A Boxy Crossroads

Well, as a follow-up to yesterday, I was sorta of productive. I did get a few things accomplished around the apartment, although I also had an RA mingling event as well. Still, better than nothing. I have been thinking about this "dilemma" that I have put myself in.

Perhaps dilemma is too strong of a word. Let's go with crossroads. This is year 10 of living on a college campus for one reason or another (wow, statements like that make me feel old), and so the crossroads is in regards to my living quarters. When I was an undergrad student, there was a very clear timeline of when I would need to move in and out of my the res hall. Even though graduating meant the end of getting kicked out of my place during the summer, my job still revolves around the same academic year.

So the crossroads come from the feeling of wanting to personalize the space to make it my own and the feeling of not wanting to get too attached since I would need to pack everything up before too long anyway. It doesn't help that my position (and the one in Missouri to an extent) carries an uncertainty with where I would be on campus any future academic year, even if I'm still doing the job I have right now. Sure, my current plan is to stay in this building for another go, but things could change and I may be tasked with uprooting everything to live on the other end of campus.

However, with the conversation... okay, monologue... about "how to adult" the past couple days in mind, I feel like I should really embrace the space I have. For one, I should enjoy it while I have it, since I do enjoy this apartment for what it's worth and I truly have no clue where I'll be living a few years down the line. I've also stayed too much on the "keep things packed up since I'll only be here a short time" side since there are boxes that I definitely didn't touch much in Missouri and haven't touched much either. Moving everything here was a long process, so I should definitely get everything out of boxes to remove extraneous stuff. Along with that, I've eyed up a couple of things and thought "yeah, I could sell this off rather than lug it with me and have it be better utilized". Several employees have advertised on a campus-specific classified email distribution list, which seems to be a good resource. I am digressing now though.

I know it'll be weird when I don't live on a college campus and move into a place that I could call home for a very long time. When that happens, I definitely don't want to still have that boxed-up mentality. I'd be just like Mrs. Parr... (start from around 0:12)

Today is National Mom & Pop Business Owner's Day. I didn't really go out much today, but I do try to visit local stores when I go out shopping. I would say Gnome Games is the most prominent example of a local business that I frequent here in Wisconsin, but I also enjoy local restaurants, coffee shops, and stores. I love the character that local businesses can portray and I like knowing that I'm supporting the community one dollar at a time. I will admit that I probably do most of my shopping at big box stores, particularly for groceries, but I want to keep myself open to the other storefronts around me.

DFTBA