That one time I lived in a freshman dorm (as a senior)

This post was inspired by this post, in the style of Natalie Holbrook, one of my favorites. 

I loved living in a freshman dorm. Let me repeat.

I LOVED LIVING IN A FRESHMAN DORM. 

Now that it's over, it's time to reflect. There are countless reasons a senior would never choose to live in a freshman dorm: it's smaller, it's much louder, the rooms are smaller, the hallways are crowded, the entire building shares one kitchen, there are only a couple common spaces, everyone is younger and rowdier, freshman hill is crazy at night... etc. You get the picture.

These are all the reasons I LOVED it:

I loved the crowded hallways. I loved walking about 6 inches to my left or right and being in someone else's room. Or a few steps down the hall. I loved popping in on people in living spaces right next door to me. 

I loved sharing a bathroom. I loved watching people put on makeup or brush their teeth all together. I loved showering and talking to people next to me who were showering. I loved that the water turned super hot whenever someone flushed the toilet. I loved talking to people while they were pooping. 

I loved having a teeny tiny room. I loved hitting my head on the ceiling almost every morning, I loved getting into my lofted bed and having to go pee and get all the way down, I loved crowding people on one couch to watch a movie on a laptop, I loved sitting on the floor to eat cereal because there's no room for a table. 

I loved sharing a kitchen!!!! I loved making mac and cheese while someone else was warming up hot chocolate while someone else was making brownies for a friend's birthday while a million other people were out in the lobby going "wow that smells good, can I have some?" 

I loved the freakin lobbies. I loved playing ping pong, getting bored and inventing another game (face pong, hand pong, basically anything else other than paddles used as paddles. Gold, I tell ya.) I loved the broken pool table and the ripped pockets where pool balls would fall to the floor every few minutes. I loved sitting in shack, being on duty and creeping on couples on the couch. I loved hearing the laundry machines shaking the ceiling and the screaming from upstairs. Someone's doing laundry! Someone else is fighting upstairs with their roommate! Someone else just fell out of bed!

I loved hearing everyone's footsteps and the sounds from upstairs. I loved getting a text from my neighbor above me saying "lets go" and then hearing her feet hit the floor above my head and walk down the hallway. I loved when the girls above us had a trampoline in their room and we heard every single bounce. I loved when the girls above us would run down the hallway and we would wonder what they were doing. What on earth were they doing?! 

I even loved when people would drive around in the middle of the night yelling GO TO BED FRESHMAN!! Because how ironic is that?! You're just waking us all up! We were sleeping peacefully. This was hilarious. 

I loved the community. I loved that you recognized everyone that lived in the building, waved at them in the hallway even if you didn't know their name, and got close to people simply because of proximity. I loved late night hallway conversations and falling on the floor laughing in someone's room and screaming a cheer outside and yelling at people through windows. 

This morning I woke up and I was in a house, in a room with no neighbors. My next door neighbors currently are a hall closet and a bathroom. How boring is that. The kitchen is only shared with 4 people, and the community spaces are too big for all of us. You know, this can be nice. But it's not what I'm used to. 

I loved getting to know a floor of girls. I loved getting to live life next to a team of other RAs. These people have a special place in my heart. 

But now, getting used to living in a home is something else entirely. Another phase of life. I do hope that in another phase of my life I get to live in a dinky building that holds 150 people that are just as excited about all of this as I am. 

Here's to knowing what you want in life!

What my art major has taught me about life

Life is like art.

I've already rambled about how important my art major is to me. How it's not a waste of a major, though I understand I may not make as much money as a business major. 

But. As we speak (if you were reading this as I'm writing it, which you're not so. okay.) I am sitting at a coffee shop that's attached to the gallery space where 10 of my pieces are hung for the weekend, waiting for perspective buyers and appreciators to come and network with me as an artist. And maybe buy my work. BUY IT. Like, that's a thing that could happen. But it's never been about that for me. It's been about learning about life and the pursuit of what I love.

These are the things I learned about life during my time as an art major: 

- Make stuff until your hands fall off

Life is like a long studio session. You come in, not necessarily in the mood to do what you're there to do. You putz around a while, avoiding making things, when finally you have to sit down and work. At first when you get going, you're struggling. But then you start to lose track of time. Before you know it, you've knocked out several things. They look good. You come back energized next time.  Some days are struggles, but at the end of the day, you kept going and trying every day, you put in your hours, and that's what counts. 

- Everyone is on your side

Life is like a giant critique. You put up all your hard work, that thing you've labored over and perfected, that thing you're most proud of. Then students and professors pick it all apart, identifying all the negatives and maybe just brushing over the positives. They pull out things that don't work, things that you didn't even know were flaws. It's easy to take this personally. But this is a good thing. This will make you better. They are on your side: they want you to succeed. 

- Don't be too precious

Life is like studio cleaning day. You've made some stuff this year, some of which you're proud of, and some of which is crap. You have to decide what you want to keep and what goes. Throw away the crap. And consider throwing away the gems too. Sure, they represent memories you've made in the studio, and they're a manifestation of the artist you were at that time. But they can hold you back. Think about all the directions you could go if you started over every day instead of feeling trapped to make the same kinds of things forever and ever. Start fresh. Never look back. 

- There's nothing wrong with beauty

Life is like the art world. It makes you feel bad for not having a reason, a purpose. It tells you that you need direction, you need intention. You can't just do things just because you want to. But this is not true. You are allowed to make something just because you think it's beautiful. You can like someone's work simply because you love the colors. You are allowed a simple interpretation, with no deeper meaning other than beauty. Your aesthetic is a part of what makes your inner artist, and you need to pay attention to what you find beautiful. Simple beauty is all the explanation you need. 

