When Procrastination Leads To Inspiration

College is fantastic. It’s only the first week and I’m already making myself perfectly at home. This includes (but is not limited to) taking excessive amounts of food from the DH, staying up wayyy too late, stringing cheesy LED lights with the perfectly placed photos above my dorm bed, and much much more. There is so much to do at college, especially at a city school like mine. The only thing is that with all there is to do, sometimes doing the things you’re supposed to be doing can take second priority…or fifth.

For me, my procrastination took its form in thrift shop adventures and platform heel hallway races, among many other shenanigans. This article, yes this very one, will be submitted scarily close to the very last minute allowed and I blame college. College is just too fun and there are a million things to do! So, in effort to make my deadline, I’ll tell you lovely readers all the activities I enjoyed (and yes… also what I’m missing out on).

The amount of shopping I’ve done instead of writing is cringe-worthy. I’ve been to TJMaxx twice, Primark twice, Newbury comics, and an amazing thrift shop, buying at least one item at each. On that note, the fantastic thrift shop I went to today (shout out to The Garment District in Cambridge, MA) had a PILE of clothes you needed step on just to sort through all of it. After putting it in large plastic bags, they plopped it on a scale and charged an unheard-of price at one dollar per pound. I bought a sweater, a cami, and the comfiest flannel ever for two bucks. Not to mention the quality overalls and denim jacket I bought for a bargain in the upper level of the store. *Can’t touch this*

I also took a nap because endless shopping is tiring, man! Especially after walking everywhere to do it. You really have to load up on energy in whatever ways possible, whether that means napping during orientation events or eating all the soft serve and waffles in the dining hall, it’s clearly necessary. Hey, that food is not half-bad, and it’s all you can eat. Given the choice between hour long meals every day or sitting down and committing to my laptop for a sweet little lunch date, I usually choose the buffet. I guess that says something about me. Not sure what exactly, but something.

Oh, and I bought a succulent. Seemed like a good idea at the time until my roommates and I did some very helpful research on the Cactus & Succulent Society of San Jose website (apparently that exists? CSSSJ for short--- in case you ever need to abbreviate that). Apparently they actually have to be watered once a week at least, and can’t be in too much sun. So the window is not actually the best place for baby Hank Johnson. He’s a little cutie p, I bought him a golden bowl to sit in and he seems pretty happy on his perch looking fabulous, of course; he’s freaking Hank Johnson the succulent.

Again, really not necessary to my educational journey nor my writing career, but neither is getting boba tea for the first time, or dancing the Charleston on the T. Participating in a campus-wide game show (thank you, art school) is technically part of an orientation event so I think I can justify that one, but the blanket fort we built in the common room doesn’t have much of an explanation. The hallway platform heel race, thrifty adventures, and late night headstands on top of a friend’s longboard are all things I’ve been doing this week instead of writing my article. And while yes, I’m currently sitting in my dorm alone while my whole floor (RAs included) goes out to watch fireworks over the river and get pastries at the 24hr bakery, the fun I had this week was worth it. The friends were worth it. Experiencing college to the fullest was WORTH IT, because here I am, having done all that, and still writing my article.

In order to document life, we must first experience it. I think my new motto for this year will be “do, try, and laugh," because who wants to read about someone’s life when nothing happens? What will I write about if there’s nothing much at all that’s different from the daily routine? How do you get output with no input? That’s just the physics and math of writing, of life. We all get so caught up in documenting our memories immediately that we forget to live them as they come. So the punchline of this big joke on productivity is that after all we work for, all we try to achieve in such a hasty manner, sometimes true success can only come when procrastination leads to inspiration.