Happiness has no expiration date

This is a lesson I’ve been learning lately and I want to share some examples. 

I only started getting invested in Pokémon a couple of years ago, so I feel I missed the height of the craze by a long shot. I play Pokémon Go while trotting around the indoor track at the wellness center. That’s another recent discovery for me: I like to run! For short periods with my headphones on with no one to compare myself to or depending on me to do anything more coordinated like passing a soccer ball. Until this winter, I had thought enjoying this was an impossible activity for me, like growing feathers or being straight. Turns out I’m allowed to reconsider things and find joy in what used to bring me only embarrassment and asthma attacks.

I didn’t grow up watching a lot of TV, so last weekend when I was under the weather, I started watching “Avatar: the Last Airbender” for the very first time. It was lovely! I’m enjoying it way more than most of the darker, more “grown-up” shows I’ve attempted lately. I often find that I get around to consuming media long after their peak (I distinctly remember being introduced to the “essential” Vines my senior year of high school) which contributes to my persistent feeling of social disconnect. Because of this, I’ve had to learn to be okay with feeling left out of some things and focus on just what I really enjoy.

However, I do have an unfortunate recurring habit. Once or twice a year I discover or rediscover a simple, dopamine-inducing online game and become consumed by it for a couple of weeks before noticing a marked deterioration in my mental health and dejectedly blocking my access to said amusement. This year as the time for this cycle came around, I also fell ill and required something (not homework, surely!) to keep my brain from turning to mush that week. Which, incidentally, ties in with another of my habits: when I want to become better friends with a recent acquaintance, I tend to try to pick up one or more of their favorite hobbies or media interests. This time, the interests in question were the poetry of Walt Whitman (I highly recommend I Sing The Body Electric) and the game of chess.

When we were small, my brother attempted to teach me chess, but this was not to be. I’m sure elements like my propensity to mourn the demise of each pawn with an elaborate ritual and a refusal to capture any pieces myself halted my progress as a player. However, this winter, confined to my chambers by illness, I turned to Chess.com. To my utter amazement, the lessons on this free site (hint hint) made it super easy to learn. I play chess now! Sure, I lose spectacularly whenever I play with my real-life long-time chess-loving friends, but I’m having a great time. Re-framing my priorities around something I’d never thought I’d be able to do has given me a delightful new pastime.

This fall I went to see NDSU’s improv club, TBD Comedy, for the first time and immediately fell in love with the troupe. I joined and in February I started performing with them. (Come see our show on Saturday!) I’ve gotten to act with other people for the first time since high school, built new performance skills in a super supportive environment and found like-minded people who have quickly become dear friends.

However, finding my place in this club has been bittersweet. I’ve been going to NDSU since fall of 2021, having transferred in my junior year, and for a long time, I struggled to feel connected anywhere. Maybe it was that I was rusty on my socializing skills—I had just spent the whole last year doing school all online.

Maybe it was a lack of confidence. It seemed that most of the groups I participated in—socially and academically—were too tightly knit to allow an outsider in, despite the kind attempts of some.

I didn’t feel that way with TBD. I found my people. I wish I’d found them sooner, but I’m grateful for the essential role they have played in my life these past few months. I’m a huge believer in the idea of people coming into your life when you need them, and these delightful people arrived at just the right time.

A couple of weeks ago, I acquired several packs of seeds to start the herb garden I dearly want to grow this summer. I’ve been here before; in all likelihood, it will be a few more weeks before I get around to putting those seeds in the dirt. In the past, I’ve let the instructions on the packet deter me from planting seeds later than optimal. This year, I’m saying, “Better late than never,” and I’ll keep hoping for some June blooms in August.