Remodeling!

No, not real remodeling, although that would be fun. This is more the imaginative kind.

I seem to find that at this time in the semester everything seems to go crazy and everyone becomes completely bonkers and a bit miserable. Every time I ask someone I run into, as we rush along our busy paths, they seem to reply with the same answer these days about how things are going--something like busy, hectic, crazy, oh-my-god I want to quit college. Ya know.

It is especially easy in the fall semester to let it get to you as the landscape gets more bleak by the day, the weatherman seems to deliberately lie to you about whether snow is coming, and exams hang like a looming black cloud on the horizon of your next two weeks. Totally gross and depressing.

So, in these moments of despair, a few things I find helpful for cheering up, finishing my work, making the good grades I need so badly at this point in the semester, and celebrating life.

-Eat well. No matter how busy you are, grab some vegetables, an apple or orange if you can find one, and foods that have vitamin D to cheer up your sunshine-lacking self (Practical).
-Light candles. They make you feel warm and fuzzy (Practical).
-Get outside, even if its cold, for at least 30 minutes everyday (Practical).
-Try to be active in someway everyday, even if it's just walking your dog (Practical).
-At your very busiest moment, doing something nice for someone (Pleasant!).
-Get lots of sleep. Its true, cramming all hours of the night seem like an efficient way to prepare for an exam, but rest assured that if you've been working like you're supposed to through the semester, the knowledge is there and needs sleep to be unlocked from its dusty chambers (Practical)!
-Listen to music that makes you feel optimistic. Today I listened to the Postal Service on my 10 minute walk to school. If you are familiar with them, I listened to Natural Anthem. This is what inspired my remodeling, and I think this is the best way yet to brighten up (Splendiferus)!
So, listening to this song, looking at gloomy, creepy trees, I decided to remodel my surroundings in my head. First, the trees burst into lovely, Monet inspired green leaves with hues of blue and brimming with lovely spring flowers. Then, I repainted the ground everywhere with long twists of grass and thousands of purple violets and irises. I then changed the lighting by changing the light bulb on the sunshine which also increased the temperature and gave me that instant rush of summertime happiness. Then I added details that brought the whole thing together such as picnic-ers, croaking frogs and chirping crickets, brightly waving peacocks, a glowing person on a purple bicycle riding past me, chirping blue birds, the distant drone of cicadas, fat tulips along the sidewalk, and a plethora of other silly things that instill happiness in all its forms.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite this thorough when I created it at three o'clock today on the way to my chemistry lab. But the trees did burst. It was amazing.

Alex