**Update: One of my pieces got purchased this weekend (!!) serving as a reminder that I have come a long way, and though I still have a lot to learn, I have done great work so far. 

10 things I learned from living in a tiny space

This year I live in a closet, almost quite literally. My parents' walk-in closet is bigger than my room. I measured. 

In all honesty though, I was really excited to live in a small space. Each year of college I think I've brought less and less stuff, and this year involved a drastic edit in lifestyle to live in a space that was less than half the size of my smallest room to date. Pairing down is good sometimes, you know?

Anyway. These are the 10 things I learned from this year of patience and love in less than 90 square feet of space.

1 - Pairing down is ultimately liberating not limiting

Going through this summer and thinking seriously about what I really need to survive was really good. Pots and pans? Nah. Forks and spoons? Maybe like 2. One cup. One jacket. One pair of boots. One blanket. You know, just the essentials. I mean, do you really need a straightener and a curling iron? Just go natural. Do I really need a dehumidifier? Open the window. Do I really need all those paint brushes? See what you can make with just one. Challenging, but ultimately, really freeing.

2 - Having less makes you value more

I don't have a guitar in my room. There just isn't the space for it. But I do have a ukulele! And this has been wonderful. I like to sit underneath my lofted bed in my hammock and play my ukulele and pretend I am so very hippie-like, you know? I value my uke, dang it. I love every little thing in my room, because there isn't room (physically or emotionally) for things I don't value or care for.

3 - Keep the floor clean

When the couch and the ottoman and the bed and the hammock and the desk are all taken up by people sitting, the very last resort is the floor. And you want more people to be crammed in your room obviously. And who wants a clump of hair or a leaf or spare crumbs stuck to their behind when they leave your room? Not I, said everybody ever. Make your space inviting and clean, vacuum the floor. On the plus side, it takes about 1.64 minutes, because your room is tiny.

4 - Privacy is overrated

When your room is this small, people are all up in your business. I'm an extrovert, and I love this usually. But when I don't, I can shut my door and still hear everything that's going on around me. It turns out that this season of life means living in community with people and having everyone in close quarters, and what a great season of life it is. 

5 - "Let it be useful, but above all, let it be beautiful" - Natalie Holbrook

This could not be more true. Things in my room have to have a purpose, and even better if they serve a dual purpose. But if their dual purpose is to be useful and ugly, then it must go. Things in my room need to be beautiful, because I see them everyday and I can't avoid them. End of story.

6 - You use what you have, you don't use what you don't have

This is simply the truth. I don't use a crock pot or a desk chair or a hair diffuser or a TV because I don't have one. Makes my life easier. Plus, if you are reeeeeally die-hard in need of these things, odds are you have friends who have them. And when you borrow things from people, you talk to them. And when you talk to them, you become better friends. Life is cool that way. 

7 - Clutter begets clutter: likewise cleanliness begets cleanliness

When I leave my desk surface to it's own defenses, it gathers crap. The more crap there is, the more crap seems to pile up. Doing a simple clean sweep of my desk makes my room feel so much more inviting. The less space there is, the less it takes to make it feel clean. However, beware the alternative: the less space there is, the less it takes to make it feel dirty. 

8 - Opening doors and windows makes extra space

Open doors make happy floors. Open windows make for interesting conversations with passersby. And neither requires someone to actually be in your room, making your space feel that much bigger. I'm telling you, the power of screaming conversations down the hall is gold. 

9 - Ditch the chair, buy a couch. 

Why would I sit at my desk on a chair when I could sit on a couch? Hello. Couch all the way. When I found myself sitting on my couch to eat, do homework, read, watch movies, and literally everything else that requires my bottom to be planted, I realized that I don't need a chair. Bonus: I could store my small fridge in the gaping hole left under my desk! And more people can sit on a comfy couch than a small wooden chair. Friendship. 

10 - The things that make your space feel like home are not really things

I realized that all the comfort and love I felt came from people, and not from being surrounded by a large space full of things. I knew this, but I really know it now. It takes a small space and a minimalistic attitude to bring it out. I love the people I have surrounded myself with in this space, and I wouldn't trade them for the luxury of a larger room. Ever. 

Good posts from my favorite bloggers

This is a photo of a poster I found around the art department. What a gem. Made me smile. Anyways.

Hi internet! I have a treat for you today.

I read a lot of other people's writing, and I follow a lot of blogs. Some of them are for fun, some of them are really deep and meaningful, and some of these people, I just feel, really get me. They write and it's like they're in my head, you know?

So I thought I would share some of my favorite posts that they've ever written, or some good things they've produced lately.

Hey Natalie Jean is my all time favorite. This post is my freakin all time favorite. I recently bought her book and this essay is in there too and... oh boy I died. She is such a beautiful writer. I hope to be her one day. The end.

Reading my Tea Leaves by Erin Boyle is another great one.  Her blog is wonderfully minimalistic, and this post is a recent one that I like, resonate with, and want to strive for in life. #minimal

Sydney Poulton at the Daybook Blog is another long-time favorite. She is spunky, deep and adorable. She rocks. This post is my favorite of hers, but doesn't even do her beautiful writing justice so you should really read more but start with this one because. really.

WhitSpeaks is a powerhouse of a woman. She's a recent college grad who I've been incredibly inspired by, and this post is one that has really got me thinking, being an almost-post-grad myself.

Design for Mankind is another deep-thinker blog that just gets me giddy with happy. Erin is freakin' adorable and such a beautiful writer herself, and this post made me smile, like girl, you and me. One in the same.

Finally. Humans of New York is a classic, I'm sure most people have heard of it. It's full of daily thoughts and interesting nuggets, but I still remember reading something on there that gave me chills and slammed me in the gut and made me start crying in line for coffee one morning. This post right here, people. It's still my favorite of all time.

Happy blog perusing. Happy hump day!