what makes me feel adult(ish)

85c2

Definitely an adult. Look at me ordering coffee all cool like.

Things I do that make me think I’m an adult;

  • Wear slippers
  • Drink black coffee
  • Buy my own toilet paper
  • Make small talk with cashiers
  • Read more non-fiction than fiction
  • Buy wine, dark chocolate, and kale
  • Buy art print posters instead of nerd posters
  • Have a bunch of friends my age getting engaged/married/pregnant
  • Think ramen is not a decent meal

playtime1

Definitely not an adult. Look at me being the one to make the kids keep playing tag.

Things I do that make me sure I’m not an adult;

  • Name my car (Sakamoto-san)
  • Have a giant pink pony plushie friend
  • Hate making phone calls/opening my door
  • Have nerd posters alongside my art posters
  • Never wear clothes at home (I seriously dig pajamas, yo)
  • Not know how to cook steak or fish
  • Think ramen is a decent meal

But all those rules are silly anyway. All that, “adults don’t (insert thing here).” Well, maybe adults don’t. Adults don’t hold grudges. But people do. And people are all ages. So maybe being an adult is like wisdom; it’s not an age, it’s an achievement. Or maybe I just say that to make myself feel adult. Is kidding yourself adultish?

otter.

NB – It’s finals week. Thank goodness I get these things written ahead of time. Booooofinalsssssssss.

the power of visualization

I’ve heard about the concept of visualization many times over the years, and recently I was reading a book about the power of the mind. It argued that you can heal yourself, improve memory exponentially, and become a better navigator all through the power of mental imagery. In other books, I’ve heard that you can “practice” a sport or instrument mentally and actually become more proficient at it. They cite sports teams that do this regularly. In still other books, I read about visualizing your day in the morning, picturing everything you want to get done and how you’ll do it, how you’ll feel, etc.

I love this advice and implement it as much as possible. Usually I just stick to visualizing my day; that’s fairly simple and doesn’t take much time. But if there’s a commitment or obligation I have that I’m not excited about, I can visualize going, and by the time that thing rolls around, I’m fully prepared. With visualization, you can reduce unpleasant surprises.

I also visualize who I want to be and where I want to end up. Envisioning the end unconsciously makes me act out those things. It’s like the old advice about writing down specific goals. I won’t go looking for those statistics, but apparently people who write down their goals are something like 90% more likely to achieve them than people who don’t, ceteris paribus. Don’t quote me on that, but it was a really high number. I don’t think I read about why that happens, but something about the act of writing it out, internalizing it, helps you work it out in reality.

In fact, one really enjoyable exercise I like to do is to plan out my ideal day. If I had no job and no school, or my dream job, what would my perfect day look like? I wrote it out exactly, from waking up to sleeping, and boy was it a heady experience. I mean, I could taste the coffee whose steam wafted over the vistas of mountains and ocean (cough). I’m hoping that by doing this, I’ll actually build some of the habits I dream about into my current routine. Baby steps, y’all. Baby steps.

otter.