I have now been home (and inside!!) for over a week which means that I have begun procrastinating in new and exciting ways. I have rewatched episodes of The Office on Netflix, briefly took up cross stitching, and started reading Pride and Prejudice. Now I am Marie Kondoing (yes, I just made that a verb!). Perhaps you haven’t heard of Marie Kondo? She’s an organization consultant whose book and subsequent Netflix series took the world by storm. I love Marie Kondo’s philosophy regarding which items are worth keeping –– essentially you are supposed to ask yourself “does [insert any item here] spark joy?” If the answer is yes, keep it in your life! If the answer is no, thank it and get rid of it.
I have now picked up every article of clothing in my room asking if it “sparks joy” for me. I did this process last spring also. It’s interesting to see the ways in which my tastes have changed after only one year of college. Needless to say, I have four full bags of clothes and books to donate!
Perhaps it is just the global pandemic, but I’ve been thinking more about what sparks joy in my life. At Wellesley, the community in Shafer Hall (my lovely dorm) is high on that list. Last week we had a community engagement Zoom where we virtually hung out in the Shafer living room and caught up. It was so lovely and one of the highlights of my week. I’m looking forward to our next one tomorrow!
Another spark of joy for me this week was finding out that I will be a resident assistant in Shafer. In fact, I will be living on the same floor I was on this year! I am so excited especially since many of my residents will be first years whom I can introduce to Wellesley.
Here in the Bay Area we have been sheltering in place for well over a week. I am enjoying more down time, but as an extrovert I really miss the ability to constantly be around friends that living in the dorm offers. I have been trying to take lots of hikes and talk to Wellesley friends and high school ones to combat the isolation. Spring is fully sprung in Northern California which has made these hikes EVEN better. The California poppies (our state flower) are blooming and everything is green. I’m bummed to miss out on my first New England spring since I’ve heard it is pretty incredible. I feel lucky though knowing that I’ll get to experience it all next year.
I encourage you during this time of upheaval and confusion to ask yourself what sparks joy for you and run towards those things.
Take care of yourself and enjoy these pictures from my hikes!!
