Spring 2021 Intentions: It's time to prioritize you

When I think back to the first time I really thought about bettering myself, I often remember Lent season in Sunday School. Kids gave up chocolate while their parents signed up for Weight Watchers in the name of Jesus Christ.

I could never really stick to my sacrifice. Whether it was candy or picking on my siblings, I found myself stumbling and deciding to just give up all together. Very inspiring.

As I’ve grown older, the tradition of giving something up or setting goals became more common: People would especially set resolutions for the New Year, committing themselves to losing weight, reading a book per week or finally getting that job they always wanted.

Maybe it’s rooted in my inability to give up chocolate as a child, but to this day, I have never set concrete New Year's resolutions. Something about 2021 felt different. Maybe it was breaking the mundanity of 2020 for the split second of the ball drop (which was late by the way. Just me?) or simply finding more ways to improve with age, but this year I thought about how I could make it different from the rest.

For us seniors in college, we are about to enter a semester of lasts. This doesn’t have to be as sad as it sounds, necessarily. Especially with how much has shifted since last year, I see this start as an opportunity to set intentions for the month to come.

For me, goals feel constrictive and finite, while intentions feel expansive and evolving. Because this is most likely my last shot at an undergrad semester, I thought that it was the perfect time to set intentions for how I will go about the next few months.

The great thing about intentions is that they can shift with the world around us, and more importantly, they allow us to put ourselves first instead of subscribing to “goals” that we may feel pressured to reach for at this age.

With that, here are my intentions for spring 2021. I believe that they are simple in writing, but require grit in practice. For that reason, I decided that three is a good number. If you decide to write out a list of intentions for the coming season of your life, I'd love to hear them!

Spring 2021 Intentions

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I Intend to Be Consistent

I fall for many cliches, but the cliche “Consistency is key” is one that I will take to my grave (also a cliche). Looking towards the semester, one thing that I am most certainly grateful for is my friends. While we all lead chaotic lives, we, of course, share our Google calendars with each other and plan a weekly Monday dinner. Since the beginning of the fall semester, we have continued to cook (or sometimes order) a meal to enjoy while setting aside intentional time together. While some dinners may fall on a stressful day, we always leave with a bit more clarity for the week. At the end of the meal, it really doesn’t matter how the food or presentation was. What truly matters is that we were consistent with our commitment to spend uninterrupted time together. Those close to me probably know that I’m not necessarily a consistent person in all areas of life, which is why this is an intention that I believe is in reach for the coming months.

Here are some fam dinner highlights because I'm experiencing withdrawal... These pics prove the magic of consistency.

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I Intend to Soak in Bethlehem

Each year that I spent at Lehigh, the drive back to Bethlehem felt less like a departure from and more like a return to home. The pace of life is much slower in Bethlehem than it is in Pittsburgh, and I swear that the sunsets are prettier. I remember when my Grammy C visited me during my first semester at Lehigh, when I wasn’t loving it too much, and she said, “Megan, this place will always hold a special place in your heart.” I always wondered when it would feel like that. I can honestly say that she was right. I intend to spend too much money at Tulum, walk along the river no matter how cold it is, taste test all the margarita offerings at Urbano (just to be sure I know my favorite), and most importantly, appreciate the people who call Bethlehem home permanently.

Homesick In Advance for When I Have to Say Bye

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I Intend to Wear What Makes Me Feel Good

I can’t be the only one who looks back on literally any time of my life that isn’t the past three months and wonder why I wore what I wore. I try to not let it ruin memories, but sometimes I can’t get past the color combinations…. That’s slightly dramatic. But anyways. This may seem like a less important, less urgent intention. That's kind of the point, but also, let me explain. As a college-aged woman, I’ve spent a bit too much time over the years worrying about how I look. I would see things in other girls that I didn’t have or obsess over ways I could change my body that simply aren’t physically possible.

I spent 2020 soaking in a promise to myself that I would focus on myself for the entire year, and given the pandemic, that became very easy to do as I spent ample time alone. :) As I learned to focus on myself, I realized that I, like everyone else, deserve to feel good. We spend too much time trying to change ourselves, and I have found that this time isI better spent developing who we already are. For me, the best way to physically embody that is through my fashion and clothing pieces that make me feel good, without fail. So, this semester and coming year, I intend to wear clothes that make me forget I’m wearing them comfort-wise, while still piecing together unforgettable outfits.

Never apologize for a fit checkkk ;) I'm serious....

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As we all enter a new semester of school (or a fresh year of life), I encourage you to set intentions that prioritize you and the relationships that matter most to you. We have endured the unthinkable within the past year, and the least that we can give ourselves is grace as we step into a new year.