Time is overbearing yet weightless and many people fail to acknowledge its non-existence as much as they worry about its existence. Using the unavoidable to distract ourselves from the inevitable is how civilization has always functioned.

There is a common misconception that time equates to the future. However, much like the future, time does not exist.

It would be ridiculous to try and explain being present and non-existent time to a senior undergraduate in their last semester.

On the other hand, we cannot deny that time has become so frequently stressed out about that it manifests into a creature we avoid or a machine we attempt to rig.

We are not able to live our lives comfortably under time’s watchful eye.

Everyone (at any age) can relate to never having enough time in a day, but what we need to realize is that we are allotted the exact amount of time that we need.

We are so used to pushing ourselves to the brink of exhaustion in order to fit the standards of society that we do not see how much time is really present.

Instead of staying present in a situation where time will not allow it, acknowledge your priorities and know that they are part of a system that exists only to pass the time.

I recently began to realize that embracing inspiration instead of limitation is more effective. Some key actions I started to take in order to balance my relationship with time and staying present are:

1.  Set Goals: Use a journal, colorful pens, highlighters, and tiny sticky notes with doodles.

“In the diary [or journal] you find proof that in situations which today would seem unbearable, you lived, looked around and wrote down observations, that this right hand moved then as it does today” — Franz Kafka

2. Make Schedules: Buy/create a planner for every day of the week and write down a new hobby to spend time on.

“A Goal without a plan is just a wish” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

3. Set aside 10 – 30 minutes for personal hobbies. If this amount of time is not possible try watching a 5-minute motivational video. If more time can be set then extend self-care.

“No man is really happy or safe without a hobby” — William Osler

4. Keep fruit and water readily available at all times of the day.

“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become reality” — Earl Nightingale

All our lives we will be forced to submit ourselves to working and paying bills, yet still, the time we have is ours. Managing it better can help us make the most of it.

Shaylah is an aspiring coder, crafter, and Bitcoin connoisseur. She is a senior and English major with a writing concentration at Georgian Court University on a mission to save the world (or simply inspire more woman coders).

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I fail at Halloween.

How does one fail at Halloween?

It has a lot to do with my “better late than never” and “last minute” personality type. (My mother says it’s a “personality flaw” and awfully annoying. I say it’s a “quirk,” which sounds endearing.) My best work is completed under my own deadlines.

Perhaps I am just a tidsoptimist (meaning I  am late because I think I have more time than I actually do.) Whatever the case is, there’s something wrong. And here’s why:

I bought my Halloween costume months ago. I’m dressing as a “sexy shark.” “A sexy shark?!” you say?

I bought that costume early. In years past, I’ve just thrown costumes together at the last minute using costume pieces I’d purchased. Lately, I have been using stuff other people have gotten for me, mainly because I like theater and I like cows. Yes, I’ve had a lot of wonderful friends and family who have given me cow costume pieces as gifts.

If it weren’t for them, I’d be going out to Halloween events as my own creation: Inside-out Girl. It was gruesome but not in the way you might think. For this ensemble, I wear casual clothing inside-out, with my inside-out bra and panties over my shirt and pants. (So, my kind family and friends who’ve bought me cow costume things, thank you. You’ve saved me and the world from myself.)

I’ve dressed up a cow more times than I can count. In my adult life. Including last year, when I wore a onesie that my beautiful and thoughtful mother gave me. Won’t she be proud to know I’ve moved on from Conservative Cow to Sexy Shark? Hi, Mom and Dad!

As always, my costumes are thrown together last-minute. They end up in my possession and used likely only because they were gifts.

Most important: I bought my dogs’ Halloween costumes years ago. Years. They’ve only worn them to “try them on” and not for a single Halloween second. What? I can’t even imagine the lives of my poor (improbable) human children:

“Look, darling child of mine, I’ve found the witch costume you said you wanted to be!”
“But mother, I wanted to be a witch three years ago. Not only do I want to be a zombie this year, that costume won’t even fit me anymore.”

(Yes, my young spawn will speak in full sentences. Except for fragments used for tasteful emphasis. No, they will never be zombies.)

Naturally, I would follow up that conversation with dollar store fangs, use my red listick purchased in (also failed) hopes of wearing makeup every day, and a long black piece of clothing I wore in my “goth” days. (My poor spawn!)

If was talk about this Halloween, I’m still worried I’ll fail. I am sometimes quite scatter-brained. I’ll somehow lose a fin, be late to work, or worse: forget I bought my dogs Halloween costumes. Even though the dog costumes have been in the same exact closet in the same exact spot since the day I bought them and the dogs “tried them on.” I may still forget about them.

I’m also nervous for more Fall Fail because I can’t seem to coordinate fun fall festivities with friends and family. Why does pumpkin picking have to stop in October in NJ? (It’s the weather. I know.) And I know life–work, family obligations, distance, and lazy days off–takes precedence over some fun activities when planning involves multiple people working with different schedules. I also want to plan one or two seasonal and/or Halloween themed parties. I love themed parties… but I also have my doubts. Because I am Last Minute Megan, after all.

I’m trying. This season I’ve had some apple cider and pumpkin spice coffees, I attended one (not-haunted) hayride, I picked some apples (but haven’t eaten them or made a pie), and I purchased my costume already. The only question is: Will I wear it?

Megan Andreuzzi is an animal lover and a traveler from the New Jersey Shore. She earned a degree from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, USA in Liberal Studies with a dual concentration in writing and a minor in theater.

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