second go at a transformation to break a bad habit, whether for religious purposes or not (that’s another story).

Two years ago, I gave up sweets for Lent (like 80% of my friends).  Sure it was rewarding and refreshing to avoid sugar for 40 days and I was in fact a little less “addicted” to sugar by the end, but last year I wanted something that would really change me.  So I began to brainstorm (google) different things to give up for Lent.  After some searching I found exactly what I was looking to give up.  I gave up negativity.  Negative thoughts, negative conversations, negative relationships.  Was it successful?  Well, yes and no.  Obviously (and unfortunately) I wasn’t able to completely avoid negativity because this is life and not a perfect fairytale.  But, I was more conscious of negativity which allowed me to walk away from avoidable negative situations and think twice before saying something negative for no reason.

Did I come off as a less negative person after the 40 days?  I don’t know, you tell me.  But, did I feel different?  Definitely.  I felt happier, friendlier, and in an overall better mood all the time.  And it didn’t stop after those 40 days.  They say it takes about 28 days to break a habit and it appeared that I had broken mine.

This year I did some more searching and rather than giving something up, I’m going to take something up.  I came across this video.  Basically, they have found that showing gratitude to others can make you significantly happier yourself.  If you have the time, take a few minutes (or 7) to check it out.  Or bookmark it for a later date.  It’s worth it, I promise.

So, I’m going to make it my goal to show gratitude to 40 people in my life whether it be by phone, letter, a short text, a post on their Facebook wall, an email, or even better: in person. One each day.

Think outside the box.  What will you give up/take up for Lent?  Whether you’re religious or not, now is the perfect time to try something new for 40 days.  And nothing is more rewarding than looking back after those 40 days at what you accomplished.

Find it in everything

I received one of the nicest surprises in my PO box today.  My mom sent me “Find It in Everything” by Drew Barrymore, a book of photographs that Drew had captured of hearts found in everyday places.  “Even in the trash, you can find hope where you least expect it,”  Drew captions a picture of a straw wrapper lying in the shape of a heart on the sidewalk.  Drew smiles at the sight of it, a heart in an unexpected place.

Serendipity: finding something good without looking for it.  My favorite word and my it.  It brings me joy.  It colors my world.  It has to power to completely change my perspective.  Don’t believe me?

My good friend Maria is a beautiful singer.  I wanted more than anything to hear her solo during her choir concert this past fall but unfortunately had two other commitments at the same time.  I was rushing from one meeting to the next, cutting through Boe Chapel to avoid the cold, not even thinking that the concert was going on, until I walked in just as Maria’s solo began.  I stopped and listened.  I couldn’t help but smile and be grateful for the serendipitous moment I had just encountered.  Not only was I able to hear her sing, I was reminded to slow down and appreciate the moment.  My day was made and that smile lasted the rest of the day.  What could have been another fast paced walk through the chapel was completely transformed by the serendipity that I found.

Serendipitous moments are what make me smile.  Serendipity is my it.

What is your it?  How is it going to color your world when you open your eyes and find it in everything?

Stop

I was waiting in line to fill up my water bottle yesterday when the girl in front of me turned around and saw that I was waiting.  “Oh, sorry!” she said.  “Don’t worry about it,” I replied.  But, what I really wanted to say was: What are you sorry for?  You’re sorry that you were thirsty?  You’re sorry that you decided to fill up your water bottle at this drinking fountain too?  STOP.

Stop apologizing for “looking so bad today.”

Stop apologizing for eating so much or not enough.

Stop apologizing for not responding to a text message quick enough.

Stop apologizing for going to bed early.

Stop apologizing for staying in on a Friday night.

Stop apologizing for being you.

If we feel the need to constantly justify ourselves to others, how will we ever accept ourselves for who we truly are?

Love, someone that’s sick of ranting

Well, I have now typed and proceeded to delete this first sentence about 20 times now.  I would say that this blogging thing is off to a great start…Here it goes anyway:

If you know me at all, you have probably heard one of my rants about “society” (I’m a Sociology & Anthropology major, I can’t help that I see the world in a completely different way than most).  But, just incase you have never been fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of these rants, I usually start by talking about how fed up I am with the media’s influence on body image, which leads to my frustration with the culture at St. Olaf and it’s wear and tear on one’s mental health, and then ends with either a jab at how social media is to blame for all of this or how sad I am that so many people suffer from so much self-hate and lack of self-confidence.  Well I’m sick of ranting.  I want to DO something.

So I began to brainstorm.  How was I, a junior at St. Olaf College in the middle of nowhere (aka Northfield, MN), going to make a difference?  As much as I wish I could solve world peace and fix every single thing I see wrong with this world we live in, I can’t.  So I have decided to start small.  Very small.

I’m not here to give advice.  I’m not going to offer solutions to every problem I see.  I just want to inspire.

I want to inspire everyone to practice self-love and self-acceptance.  I want to inspire people to slow down and  find those little moments of happiness that do in fact exist among the chaos in our lives.  If I could inspire just one person out of the five people that read this blog (Hi mom!)  that would make this all worth it in my mind.  My dream? That that one person would inspire others to live a healthier and happier life.  Perhaps they would then inspire their friends and their friends would inspire their families and eventually everyone would be little easier on themselves, enjoy the little things in life, and maybe, just maybe, I would solve world peace.  A girl can dream, right?

So, enough with all of the fluffy, happy, rainbow, and unicorn details of my dreams.  How do I plan on doing this exactly? I’m going to share my own journey by sharing things that inspire me, with the hope that they will inspire you too!  After all, it’s more about the journey than the destination.

Well, I did it.  My first blog post.  I hope you continue to check back and see what this blog has in store because I am also curious of what this blog will turn out to be.