Stephanie Marinelli ’25, Managing Editor
I can’t do it. I WILL NOT DO IT. I don’t know what it is, but something about even the THOUGHT of washing my clothes at school makes me violently nauseous. At home, I have one small hamper that I bring downstairs before it’s even full. And yet, here, I will let the absolute behemoth that is my laundry bin overflow out onto the floor. Yes, I just admitted that. I never said I was proud of it.
Honestly, I often worry about what my mom would think if she came into my room and saw it. The horror stories I would have. I’m not even sure I would live to tell them.
All jokes aside, I am working on getting my life together, and this includes laundry. It isn’t until you really see how much damage you’ve done, that you realize you’ve normalized a way of life that is not beneficial. And before you think, “jeez, it’s just laundry,” no, it goes beyond that. This refers to NEVER doing your laundry, lying in bed as often as you can, not sweeping the floor every so often, constantly hoping that someone else will clean out the trash bag. And yes, this is gross, but it happens. I don’t want to act like this, believe it or not, but I allow myself to get caught up in life’s everyday stressors, and ignore these responsibilities as a “break.” That is, until everything piles up, and all the sudden, there is no time for a break.
So yes, today, it is just laundry that is bothering me. But tomorrow, it could be waking up on time, putting consideration into my outfits, or even taking a brush to my hair. Life is definitely hard, but giving up when things are challenging is self-destructive.
Everyone deserves to live the best life possible, but it’s not a walk in the park when you don’t believe in yourself. Thus, I would say to anyone out there who is struggling with their mental health, you are not alone, and you ARE NOT lazy. I know that you’ve got a million things on your plate, or at least it feels like that anyway. Take it one day at a time. Take the trash out, then reward yourself with a good workout, or watch your favorite movie. Keep building and building until you feel as though you aren’t on “thin ice.” You are a work in progress, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
You know, I came across the concept of multitasking in one of my classes earlier this week, and I learned that the human brain is not necessarily equipped to take on what modern day society deems “honorable.” With this in mind, don’t always believe that those who boast that they did “a million and one” things today, are mentally okay. Please be kind to yourself, and take on as much as you can, with the occasional “must do” deadline. Everything will work out, I promise.
You do not want to look back in 20 years and realize you wasted your time trying to make everything perfect, or get every little thing done right. Make mistakes, sleep in too late, pull an all-nighter, get a 100% on that essay you did last minute, but most importantly, remember to do everything with love.
Maybe that’s all I needed to do–romanticize the laundry process.
