After spring break, we sometimes find ourselves in need of a bit more than a few Clorox wipes and some Google Calendar revising to get ourselves back on track. While spring cleaning has never been my preferred form of organizational therapy, my brain, and my belongings, collected a tad too much dust this winter to avoid spring cleaning entirely. However, a feather duster was not enough to spur the kind of reset that I needed: I needed goals! I needed inspiration! What I really needed was… a R.E.P.O.R.T.
The weekly R.E.P.O.R.T. trend has been circulating in and out of content creation circles for several months now, inspiring users to share a weekly roundup of what they’re reading, eating, playing, obsessing, recommending, and treating. And while I love reviewing a good week-in-the-life, this R.E.P.O.R.T. doesn’t have to be bound by our seven day system. If I may be so bold, I’d say that a Spring R.E.P.O.R.T. could very well be a revolutionary form of mental spring cleaning that lets us set goals creatively and intentionally and will (hopefully) result in the exact kind of lifestyle revamp we need.
(r)eading
As a humanities student, the hundreds of pages of class reading every week sometimes acts as a curse that can manifest into avoidance of written material outside of academia. Over the break, I bought The Goldfinch, by Donna Tart, whose writing I have adored since reading The Secret History. At a whopping 771 pages, my reading goal this spring is to finish the book, and when I do, (cue manifesting power), supplement with essays from Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist. I keep reminding myself that for a literature lover, an average of only 70 extra pages a week is child’s play!
(E)ating
One major benefit I’ve experienced since becoming (almost) entirely gluten-free, is feeling much more aware and in tune with my inflammation and its triggers. Because I didn’t discover my gluten intolerance until very recently, my body is still recovering from decades of gluten-related inflammation. So, this spring, one eating habit that I’m hoping to tack onto my GF regimen is yet another acronym for your day: eating as clean as possible (ACAP). Even though you’ll never catch me turning down a GF brownie, (which my entire family agrees are better than the regular kind), I’m optimistic that straying away from highly processed foods will hurry along my body’s anti-inflammatory journey.
(P)laying
It’s funny how quickly you can go from resenting middle school P.E. with your entire being, to wishing you had mandatory play time scheduled into your Google Calendar. I’m here to remind you that playing, contrary to popular belief, is not reserved for kindergarteners and sweaty pre-teens. This spring, it is imperative that we play more music, more games, and of course, more of my preferred form of play this spring: sports! After a bleak and busy winter quarter, not only am I going to try to attend all of my club field hockey practices, but I will also be lacing up my grandpa New Balances and getting a pickleball racquet in my hand.
(o)bsessing
This spring, we’re swapping out our obsession with the astrological “Big 3,” for a gift that just keeps on giving: the beverage Big 3. While the corporate baddie archetype has long mastered the three beverage minimum, (one for hydration, one for caffeine, and one just for fun), it’s only fair that the of-age undergrads get their chance to offer a three bev minimum worthy of some collegiate spotlight. This spring, I am prepped and ready to obsess over 1. La Croix for hydration, 2. Green tea for caffeine, and most importantly, 3. Aperol Spritz for oodles of fun. With just one sparkly, soothing, or spritzy sip of one (or all) of these bevies, you’re getting a rare dose of that spring-has-sprung, windows-open hysteria.
(r)ecommending
Calling all my fellow “Cool About It,” “my tears ricochet,” and “Cinnamon Girl,” stans! Shows over folks. It’s time to ditch our cool-weather, melancholic recluse playlists and for our own sanity, embrace a pop princess spring! Forget the acronym, this is not a recommendation, this is a communal call to action. Shrug off the cardigan and pink carnation pinned to your lapel, and start doing the Addison Rae scream in a damn cowboy hat. This spring, we’re putting our trust into Chappell Roan, MUNA, and Charli XCX for the ultimate vibe check. One might call it a Femininomenon!
(t)reating
Arguably, one of the best things to come out of the last year is “treat” culture. A mid-afternoon treat? A sweet treat? Treating yourself! Treating others! Really, what is not to love about any kind of treat. And since I am long accustomed to “treat” culture, I decided to inextricably tie my spring treat in with a goal – sorry (or not?) future self. As a catalyst for a spring chalk full of personal writing and reflection, I invested in a new pack of my favorite notebooks, which came at the perfect time, because as I’m writing this, I’m staring at the very last page in my current notebook.
Reflecting on just these six words has already prompted my spring awakening. I’ve been listening to my pop princess playlist, writing in my new journal, and even kicked off my first going out night of spring quarter with none other than a Spritz. If that’s not goals being realized, then what is?