The Art of Spontaneity

This past Saturday, one of my friends and I were driving back to my house after having lunch at a new place in College Station. We had no plans, just a lazy Saturday in a college town with a bye week in football. As we were driving, she turned to me, and said we should go to Austin one weekend soon to visit her cousin at TU (Gig’em). I thought for a second, and then I said let’s go tonight. She looked at me in total disbelief; if anyone knows anything about me, it’s that I don’t do well with things that aren’t planned at least 48 hours in advance. But, here I was, suggesting taking off to Austin for the night at 2:30 pm on Saturday, and I was confident about it. So, we made it happen. Here’s to the beauty of being spontaneous, even when it is the last thing anyone would ever expect from you.

Being spontaneous always sounds like the fun thing to do when other people talk about it, but if you’re like me, being spontaneous means making a decision that only adds more stress to your life. The risks outweigh the benefits when you put something on your calendar that was not supposed to be there at the last second. Sometimes these things happen unexpectedly, yes, but being spontaneous means putting them there yourself. This weekend I learned that is okay. Spontaneity is the definition of breaking out of your comfort zone and exceeding any expectations you have of yourself. It is something in the moment that is incredibly scary, honestly. You make a decision that makes you vulnerable because you knowingly don’t have everything figured out. Why put yourself in that position? I’m a witness you’ll be better for it on the other side.

My weekend trip to Austin is quite small in the grand scheme of things when it comes to what being spontaneous actually entails sometimes. However, when applying it to the bigger picture of things, it is something I wanted to write about. I am a small-town girl who has spent little to no time in an actual city like Austin, and I also haven’t spent a weekend with friends at a college campus that wasn’t Aggieland. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But I told myself I was going to be okay with that. I forced myself to be okay with it, and truly just go with the flow, and not try to be in control of where the trip took me. 12/10 recommend not being in control, and just rolling with the punches sometimes. You give life some space to surprise you, and show you more about yourself and what makes you happy.

So, to recap, did I take a random trip to Austin for 24 hours when I *probably* should’ve been doing homework? Yes. Did I pay $33 for parking because we had nowhere else to park overnight besides a garage? Yes (sorry, mom). Did I almost have a minor panic attack trying to drive and park in Austin on a TU game day? You betcha. BUT, (and this is a big one), I made some new friends. I celebrated much needed time with some old ones. I gained a renewed sense of having fun. I even got to fangirl over Harry Potter with a new friend (Hufflepuff > Gryffindor). Do yourself a favor and take the risky, spontaneous route every once in a while. It can help you hit the reset button on your season of life; that’s the art of spontaneity.

Optimistic thought of the day: Take some time today to do something today that you didn’t *plan* for. Starting small is the best way to start something new.