Take a walk
Self-care is more personal than you think. A quick google search of “self-care tips” brings an endless list of people sharing how drinking a gallon of water a day changed their life or they will never look back on their daily 6AM workouts. While these are all habits that I’m sure will make me feel better on the days when I need them, sometimes these tips are just not universal. Personally, I find myself searching for my own ways of taking care of the most important thing in my life: my well-being.
As I’ve recently moved to Gainesville for school and the transition has not been easy, I have been looking for a way to de-stress and just take a mental break from the craziness of it all. Through this, I have found that taking walks has had a significant impact on my overall happiness. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or even just have some free time for myself, I put on my favorite sneakers, tie my hair up, and go on a walk. I’m not sure if its the fresh air or the fact that in that moment the only thing I have to do is put one foot in front of the other and keep going, but it gives me the sense of peace I felt that I have been lacking since I moved into college life.
Through these “self-care walks”, I have found a few spots around campus that now hold a special place in my heart. The path up from Beaty Towers to the Architecture Building is one that I usually take on days when I feel like I need me-time. I have a strange appreciation for the Architecture Building now. I once went on a walk in the rain, and stood there listening to the tapping of the rain falling through the middle onto the concrete. It was the exact moment of peace that I needed, and it meant everything to me.
The last aspect of my self-care walks is the most important one: the playlist. I need to be listening to music, there’s no getting around it. The music playing gives me the warm feeling of pretending that I am in a movie that I can never get enough of. It makes me feel like I am in the second half of an indie movie where the protagonist reevaluates their life and everything ends up working out in the end.
So now… go on a walk. When you feel like the world becomes too much for you or even if you just need a little escape, take a “self-care walk."
Here’s a few of my favorite songs to walk to:
Acolyte by Slaughter Beach, Dog
Flow by Cage the Elephant
Diddy Bop by Noname
First Class by Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Cough Syrup by Young the Giant
Pictures of Girls by Wallows
Brazil by Declan McKenna
Baby You’re Out by Mac DeMarco
Married Life by Michael Giacchino Are You Bored Yet? (ft. Clairo) by Wallows
Candy Wrappers by Summer Salt