WALKING SLOWLY IN SUMMER

The summer has been extremely stressful, juggling between school and work Has put me in really 

tight spots from time to time, I work really far from where I live and the commute has been in some 

way a mini hell. I remember when I started out, it wasn’t too bad, sitting in the train for an hour every day is a surprisingly effective way to finish that book you never thought would pick up again and I enjoy all the music, podcasts and audiobooks I fill in as I await to arrive at my stop, this was and always would be fun. But something about this monotonous act, waking up early everyday, breezing through flight of stairs, walking uphill in Brooklyn and Downhill in Manhattan, hopping into buses and jumping off trains, the repetitive, isolating, feet aching tasks I perform at work, all of it gets to me and sometime ago I paused. I got off my stop and walked down the pathway under the trees, saw a bench and sat. I cried after. I haven’t seen an expert to conclude if I have a mental health problem, I’ve fought with depression from time to time and I have anxiety issues but there was something about this day that hunted my summer.

I started skipping work which promptly got me fired. I wasn’t upset. I decided that what happens will happen. I went to Pennsylvania to visit my parents and had a nice time there, , I talked to my parents about everything going on and they were pretty supportive. I saw a movie with a friend who I hadn’t seen since high-school. I’m taking things slowly, breezing thorough NYC, running beaten sometimes by the heat and other times by the rain didn’t make me happy, my job didn’t make me happy and the things I centered my life around like tv and social media momentarily filled the cracks but were still useless. I want to take things slowly and enjoy things more. Exercise In the morning, take long walks in the park, visit a different restaurant every week and enjoy the world around me.

That’s what I did and if you’re reading this you should try it. I won’t guarantee it will work but it’s still something.

Kehinde Oludotun.
koludotun@sfc.edu