What I learned during my summer away from college

Hi there!

I apologize for my brief absence. This past week, I've been moving into an apartment! And honestly? I've been living at Walmart, not eating the best, rarely working out, not working on my blog. Apartment life is absolutely amazing if you're near/living with the right people and have a slight idea of how to be an adult away from home. But man, is it stressful at times.

With a combination of the poor eating choices, big transitions, not doing my morning pages for a week, suddenly living a block away from my boyfriend, living with and near my friends, my blog and all other passion projects have become somewhat forgotten. I've been in what I call a creative funk. At work, at home, with my boyfriend, everywhere. Ideas weren't coming to me and life was feeling, well, boring.

So, this morning I got up a little early, did my morning pages, added to my bullet journal, took a shower, cleaned my face, made some extra strong coffee, and began my day in a much clearer, positive mood.

Basically, I hit 'reset', and now I'm finally writing this blog post! And boy, do I feel better, just by eating healthier foods!

I've wanted to write this post ever since I moved into my apartment and summer break officially ended for me, but I've been putting it off, not only because of the creative funk. I mean, what did summer teach me?

I'm learning now that summer taught me so many things. I've entered apartment life as a new, wiser, grown-up version of myself. I have never felt more confident in my skin. I'm saying this lightly, without trying to brag or sound narcissistic and anyways. 10 things summer taught me

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1. It's okay to be alone for a long time

Okay, it wasn't that I was alone for a long time, but I was rarely with people who weren't my boyfriend, my parents, or my coworkers. I have this fear of being alone. The thought of being alone causes my heart to beat quickly in my chest, my breathing to quiver. I hate it. Or, I used to. I adapted to being alone. When everyone was busy, or no one was at the house, I sat and thought and journaled and read and enjoyed my 'me time'. And really, it wasn't that big of a deal. Now, in my apartment, when I'm faced with being alone, I'm okay about it. Completely, utterly okay. The other day I was home alone for 5 hours. I cooked myself food, cleaned the house, and watched some Gilmore Girls with my kitty!

2. You don't need to keep buying things

I buy things. A lot of things. Books, knick-knacks, essential oils, tea, kombucha, yoga supplies, washi tape, and more hippie things. And all of these add up and swallow my paycheck. Halfway through summer, I told myself I was not going to buy a book until school began. And now, I'm telling myself not to buy a book because the libraries are at my fingertips. As much as I love books, buying two books for $20 that will just sit on my shelf for a year lead to clutter and, once again, can eat up my paycheck. Honestly, you don't need all of the material things you think you do. You're one step closer to minimalism without them!

3. Lazy days are a must

At the beginning of summer, I thrived to be busy. I was so busy during school that it only made sense to be busy during the summer, so I wouldn't lose that drive. My summer began with me working 8-9:30 as an assistant swim coach three days a week, 11-5 as a student editorial assistant for a magazine four days a week, teaching private lessons three times a week after work, babysitting on Fridays and Saturdays, publishing a book, launching my blog.... You get the point.I'm so young! Why was I pushing myself so hard!? I know why -- I thought that success = hard work. Like, super hard work. Like, when-you're-resting-you're-wasting-time hard work! Of course, I couldn't really take off my jobs, but I made sure to say 'no' when I needed to, as well as scheduled Saturday and Sunday morning lazy days. I'd wake up, make some coffee, do my morning pages, then watch Gilmore Girls for about 4 hours. Best. Times. Ever. I was revitalized instantly.

4. It's okay to slow down and live a bit

Going back to my thrive to be busy. It's important to have lazy days, but it's also important to slow down and just live when you can, at all points of your life. When you're racing around like a madman at work, or you're scrambling to get that blog post up at 2 am, or you're working on your homework for 5 hours straight... s l o w d o w n. It's okay to do so. Schedule short breaks in the middle of your assignments. Watch a YouTube video, do some light yoga, pick up some things from the floor, text a friend, etc.. Remember to enjoy every bit of your life -- it's not a race. For more on slowing down and clearing your mind, read: Ways to clear and prevent your mind of clutter.

5. Not going out with friends all the time does not make you a loner

I didn't go out much during the summer. Unless I was shopping with my grandma, grabbing dinner with my family, catching a movie/going on weekend trips with my boyfriend, or the occasional, rare coffee dates with friends, I was mostly at home, or at work. At first, this was strange for me, since in college I was constantly with people. I never had alone time. Then, I was faced with a lot of it. And once again, this is okay! I read more than I had in over two years, launched this blog, published my book, made some money for college, and finally, for the first time in a while, understood myself. If you're seeing all your friends going out and you're finding yourself getting sad, feeling left out and lonely, then remember your worth and get off social media.

6. Family is more important than you think

I rarely hung out with my family during my first semester of college. I don't like admitting this, but it's true. I was with my friends persistently, was always with my boyfriend, and that's totally okay -- I'm an adult now, figuring things out, meeting new people. But. When I went home over the summer and spent four months with my family, I realized the importance of family time. I realized that you need a good relationship with your parents, with your siblings. How in times of trouble and distress, your family will always be there to catch you. This year, I plan to make more of an effort to be with my family, my best friends.

7. Reading is more than just something you should do

This summer, I re-learned the beauty of reading. I read and read and read. I was always with a book, diving deep into the pages. It was magical. Blissful. I realized, this summer, that reading is more than just "I should read for about 30 minutes today because it'll benefit me." Reading is truly a home away from home. For more, read: How to read more & summer reading goals.

8. Social media isn't really that important

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my previous posts or not, but earlier in the summer, I turned off my social media notifications. All of them, even my Instagram, which I use every day! I was so afraid. What if I were to miss something important? Besides sometimes responding late to messages on my platforms, nothing is different. Nothing but the fact that I feel loads healthier, mentally and emotionally, and I've been on social media much less. I have so much time to do what I love! And now, whenever I have an urge to use social media, I just read.

9. Personal routines have so many benefits

I didn't really have a morning routine until this summer. I had a few things I did in the morning during my freshman year, like make my bed, make my coffee, shower, but that was it. Now, I have a full-on Morning Pages routine, which you can read about here. And every night before bed, I read until I'm tired and add a line to my One Line A Day journal. I have seen such a great difference in myself with these small, personal routines.

10. Life is shorter than you think

This summer had it's a fair share of hardships, despite it also being so positively life-changing.I attended 2 funerals, and my parents went to a 3rd alone. I also lost my cat. And early this week, I had a discussion about death, and well... Life is shorter than we think. That's why it's important to slow down, enjoy life, get off social media, stop calling ourselves terrible names like "Ugly", "A Loner", "Unsuccessful". We are so much more than what we think we are. We are beautiful. We are magnificent.And we are only here for so long.

Thank you for reading my post! I hope these tips have resonated with you/helped you in some way! And once again, I apologize for the delay in blog posts. I plan on posting once a week from now on, maybe more!

If you have any blog post requests, feel free to comment or e-mail them to me!

Probably writing,

Brittney