Yesterday Andrea and I had a chat about our college days, how we both miss the convenience of living just minutes away from frivolous friends and fun. Our conversation's culmination went something like this:
Andrea: "No one is spontaneous anymore."
Me: "Let's do something then, I'm not doing anything. Pottery painting, Tempe Marketplace, 30 minutes?"
Andrea: "YES."
Slightly longer than half an hour later, there we stood in front of my favorite pottery painting place, As You Wish. We took pictures to document our spontaneity, because that's how we roll. My favorite picture is the one where Andrea looks like a tourist in her own home town:
Since it was about 3,000 degrees outside and we were both roasting, we hurried inside. Andrea had never been before so I quickly explained the painting process, and we got to work!
The evening was A BLAST!! Which brings me to the other point of this post: the importance of being spontaneous.
Since graduating from college a year ago, one of the toughest lessons my friends and I have had to learn is that “real life” has a very structured schedule, which severely inhibits the freedom of whims.
Frequent discussions about such an injustice brought forth vehement rantings such as these:
"I don't have time for anything because I work all the time."
"By the time I'm off work I don't have energy to do anything else."
"By the time I'm off work I don't have energy to do anything else."
Though all inferences were indirect, the keywords of every discussion were Lack of Spontaneity.
There is no time to be spontaneous anymore.
Which is a shame because in my mind, spontaneity keeps life fresh, invigorating. It gives you something to talk about. To dream about.
Since I know you're wondering, here are some of my favorite Spontaneous Adventures of my College Years:
All 3 of us got a piercing!
Stuck and squelching at Mud Falls
Midnight mealtime outings to Denny's!
AZ state fair! Road trip!
There were plenty of others, and even if I didn't come away from them with picture proof, the memories are as vivid as any photograph. Late night card games in dormitory hallways. Home-made snowcones. Trips through the belly of a self-serve car wash. Even community trips to the grocery store. Each of them transpired simply because.
In a world of overtime and over-inflated work ethics, spontaneity has lost its valor. But it's value is still ever present. Who hasn't said any one of these things:
"I wish I could just pack up and head out."
"Wouldn't it be nice to get out of here for a few days?"
"Hey, that looks/sounds like fun! Too bad I have to work."
"We should just go."
"We should just go."
And then sighed, simply because you knew that your stickler of a schedule superseded any spontaneous soirées.
Well, I hereby challenge you to "just go." The next time you get the urge, or a friend calls to complain, just go. Do something exciting, maybe even unprecedented. Give yourself an hour, an afternoon, a day, just to enjoy being where you are and who you're with. I guarantee it will be worth it, and you will find yourself saying what Andrea said to me at the end of the night:
"It was just what I needed."
Me, too.
So, go on. And then tell me about it!
