I’m currently experiencing some Sunday Scaries and am not feeling terribly academically inspired. A wise alumni member of the Walking Club, Mike once turned down a walk proposal on the basis that although technically free, he needed to schedule in some personal time for existential dread before class. Last week, despite being only four days, felt especially long for me, and by the time I got to my 3-5:30 p.m. Friday class, I felt like I was running on fumes. In hindsight, my mistake was that I definitely needed more time to myself (for existential dread, as per Mike) in between the activities I scheduled myself for. Luckily, crew practice was canceled this Saturday, so the pleasantly unexpected sleep-filled weekend ended up being rather refreshing. I had time to paint and even tried some pottery. After binge-watching all of Hulu’s Normal People mini-series on Saturday — which is an emotionally-gutting “horror” show for romantics, if you’re on the market for that sort of thing—I finished off the last row of my personal stash of a fall classic: pumpkin Pillsbury sugar dough cookies.
I think something a lot of people miss out on at Stevens is arts and crafts, and they generally use their minds in ways other than academics and STEM activities. There is no room for existential dread when you are doing a big, fun project. My friend Jess graciously let me join her in painting the newly-built planter boxes she and another one of her friends assembled for 1036 Park, with former Senioritis columnist Ethan there to look pretty supervise. Jess’ Tom Sawyer moment refreshed my mind. As Twain points out, “Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” Doing more crafts and fun that I am not obliged to do is a necessity for me to get out of a slump, and something about a big yard project also scratches the engineering mind. Get out of the library, catch the end of the warm weather, and do something with your hands.
I’ve recently made probably too many online purchases trying to organize my Halloween costume, which is a craft in its own form. My friend Konnor asked me if I’ve ever made a Halloween costume before, and the answer is kind of, as in I tend to buy individual pieces and put them together rather than buying a pre-made set, but I am excited to have a costume that requires a bit more craft on my end this time around. I’ll be making a trip to the MakerCenter to get the glue gun! Stretch your mind and realize, “It’s not such a hollow world afterall.”
