I guess I’m starting a new habit (habit? pattern? tradition? I’m not exactly sure what the right word is in this situation) where every academic year, I move back home after another year at Berkeley and clean out my room as I re-organize all my Berkeley stuff from my haphazard packing job. (The haphazard part is especially true this year, where the majority of my packing was done in a crazed twenty minutes right before my sister’s graduation, after I had helped D park the car and walked to Greek Theatre, then rushed back home with an excuse that I forgot my belt and while my family was waiting for the ceremony to start. But I digress) 

Every year, I can sense myself becoming more mature, in that I’m able to view all of the things and knick-knacks and random tidbits I’ve accumulated over the years (collectively known as my stuff) with a more critical eye, allowing me to see past my impulsive need to keep things for memory’s sake and just let them go. I’m not sure what exactly inspired this, but I’m currently on a trend right now where I just want to minimize the shit out of my life. I want to shed off all this sheer excess fat that is the tons and tons of things I’ve been mindlessly keeping all these years and just cast it away. I suppose this has, in a way, been triggered by my infatuation with travel and consequent reassessment of the necessity of all my worldly possessions. (Wow, that was a lot of s’s in a row) 

I have since given half of my wardrobe to my sisters (essentially all the clothes I had at home, which is equivalent to a complete wardrobe for a normal person) in addition to unwanted shoes and bags, donated nail polish and my terrible desk lamp from freshman year and a weird decoration made of paper cranes and other useless bits, finally thrown away hole-y shoes and random cloth scraps and hangers from Target. It feels good to be getting rid of so many things and paring down the sheer amount of stuff in my room, but at the same time, this process has been a bit exhausting as well. Throughout this (technically ongoing) journey, I’ve definitely learned some lessons about the art of acquiring/buying things (more specifically clothes, as that’s probably my primary problem) for the future. They include:

1) Be thoughtful about what you decide to buy. If you don’t absolutely love something, don’t get it-you won’t miss it. If you have to think/debate about it, you probably aren’t in love with it. 
- related note: Don’t get something solely because it’s a good deal and it only costs ___. You have enough stuff, and those little purchases can add up fast (although in my case, probably not that fast but the point still stands!). 
- side note: If you don’t have to pay for the thing you’ll be getting, this rule can be relaxed a bit, but remember that it’s still a pain in the ass to bring this new goody back to your cave, and an even bigger pain in the ass to figure out how to get rid of it if you don’t like it as much as you thought you did. 

2) Don’t allow labels to cloud your judgement. Make your decision solely on fit and whether you genuinely like the garment or not. I’m talking to you, slightly too large white agnes b. dress and three-quarter sleeve, sheeny silver Kenneth Cole sweater. 

3) Don’t let the high of a good deal convince you to buy multiples of the same item, or the same item in different colors. There is really no point in owning several copies of the same piece of clothing, especially if your clothes are of good-quality where they won’t break often/easily. 

4) Make sure that what you’re getting is something you’d actually use/wear. I’m definitely noticing a pattern I have of buying things that I think I’m going to use but never actually end up needing, like a 4GB USB and Sharpies. Although it’s annoying to have to buy things you need at the last minute, it’s really annoying to store these things for a long time while waiting for these needs to arise (that is, assuming that they ever arise). 

Yay for getting rid of junk! This is actually quite therapeutic in a way. 

Friday

• Chatting about life and school and office hours with J
• Watching six episodes of Doctor Who while grading giant backlog of assignments
• Getting some of my favorite foods
• Girly-ing it up with nail polish for the first time in awhile

Saturday

• Nom-ming on tater tots breakfast while watching the VH1 countdown, Million Dollar Listing NY, and the Sex and the City movie
• Prepping for Holi with T and E (not counting the long waits for someone to put on all her sunscreen and eat and go to the bathroom)
• Soaking in the gorgeous weather and sun at the giant dance party at Holi
• Lying on the grass in the sun in the midst of going home
• Thrifting for the first time in awhile
• Hanging out with D, J, C, J at the Theatre Rice show and laughing entirely too much
• Talking with inebriated roommates after the house party

Sunday

• Watching A drink beer and a gin and tonic in the middle of the afternoon
• Reading a terrible Nicholas Sparks book I randomly picked up and not working on homework or projects or problem sets or studying
• Rolling around in my newly washed sheets
• Researching summer plans and getting hyped about life in general

Not ready to return back to reality.

Now that I’ve been back home for a day, I’ve found that I really miss

• being around my parents and sisters (this. so much)
• being able to be unabashedly myself, without having to worry about other people’s perceptions/opinions of me (not that I’m not myself when I’m at school, but I always feel slightly cautious and guarded. It’s hard to be as comfortable as you can be with people you’ve known your whole life.)
• snuggling and cuddling with M and E (addendum: hugs and endless amounts of affection whenever I want)
• junk food and other delicious snacks
• the ability to walk around barefoot and clean, beautiful floors
• blankets and the number of abundant places to get cozy/be lazy/sleep
• a working, reliable TV that I don’t have to share with other people
• all the magazines I have random subscriptions to (hello, nearly 500-page Elle March issue!)
• organic chocolate soy milk that tastes eerily similar to chocolate-flavored Vitasoy (one of my favorite soy milk flavors)
• driving around town and going on errands with M, while chatting about anything and everything along the way
• showering without flip-flops
• being able to shower in the dark without worrying that I’m going to trip over something and die, or step on something gross
• going out to eat and not having to obsess over the prices of everything on the menu
• random fun outings with the family
• sleeping on E’s shoulder
• clowning around with make-up
• the cute decorations M puts up for holidays (right now, it’s a mix of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day, with paper dragons, oranges in every room, red hearts along the top of the entryway, and Valentine’s Day balloons! It’s really too adorable for words.)
• being able to mooch off of my parents’ sweaters
• not having to walk up stairs to get anywhere

I’m actually beginning to quite love these weekends at home and vacations from Berkeley and the craziness that is school. I wish I could bask in these last couple of days for a tad longer.