The dishes in the sink are nearly overflowing. The clothes in my hamper would be overflowing were it not being crushed under the weight of my sweaters. I’m low on all food but Easter-themed M&M’s. On the counter, there’s a book open to the third chapter, a graphic novel underneath it and one of my assigned readings acting as a bookmark in my other assigned reading which is only half read.
I always get into my head grandiose ideas about what I’m going to be able to do in my free time. A week ago I thought I was going to learn ASL, read three books, memorize the entire Hamilton soundtrack (I did actually make a lot of progress on this, but come on, there are 46 songs). I’m sure there were other things on my to-do list, but I can’t even remember anymore.
Spring is in the air — manic energy, the desire to live free and feel the sun on everything. To be honest, I sat by open windows more this week than I actually ventured outside, but the fresh air was still a nice change. I demolished whatever was left of my sleep schedule and started drinking coffee again.
That’s not to say I did absolutely nothing over break — just nothing productive. I went with some friends on a tour of the used book stores of the Hudson Valley (A New Leaf in Pine Plains was a wonderful place to explore). My roommate and I discovered a groundhog living behind us, named him Scrappy and attempted to take photos on our smartphones.
I didn’t quite get the bare minimum of my homework done. I very definitely didn’t accomplish any of the extra things I had planned and lined up. I’ve spent the weekend alternatively disappointed and resigned.
On the one hand, this semester has exhausted me beyond belief. The opportunity of reckless, easy sleep is something too good for me to pass up on a normal day. After the past couple months, you’d have had to threaten bodily harm to get my butt into gear. And even then, I’d probably call your bluff unless you started chasing me down.
On the other hand, with breathing room and space/time to think, I’d be crazy not to pull out the endless sticky-notes and lists I’ve been hoarding and finally get some non-school work done. They’re everywhere, and while some of them are incredibly incoherent, some of the ideas are pretty good.
On the third hand, I spontaneously acquired as a means of surviving the chaos of my life. I feel as if I’ve been put on pause like no time at all has passed since my last class ended, not even the normal weekend. I feel almost like I’ve gotten a good night’s sleep.
Conclusion: a week and a half of spring break simply isn’t sufficient time to rest and get anything done. I’m setting my sights on May and hoping I get there in one piece. See you on the other side. Good luck to all.
