I do enjoy a bit of fun here and there. I find it quite relaxing in the face of all my work and stress. Surprising to some, my fun has mostly come through enjoying a light nap in a sunny field. Just basking in that sunlight feels so damn good, y’know? But of course, the weather isn’t all too favorable all the time. When the weather is colder and the wind is brisk, a simple walk outside in those low temperature allows me to focus my mind into my thoughts. All stress, all weakness is dissuaded as I allow my thoughts to enter my abstract world of imagination. What character shall I develop? What setting shall be created next? Wind, water, earth, and fire—the elements are at my fingertips. The past, the present, and the future are within the palm of my hand. My own life is at the mercy of my imagination, and how I enjoy seeing and feeling how it plays out.

When I wake up from those dreams however, I notice I’ve walked dreamily into a light pole, or my nose is crushed and the brilliant stars wake me up enough to just barely see a football bounce haphazardly and two kids giggling as they run after it. I wake up from those dreams, and I’m back in reality. To some, they may become enraged at this, but me? I ain’t salty. Being able to enter those dreams is a wonderful feeling, but being able to re-enter reality is odd and refreshing. Call me weird if you’d like, but that strange change of settings somehow makes me feel groovy. “Groovy” indeed as I transition from fiction to reality completely refreshed.

On the other hand, just sitting at my desk playing Minecraft or a few hours of Dragon Age—that’s the bee’s knees. Yeah, I said that: “bee’s knees,” judge me. A fast-running computer, good internet, a bag of chips, a bottle of Gatorade, and an awesome PC game, that’s all fun has got to be. Yep, yep! Just gaming around, hours a day. Can’t get any more relaxed than that (besides sleeping for a good ten hours…).

But know, I’ve got a third method of fun and relaxation, and you know what? everyone should try it out. Method Three: writing. It could be because I’m an English major, but that shouldn’t make any difference. Writing is simply entertaining. Sure, you can go out hiking, running, sitting around watching Netflix or Hulu, or even playing a few trivia games on your smartphone; but why don’t you try to sit around somewhere, stretch out your legs, bring out a pen and pad, and just start writing? Why don’t you allow your daydreaming into partial reality? All those settings, those events you’re forming, those characters and people of your imagination—put them into words. Just start writing. It’s a lot more different than writing those half dozen essays you’ve been assigned for your classes. Don’t worry about reaching a word limit, worry not about grammar (actually, you ought to be sure you’ve got good grammar).

But seriously, just try it out, somehow someway. I’m typing this out with a bit of a weird grin on my face. You don’t have to make writing your life (that’s for the English majors), but just see how your words can re-create your imagination, and how your creation becomes a possible form of fun and relaxation for you. Relaxation comes in many forms, see how you can relax in more ways than one. Well, hope ya’ll have had a good chance to lay back after the Fall and good luck for this new semester. Good luck Runners, and remember to take a moment to relax!