A few weeks ago, I decided to try to say yes to anything and everything for an entire week. Except, another Monday would roll around and I would forget the entire concept ever existed. Until last Sunday, I thought of it again and posted on my Facebook wall. Here’s how it went:
So, it was more my week of “Yea, okay” because no one asked me to go cliff diving or suggested that I try my hand at being a DJ at a bar mitzvah. Though this week of “yes” did do something for my attendance in all of my classes, as I couldn’t tell myself no either! (For all of you wondering, those first two comments are from my mother who was full of suggestions for the week.)
Monday was my birthday and it started off like any other week. I went to my one class of the day and found myself answering more questions in class and actually enjoying it more because I said yes to being in a group with two other classmates for our podcast project that was due at the end of the week. After class, I went to my favorite store, Madewell and told myself “yes” to buying this bandana I’ve been eying for months, but have never felt trendy enough to buy. I know, I really do like to live on the edge. I decided to say yes when my favorite bosses asked me to get my nails done with them on their lunch break and then I went home and took my celebratory birthday nap. That night, my boyfriend and I went out to dinner to this local joint called Shelter for my birthday, and I decided to try the menu drink called “Any port in the storm” and ended up getting a Miller Highlife (yum.)
Tuesday held a lot less exciting things for me. A hurricane decided to start building on the gulf and it was the talk of the town by all the students on campus. Tuesday I had Poetry II, which is a class that holds lots of trying to analyze dead people’s prose and writing activities that usually spark some creativity in the ole’ noggin. So, in this class I said yes to a few things:
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I read a poem I had written out loud to the entire class which was extremely unlike me.
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I volunteered a poem for class discussion (It’s called ‘Gathering the Bones Together’ and it was great. 10/10 would recommend this rollercoaster of a poem)
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I decided to take a journal home that many past students had written in and I added my little piece of wisdom to it.
My other class, intro to coastal kayaking, was canceled because there were 25 MPH winds on the water, as well as a small craft advisory, so no fun kayaking tricks to report during my week of “yes”.
Remember that podcast project? Well, Wednesday was the time to decide who would be interviewed for it in our group. I said yes to getting interviewed and we all decided to play a game of “never have I ever” for our podcast, which meant my group was about to know a lot about me after just meeting me two days before. I also said yes to editing the entire podcast, which in hindsight was bad for my group since I am a newbie when it comes to GarageBand or my MacBook Air, in general.
Classes were canceled Thursday for the hurricane so, I just went to work like normal and found out that a few people had called out because it was hard for them to travel to the store because of the very windy weather. This meant I was going to be asked to stay after my shift since we were short on coverage. I had to say yes, so I stayed extra and ended up having a really great time with my coworkers after we closed the store. After work, I got home and meditated for a total of five minutes because apparently, that’s all the energy I had in me for that sort of thing.
I hope you guys are still listening, because here comes the crazy weekend! Just kidding, my boyfriend and my pup, Aggie, and I went camping with my parents to celebrate me becoming a year older. The weekend was filled with comfy sweatshirts, campfires, me losing a game of putt putt to my parents (they’re a dynamic duo) and laying in my hammock on the beach. Not a lot to say yes to except I woke up early to walk to the beach with my mom and Aggie which produced some beautiful skies and a very sandy pup.
So now here we are, Sunday evening and my week of “yes” wasn’t nearly as exciting as I thought it was going to be, but I did realize that I do, in fact, say no to a lot of things every day. I probably would have never interacted as much with my classmates, or saw a stunning sunrise on the beach if it hadn’t been for my week of “yes”. It also really made me think about how I’m spending my time. My suggestion if any of you lovely readers want to do a week of yes, is to compile a list of things you’ve always been afraid to do and go for it!
Oh, also spoiler, I did not get proposed to by the person from the Facebook post.