We all have days where, quite simply put, life gets to be a little too much. On days such as these it’s easy to crawl into bed and create a fort under the covers waiting until all the fifty million things we are supposed to be doing somehow manage to magically get done. As the semester draws to a close with a somewhat disturbing speed, it’s important to take a step back from the stress culture that is present on all collegiate campuses, our own being no exception, to spend a moment organizing ourselves and, as corny or cliched as it sounds, to breathe.
While Mount Holyoke’s community is one of empowerment and positivity, there is a tendency to stack our considerable personal successes and triumphs up against one another’s, to the point that it becomes a little toxic and more than a little overwhelming. For example, as summer approaches, the topic of summer employment becomes a well-beaten path of conversation that, for many, results in a mental scramble to have something impressive or worthwhile to contribute. The conclusion of Spring semester brings a myriad of exciting but also hectic things, such as figuring out housing/schedules for next year, finals, moving out and summer plans. Organization is really important and the power of a simple to-do list or schedule budgeting your time for the day or the weekend is astonishing in its ability to provide a little bit of mental clarity. However…
When the to-do lists become endless streams of words that only seem to multiply with your attempts to complete them, it’s extremely important to sit down, breathe for a minute, organize your thoughts, and maybe eat some chocolate and give yourself some mental space. Allow yourself fifteen minutes or so per day to mindlessly browse Buzzfeed, watch puppy football on YouTube, or listen to a couple of your favorite songs and tune the rest of the world out. Set an alarm on your phone and when it yells at you, listen. When you know that you have an allotted time to simply relax before conquering your next task, your brain can fully utilize the de-stressing time and return to that to-do list in a less frazzled state. Having a little bit of much needed “me-time” shouldn’t be something that makes you feel inherently guilty and less accomplished. It should be something that allows you to return to the tasks at hand with a rejuvenated perspective and a little bit of oomph.
It’s also definitely worth remembering that you, wonderful Moho student, are a force to be reckoned with, and no matter how much it seems that everyone around you has their life completely planned out, they have the same fears and concerns that you do. We, as a powerful community of women, should support one another by way of taking the time to encourage each other instead of fostering a stress culture that feeds on comparison and self-doubt. Take a moment to think about the wonderful things that you have achieved here during your time at Mount Holyoke, then go forth and conquer!
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