Grey Daze

Today in Oberlin, the sky was this color:

The sidewalk was this color:

A tree I passed was this color:

And a building I walk by everyday was this color:

get it?

I don't mean to give you the impression that Oberlin is a lifeless lump during late winter, but it would also be incorrect to say that everything here is rosy all the time. I think it's important to remember that when you're at college, everything is not perfect. Many people go through occasional rough periods, and as a transfer student who has heard many transfer horror stories, I can tell you that it is a useful skill to be able to differentiate between an emotional bump and actual, tangible discomfort and dislike of a place. As much as people say we live in a bubble, Oberlin is still life and during all points of life, people experience ups and downs.

Rather than feeling like there is something wrong when, say, the very real factors of gray weather, endless reading, and troubling events on campus converge to get you down, I find it's best just to have a few battle tactics. My strongest weapon against late March is listening to music, whether to wallow, to LUXURIATE, in the greyness, or to lift myself clean out of it.

Here's my current emotional trajectory for the month:

I wallow...

Nico - These Days

I feel yearn-y for home...

Ray Charles - Georgia On My Mind

ok, so I'm not from Georgia, or anywhere close...but it's a beautiful song.

I need a little moral support...
and also some entertainment--check out that music video!!

The Beach Boys - Don't Worry Baby

and I escape into some dreamy music...

Peaks - Transit

This is an Oberlin student band! Check them out here

If I'm having a hard day and I just need to clear my mind, often listening to the perfect song will restore my sanity. It either gives me a break from the bleakness of March, or helps me lean into it, and enjoy what's around me.

And now that it is the end of March, one day quite soon the sun will come out and the air will feel warm, and everyone will sacrifice his or her cleanliness to sit in the muddy grass on Wilder Bowl or Tappan Square, because that's how we celebrate spring. And all the dreariness will make the sun and warmth so, so much more beautiful.

Until then, we'll just have to count down...