balance is never really something i've ever had a hard time with...until now. high school was never too hard for me, and my college major was nothing to write home about. but grad school, my friends, necessitates a delicate balancing act. you know when you move on to something new and you give yourself a grace period of like, 3 months, repeatedly telling others "oh, hah, i just moved here, so it's okay that i turned in my paper one day late!" and "hah, i'm transitioning, so i can give myself some leeway and go out to dinner instead of studying post-lecture." well just moved turns into 8 months later and transitioning turns into an old tub of hummus that's been sitting in the back of the fridge for a 12 solid weeks, and you realize that you're preeeeeeetty much settled.
i'm also in the midst of this quarter-life crisis (<- dramatic) where i'm trying to decide where my priorities lie. with school and academics, the two things that have been subconsciously prioritized in my brain? or with people and places, the two things that really make my heart go a-flutter? i'm finally realizing what kinds of people i want to keep in my life, yet i also want to take advantage of this ridiculously cool environment that i'm in and grow intellectually as well.
despite a week full of worry, last weekend i managed to make time for those things i love most: (new-to-me) fried chicken and waffles, my first yankee game for a two-year anniversary, and a vegan banana creme pie.
"allow beauty to shatter you regularly. the loveliest people are the ones who have been burnt and broken and torn at the seams, yet still send their open hearts into the world to mend with love again, and again, and again. you must allow yourself to feel your life while you're in it."
- victoria erickson
