I practice writing daily - both as an exercise of clarity, skill acquisition, and peace of mind - however I struggle between regularly sharing for two reasons.
Why do I care for other people to know what's up?
Who am I to put thoughts into the heads of others?
For two weeks I did thorough reflecting on my intentions of blogging. Trying to first get my thoughts together myself - I hadn't yet found a deep enough reason to share with others my experiences. When publishing what I write, I first ask the above questions. What value am I adding? A laugh? A "lesson" (and more, who am I to provide that?)? I've come to the conclusion while I always hope to benefit others somehow...the purpose of my actions are not always what they seem. After much reflection, I realized it's not the daily occurrences which I care to have others knowing and taking interest. Rather, it's the documentation and value in the process which I'll accumulatively display.
Article by article - I don't believe to be spreading anything too life altering - but more it's the compilation of documents piecing together a story that is valuable. The underlying path of connectivity and understanding the journey is where magic's found. With that being said - here I am. To display start to finish how things happen.
These may come in the form of weekly recaps, sporadic stories, or anything that had a great influence in my day that I get a chance to reflect and digest in writing. While writing also provides structure, forced thought refinement and a personal challenge to stretch my interests in the form of creative expression - I have even more of a reason to finally share :)
Weekly recaps are the goal. However, in the midst of simply reflecting, enjoying the experiences and diving head first into these new adventures...I'm now forced to consolidate three weeks of a vast ranges of 'happenings' to one post. Hence the title " 'three' cap" . To spare a life story I'll group it into the highlights.
1. The (not so) Solo Salem Adventures
2. The ('dorm'et) food
3. And The "Wait. I'm here for school" / "I'm a grown up now"side
1.
As the wise motor scooter rental man from Key West once said
"GET LOST" - so that I did.
I'm a firm believe there's no better way to familiarize yourself with an area than to workout in it. The majority of my adventures are in the form of fitness - finding trails, gardens, neat hidden gems (usually pools but they're lacking in that department). For the most part I set forth solo. Don't let that deceive you into thinking I'm walking a lonely life here. From stepping foot on campus not knowing a soul, I've made at least 20+ friends this past week in the class...that's not considering the community brunch conversations, dorm neighbors, karaoke bar duet partners, and those daily meaningful interactions with others while enjoying weekend trail walks. While setting out alone, I never cease to become surrounded by and interact with the neatest individuals.
2.
You can learn a lot about a town by your Costco trip. And having to fit all your groceries on your bike.
To sum up my dorm food experience in three words: Winter Training Trip
...but for three weeks...and I only have to eat like 1/5 as much....and I don't have the option to ride in the van to Whole Foods or Jamba Juice or have the luxury of a seafood dinner.
1. First off...the obvious - resources. What do I have to cook with? A pan and tuberware. One spoon, knife and fork.
2. What will rot first - Obv gonna use up hard boiled eggs for the first source of protein over beans because I don't want my new roommate to hate me for making the dorm smell like rotten shit.
3. VARIETY - Am I getting dem veggies? Has every meal been heavily grains or am I including lots of foods and colors? Has each meal looked the same each day or am I keeping it fun? This can get hard when you have to fit everything into a backpack....but #firstworldprobz amiright?
4. Workouts and demands - How active am I? What am I doing? What's my goal of that workout...do I want to eat before or not, what will I need after/am I doubling in the day?
5. Can I switch things up? For example - the same ingredients made to make overnight oats can also make me a smoothie - gotta keep things interesting and find new way to combine ingredients into a masterpiece.
These were just a few of my thoughts when surviving the born-again dorm life. What goes through someone else's mind depends on their goals and preferences - i.e. others prefer Bojangles er'day or a meal plan - that's cool too...my goal was just to make sure I am eating a well balanced diet that will fuel me steadily throughout the day and save some dat $$$.
Nonetheless - I don't mindlessly go about my eating. Sometimes even more so than eating (hard to believe right) I enjoy the creativity and the challenge of using what I have to make a new dish...and making sure I am giving my body what it needs. Subjective, but I base this on how I perform and feel. Full enough? Lacking energy? Thinking fast? Recovering?
3.
As I formally hung up my new white blazer - the realization hit me hard - I can now officially deem myself "professional".
A close second to learning basic accounting in 48 hours - making it an entire day without spilling anything on my pristinely white jacket was my greatest business school accomplishment to date.
Tomato soup, bird shit...it always seems to find a way. This feat is nothing short of a turning point in my life and should receive the deserved attention. Having recently graduated from daily yoga pants, I understand why people dress up. It makes one come off looking like they have their shit together. In the 'world of business' that's looked at as a good thing. But let's be real here...it's all an act and no one knows what they are doing. Despite the drastic adjustment, I've found the whole 'putting real clothes together' thing to be surprisingly quite fun. There's a chance to inject some personality through the expression of style (a new phenomena for me). While I'm certainly not wishing spilt coffee on my clothes or to walk into class with bird shit upon me - we are all human and I don't think one should compromise that in the world of business for the sense of feeling "professional" and looking like we are "suppose to".
If that wasn't a true testament of my business growth...I did actually learn a lot. Four classes in three weeks - Excel (side note: Everything I ever 'knew' about Excel was wrong - and I was finally taught the right way. Freakin' beautiful. I can see myself getting addicted to making some kick as worksheets. There's something engaging about trying to create worksheets in the most efficient manner by applying shortcuts, and seeing the ease and creating perfect readability that get's me real excited), Math Fundamentals, Accounting and Microeconomics. It was challenging but in a 'totally do-able' way. Most importantly..I nailed the three week routine..it went something like this:
Move in the morn (run/bike/yoga/track/etc), get ready (takes 15 mins courtesy of short hair and night-before preparation), walk to school, eat breakfast and drink coffee while writing, read the news/Wall Street Journal (because you know...I'm an educated, grown-up, business woman), either do personal work or review notes from the previous day for about an hour...then head to class from 9AM-4PM, lift...HAVE TO MOVE BECAUSE I SIT IN CLASS ALL DAY AND IT EATS ME ALIVE, study, eat (this week watch Olympic Trials, read, REPEAT.
All there is to look forward to next week:
Settling into the new crib with Hayley, make 150+ new friends...experiencing the excitement of the first day of Kindergarten all over again, house design (!!!), reading the new books for class (finally...an excuse to buy these much longed personal development books...not the so much looking forward to the $800 accounting book), adventures with my new partner and crime roomie before we officially start school on Thursday (I foresee lots of yoga, wine, workouts, and interesting stories). Happy Fourth!