Over winter break I adopted a Morkie named Honey. She moved into my single in Lyons Hall at the start of this semester, and we’ve been roommates ever since! Needless to say, it’s been an interesting transition for both of us, and we (well, I) have learned quite a lot in the past month and a half.
- The Longest Possible Route from Lyons to, Well, Anywhere
-
Honey is not a fan of the most efficient paths. If she was a GPS, she would be the one that led Michael Scott and Dwight into a lake on that one episode of The Office. When I first started walking around campus with her, I’d lead her through routes I was familiar with. Did I take her from Lyons to DeBart and back on complete autopilot for the first few weeks? Definitely. Did I realize pretty quickly that we were both getting bored of my unimaginative destination choices? Oh, yeah. Nowadays, I let her lead us whenever we take a walk and she never takes us the same route twice. Just last week, we passed the Grotto, circled Alumni twice and tried to rush the door to Hes (she’s a fiend for ABP) on our way to Jenkins-Nanovic. All in all, it’s been a great experiment: I get to explore parts of campus that I’ve never had the opportunity to before and I have an excuse to get myself outside and moving during arguably the hardest stretch of the semester.
- Taking My Mornings Slow
-
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m the type of person who checks their phone notifications before they roll out of bed in the morning. Then I find myself caught in a whirlwind of responding to emails and texts, browsing social media and trying to muddle my way through my class readings. I never realized what a drain it was on me to immediately dive into the action of the day until Honey moved in. Now, I check my phone only long enough to turn off my alarm in the mornings. I also wake up a lot earlier than I did before, so that Honey can eat and go on a walk before I have to leave for class. These two things combined give me a chance to take my mornings slow. I can take a longer shower, put on a facemask, finally find time to meditate or just enjoy time playing with Honey. That extra hour in the mornings is the golden hour of self-care, ladies; and without Honey, I might never have had the motivation to wake up and slow down in time to enjoy it.
- The Importance of Forming a Routine
-
Honey loves routines. I don’t. However, when raising a puppy I’ve found that it’s best to follow her lead on things like this. Otherwise, I come home an hour late to feed her dinner and find that she’s nibbled her way through the bag of chips I had hidden in my snack drawer. And although I was skeptical of the merit of routine before, I’ve come to love it. Scheduling my day-to-day functioning around Honey has helped me keep myself more productive and maximize my time. I’d always heard the advice that keeping weekly or daily obligations is super beneficial to giving your life order and structure. Knowing what to expect from my day keeps me less stressed out and stops me from overbooking myself. I have a better understanding of my own limits now, and I value spontaneous plans with friends all the more now that I can accept them with full knowledge that I won’t be stretching myself too thin.
- Stopping to Smell the Roses
-
Or goose poop. Occasionally she’ll stop and smell that, too. We can’t go anywhere near Carroll on our lake walks because of it. However, it’s amazing to see Honey discover parts of the world for the first time and witness her wonder at things we all take for granted every day. Yesterday, someone flew down South Quad on their electric scooter and she sat and watched them in awe until they’d disappeared from sight. She does the same thing for especially large rocks, leaves that get picked up by the wind and squirrels. She’s taught me that even though I might see certain things every day, I shouldn’t take them for granted. Instead of trudging through the snow at breakneck speed in order to hit home before the warmth from SDH’s lobby heaters wears off or inhaling my lunch between classes, I’ve tried to take my time and appreciate the world around me. Although monotasking isn’t always the easiest or most natural thing for me to do, Honey’s helped me see the value in stopping to smell the roses and take life one step at a time.
Follow HCND on Twitter, like us on Facebook, Pin with us and show our Instagram some love!