It’s been a couple days since I arrived in Seoul. I’ve enjoyed the rare luxury of not keeping track of time. The weather has been surprisingly mild for a humid peninsula like Korea, but it seems like the worst is yet to come.
The flight over was mostly uneventful. I spent most of my time watching movies, trying (and failing) to sleep, and attempting to read a little of John Greene’s Looking For Alaska. A lot of times, I have very good intentions for long flights, which are shattered as soon as I board, cozy into my uncomfortable economy-class seat, and turn on the screen. (I really think there should be an equation proving that motivation decreases as altitude increases). As soon as I got off the plane, the distinct ‘city smell’ hit me—A mixture of humid, sour-sweet air that engulfs you. I watched the luminous city sprawl out before me as we drove from Incheon to Seoul. The moment we got to our apartment, I felt the jet lag kicking in and fell asleep within a fraction of a second. In the first couple days here, I’ve had a lot of down time. It’s the first summer in a while when I haven’t had any summer reading, or some sort of pressing obligation. It’s been nice to relax, watch TV, read for pleasure, and spend my entire morning on the computer because I can. I think I can actually feel my brain loosening up a little, and without any stressors, I’ve been flowing with creative juices and an increased appreciation for life. My family and I took a walk in a nearby trail this morning, which is something hard to come by in such a metropolitan city. Walking along and admiring the elegance of nature around me, I realized how much I’ve been caught up in the mundane business of everyday life. So often we blindly run towards some sort of goal as we grind through obligation after obligation, wearily checking off our to-do list; School, work, social life, etc. We do the things we know we should, and wait for the weekend to roll around. But sometimes, we simply need a break. Of course, I know it’s not always an option to suddenly leave on a month-long Caribbean cruise (something my friends and I have always joked about if college doesn’t work out). But when the opportunity strikes, even just for a day, we should try to get away from the everyday grind and let ourselves explore a little. And when you do have those pockets of time with truly no urgent commitments, you should let yourself do something solely for you: Read, surf the web, knit, take a walk, or buy yourself a fancy dessert. Take yourself on a date and let yourself unwind. It’s something that we all need, and I’m sure many of us need to work on. But all this Megan-trying-to-sound-eloquent aside, Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle from Parks and Rec summed it up best when they said, “TREAT YO’ SELF.” Yes, that's what we all need.
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About MeThanks for visiting my blog! My name is Megan, I work in Marketing and I graduated as part of Minerva's class of 2021. Enjoy a collage of reflections, poetry, and late-night thoughts. Archives
October 2023
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