As soon as I completed my last exam during finals week, I did what any person would do: treat themselves. Trust me, I’m no stranger to doing so. And I surround myself with people who see no harm in taking a drive where the only mission is to unwind (I love my friends).
With a wave of relief washing over me after I pressed submit on my last exam, it was time to clock out. While summers look a little different from the ones I knew as a 15 year old – which is normal when you hit “adulthood” – I somehow manage to keep my to-dos at a minimum during the months of June to August. After all, I’m only 22.
I’ve never been a fan of hustle culture, and I never will be. I prefer not to take summer courses unless I desperately have to. Instead, I take advantage of luxuries like not setting an alarm and clocking into my remote summer job with flexible hours, leaving me a delicious amount of time to lounge poolside with a fruity drink in hand.
I’ve come to the realization that some people are incapable of relaxing. The art of doing absolutely nothing at all has yet to be discovered by some. How tragic.
This has always fascinated me. Unlike these individuals, I have never struggled with the idea of making myself comfortable on a lounge chair without a care in sight or staying in bed for hours watching a movie marathon.
While you might have responsibilities to tend to these next few months, I’m here to tell you: take advantage of the windows where you have zilch to do. Generation Z is too pressed and stressed if you ask me. If they see someone doing something via Instagram or TikTok, they are hit with the question “am I doing enough?”
I have friends who absolutely fear staying still. Honey, you can be MIA for an hour; the world will keep spinning, Tom Cruise will still be making movies and “Grey’s Anatomy” will still be renewed once again. I guess this stems from FOMO, something I’ve never experienced.
It’s been proven that a little downtime is good for the soul and, most importantly, your health. Stress eats away at you from the inside out, according to the worldwide web.
The benefits of relaxation, however, are endless. Some benefits include improved sleep quality, lower blood pressure, reduced anger and frustration – the list goes on and on. After experiencing a health scare myself the weekend before finals, I was reminded that nothing, and I do mean nothing, is that deep or should ever take priority over my health. I will spare you most of the details. Long story short, I was covering an event as a social media manager as one does and ended my eight-hour shift by fainting twice in the parking lot. And to quote one of my favorite professors, “only people who are great at their jobs faint.”
Most of the time the culprit in a situation like this is one too many tequila shots, but that wasn’t the case for me. I happen to be a mocktail enthusiast. Dehydration, exhaustion and an overpacked schedule including assignments, projects, study groups, chores, countless errands, zoom meetings, coffee meetings and the adulting of it all had me down and out – literally.
This scenario was my crashout from a non-stop stress-fueled semester. All I could think of at the moment was, “This is so embarrassing. How did it get to this?”
After showing myself grace and devouring a four-piece Cane’s combo, I decided taking a break and fully recuperating was my summer goal. After all, if pop princess Dua Lipa can indulge in a gelato-tasting, beach-hopping, novel-reading, concert-going summer, so can I, and you should too. Less than 11 hours ago, I was dancing in a sea of strangers to “Berlioz” live at the House of Blues because I’m a woman of my word. Operation Dua Lipa summer is a go.
Curate the perfect summer itinerary for yourself. My itinerary consists of waking up when my body is ready to do so, limiting screen time, incorporating social media breaks, reading two to three novels monthly, taking my time with everything (no rushing), moving my body, walks, Pilates, dips in the pool and occasional tennis matches. Lastly and most importantly, I’m only doing whatever I deem fun, and sometimes that’s partaking in nothing at all.
My screen time was down 54% last week for an average of 30 minutes a day. Chances are I was somewhere snuggled up with an iced latte reading some suburban mom housewife thriller (I recommend “The Housemaid”).
Starting now, my phone is on “do not disturb.” The best way to get a hold of me is by way of messenger pigeon.
Ava Francis is a 22-year-old journalism major from New Orleans residing in Texas.
