For this week, I really struggled as to what activity I wanted to do to get inspired. However it came to me on Monday, when I was doing work for another one of my classes. I am taking a Hip hop and blackness class and we were assigned a reading for homework, and then had to connect that reading to a rap song and write a short paper on it. I was immediately worried for that assignment because I don’t really listen to a lot of rap – and this is when I got inspired.

I’ve always loved music and I feel like it’s something that can mean so many different things to different people. Therefore, I decided through listening to types of music I typically don’t I could be inspired to feel different things through these new genre types. I began with rap, as I had had to start listening to rap for my assignment, however then it turned into listening to and learning about older music. My friend constantly makes fun of me for not knowing literally any old music, so I referred to her and I actually really enjoyed it.

I typically only stick to listening to current pop music and artists I am a big fan of, but this weeks inspiration activity made me realize it’s okay to explore other music – and you never know what it will do for you! Honestly my friend and I have now been listening to old songs all week, which couldn’t have happened if I didn’t decide to be open to these new songs which do give you different feelings and perspectives.

This week, to get inspired, I decided to do homework outside. I was struggling to come up with something to do this week, and honestly it just kind of came to me once it was nice outside. On Sunday, which is always a very busy day for me with meetings and such, I realized I wanted to sit outside and do work.

Although warm weather for some is a distraction, for me it’s not. Honestly, it inspires me to do my work better. I feel so much more at peace than stressed about what I have to do, because how could you be stressed when it’s almost 60 degrees outside?

Although this experience couldn’t necessarily inspire me to sit outside and do work more, because I can’t control the weather, it definitely just made me have a more positive outlook. It is so calming and comforting when the weather is warm outside, and it just reminded me that warm weather is coming and I just have to grind on my work right now in order to get there.

This week, in order to get inspired, I decided to go for a run. All of high school I was a runner and actually had to run every single day for practice. Running was a way of freeing my mind, and I rarely would go for runs with music on so it provided me a time to just think but also push myself. Although hard at times, I loved the feeling it provided me with of breaking my own records, as well as the discipline required to stick with it and show up everyday.

Once coming to college, I tried to stick with running as much as I could. Soon after my arrival, however, my schedule was taken up by classes, homework and exams, clubs, and friends. I tried going to the gym as much as I could — but it wasn’t the same. The treadmill isn’t my favorite place to run because it’s so monotonous.

During class on Tuesday, when we had to go around and say what our plan was for this week’s inspiration post, I quickly on the spot decided I’d go for a run. And on Wednesday, when it was pretty nice out, I actually went for a run in the middle of the day! It was honestly so inspiring and such a great feeling to get back into something I used to love, and was an outlet for anything I was feeling in my life. Having that time to just think about whatever is going on for me right now was amazing — because I never get time to just disconnect and be present with myself. It really inspired me to not forget about the things I used to love, no matter how busy my schedule gets. Hopefully as the weather gets nicer I can get back into running outside and around campus — and continue on an activity that has always been super important to me in the past.

This past Thursday, I actually made myself dinner for the first time in a while. I live in Larrison, so I therefore don’t have my own kitchen and probably haven’t made myself a dinner meal since the summer. My friend recently moved into a gateway, though, so I had the opportunity to cook dinner.

I decided to cook as a result of this exercise. After brainstorming for a while, I remembered how much I love cooking and how it really has the potential to inspire you. My friend and I decided to make curry – as her family loves to eat this regularly. This was somewhat out of my comfort zone in terms of ability, as I had planned to make something like grilled chicken and vegetables.

Not only was the curry so insanely good, but it inspired me in more ways than I could’ve predicted. It reminded me how I want to travel, and study abroad in somewhere unique. I want to learn about new cultures and foods — and try new things along with that. Previous to Thursday I hadn’t had curry in a long time I couldn’t even remember if I liked it or not, but now I’m asking my friend if we can make it again every night.