After a long day of classes, work and dealing with the unforeseen circumstances of the universe, nothing draws me in like the promise of returning home.
My apartment provides me with a level of serenity normally reserved to aromatherapy candles and yoga on a mountain top. But I’m not exaggerating. I literally breathe easier the moment I walk through my door, and it’s not because I doused my place in Febreze on a regular basis.
It’s my safe haven — decorated to my taste and kept at a cool 72 degrees.
But this idyllic, dreamlike scenario is sometimes abruptly halted. Running shoes greet me in the middle of the hall, a cloud of curry powder descends from the kitchen and the poorly written dialogue of “Law & Order: SVU” attacks me from the living room.
Having a roommate can be a bummer.
Don’t get me wrong — my roommate’s a swell gal. But damn it if sometimes I don’t want peace and quiet after an arduous week of class or a weekend of back-to-back social posturing.
Via: HuffPost
If you’re living a life anything like the generic college and post-grad life, you’ve moved from cramped dorm to a potentially even more cramped fraternity or sorority house to apartments with sub-par roommate situations and then you get the joy of moving in with a significant other. Let’s not even touch the future of little brats running around. The timeline of living arrangements doesn’t always conveniently allow for a break in the co-habitation.
The sales-y apartment people will stress over and over again that close proximity to midtown is the be-all and end-all of your needs for a space, but what most people forget is that the environment of your “home” life sets the tone for everything else.
Loud neighbors keep you up all night? Hello, irritability and sleep deprivation. Filthy carpets or an unexpected mold problem? Good luck to your lungs and body. Terrible roommates or dangerous neighborhood? Enter, never-ending anxiety. Creating your own sacred space can help harmonize mind, body and soul.
The great Shawn Carter, a.k.a. Jay-Z, said it best: “Can I LIVE?”
We all need a little breathing room sometimes, and the most underrated way to do it has nothing to do breaking out a yoga mat or going all “Into the Wild” on everyone.
Live alone.
Though demonized by the naysayers as isolating and expensive, living along is heaven on Earth. The dress code is always, “Check your pants at the door.” You don’t have to wash the dishes unless you feel like it. You don’t have to worry about anyone snatching your Tate’s cookies. You can let your freak flag fly.
But there’s even more to it than that. Living alone is an exercise in acquainting yourself with yourself.
When was the last time you spent quality time with you? Between finals, graduation, social activities and trying to find the time to bathe, the answer to that is probably, “I don’t remember.”
We’re told that college is about immersing yourself in the experience — surrounding yourself with your peers and saying “yes” to all opportunities. It is. But that message is incomplete. Introspection, which isn’t nearly as sexy and much more challenging, than socializing is just as valuable, if not more. It’s the building block for self-awareness.
Living sans roommate stills mindfulness.
Before you sign or renew a lease for your next place, truly give some thought to getting a place of your own or at least keep in mind that home is a lot more than just where the heart is.
Via: IMGArcade
Looking for a place with all homey-ness of, well, a home? Our friends over at Circa Properties have been around Gainesville for forever and can help you find the perfect four walls to call your own. Friends don’t let friends live in shitty apartments.
