Life after high school is interesting. So much can happen in just one year: heartbreak, new friendships, a new relationship, a change in home. It can be a fresh start in life for some.
However, those changes can bring a feeling of unsteadiness. Those who decided to attend college after high school may have experienced moving away from family and beginning to live on their own.
There’s living in a dorm, then moving out of it and possibly moving into an apartment or house and sometimes there’s another move after that. That’s about two to three housing moves just in your college education, not counting temporarily living with your family during breaks or someplace else for an internship or job.
One’s home, especially one’s bedroom, can be a safe place for people — a place where one can destress and be alone. Individuals can gain a level of attachment to their room because of the feeling of safety and normalcy. But having multiple moves in short periods of time and your belongings in multiple places can disrupt the peace.
Those who chose a gap year or more before college or did not choose the college path can also experience this non-peacefulness by traveling —bouncing from one friend’s home to another, bouncing from job to job or trying to find a place to live.
In this period of time in young adulthood where chaos can be the construct of our lives, it is important to stay grounded. Staying grounded in this case doesn’t mean staying grounded in one living situation — it means finding an activity or routine that helps one’s mind and body stay peaceful with a sense of comfortability.
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This could include having a morning or night routine and doing activities that you enjoy like reading, spending time in nature, journaling, working out and anything else that brings you happiness.
Feeling some level of normalcy is vital to one’s mental health and life in general. If everything around us is chaotic, how can we accomplish goals or even perform daily tasks if we’re feeling that pressure of disorder? The only way we can is by controlling the things we can control, and that can be the little things like going on that daily morning run.
At times I think we all have moments where we let life control us. But really, we are in control of our own lives. Though there are times where life will put up obstacle after obstacle and make it difficult, I have found that there is always something that can be controlled, even if it is a tiny activity like having your morning coffee or taking the same route to work or school.
No matter where you are, there is usually a way to find peace in chaos. You just have to stop thinking of the big things and start thinking about the tiny details in your daily life. No matter what, there will always be some level of chaos in our lives, so don’t waste time waiting around for the chaos to end to let your mind and body feel at peace.
Natalie Fitzgibbons (she/her) is a junior standing studying journalism with a minor in American Studies.
