Ah, there's nothing like late-July dorm room shopping. With Pinspo piling high and new (school) year resolutions filling diary pages, August will bring new beginnings…and that's what you have to focus on if you want to avoid the trepidation of another summer – and if you're like me, your last free summer – coming to a close.

I've always found solace in the aisles of TJ Maxx, sifting through day planners and picture frames, conferring with my mom and sisters about the best finds of the day. Sometimes we even make the 40-minute trek to Dickson City to hit the HomeGoods as well: a true testament to the inspirational spirit of the end-of-summer season. Like I said, you have to focus on the "she believed she could, so she did" art deco canvases to distract yourself from the responsibilities and obligations brought on by the back-to-school mentality (or worse, the realization that this will be your last back-to-school).

I've amassed quite the collection over the years, my bedroom walls reflecting the idealized mindset of the girl that – with the help of her resourceful father – packs up the truck to head back to Fordham each fall.

"She needed a hero, so she became one."

"Follow your dreams."

"She leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes."

"Be a goal digger."

"She is her own kind of beautiful."

And my most recent purchase: "Let Joy Be Your Compass."

Now, I'm not sure if it's because I find this phrase particularly inspiring or because it was just my latest Maxx (clearance!) find, but I've been thinking about it a lot.

No matter how you slice it, we live in a complicated world at a particularly complicated time. And these general, worldly complications are only met with individual struggles and personal dilemmas. I find that if my friends and I aren't worried about climate change or some kind of institutionalized discrimination (take your pick, really), then we're panicking about senior year or whether or not we should bring up the DTR conversation with the latest guy. In pointing all of this out, I'm half hoping there are some people out there who feel the same way, but mostly just hoping to remind myself/us that it has become incredibly easy to get bogged down.

I suppose I find a kind of comic relief in the juxtaposition of such a mess of daily emotions and the simplicity of a white poster that reads, in plain black lettering, "Let Joy Be Your Compass." I like the idea of my senior-year self looking up from my desk – a desk crammed with To Do lists and syllabi and notes to self – and being reminded, with utterly simplistic candor, of the value of uncalculated, uncomplicated joy. It's a concept so simple it's almost profound – at least to me, at least to the stressed undergrad trying her hardest to be the best daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend* she can be.
*wishful thinking/poetic license…sue me!

At first glance, the joy compass is a reminder of what makes all that aforementioned stress worth it. We're at school pursuing careers that will, you guessed it, bring us joy. I'm not saying we should feel lucky to be so stressed – or maybe I am – the point is, there is inherent joy existing between the lines of the term papers we write and hidden in the multiple-choice questions of the exams we take. The pursuit of a dream – the dedication to achieving a life goal wholeheartedly – that's something to be celebrated. That's (a type of) joy.

But I think back to the image of my future self, sitting at her desk, inspired by the joy that her TJ Maxx poster professes, and I can't help but consider a much simpler idea of that joy: a joy that mirrors the relative plainness of the framed poster itself.

This kind of happiness is unfiltered, requiring not the justification of a long-term goal, but rather a relative thoughtlessness. The college mindset can be dangerous in that it leaves little space for uncalculated thinking. Every class, every professor, every essay is geared toward a thoughtful preparation – certainly not one to be discounted, but also certainly not one that should monopolize the mind.

I want to let this joy compass lead me to a mindless happiness: delight completely independent of school or work or stress or grievance. Find joy in a heartwarming film; they're "feel-good" for a reason. Let a coffee date with a friend transform to an entire afternoon of discussion and thought provocation. Date the guy who makes you happy, not because you just know he's your soulmate, but because it's a Danny-Zuko, summer-fling story to chat about with your girlfriends. Embrace feeling content; take note of the moments when you feel perfectly at peace, maybe even for no reason…because there's always a reason. Consciously make decisions that lead to these feelings. Consciously make decisions, not based on the future or your life plan, but focused solely on joy.

That's my hope – for you and for myself – for senior year. I will seek joy in all ways, remembering that for as transformative as this time in my life is¸ it is also meant to be utterly delightful. Let joy be your compass. Even when the dorm-room décor is bubble wrapped and every last Command hook is peeled ever so carefully from the wall, let joy be your compass, and you'll look back on these moments with fondness and love. That's all we can really ask …especially from a random TJ Maxx purchase.