A TABLESPOON OF MINDFULNESS | B-A-L-A-N-C-E

Say it with me. Loud and proud. 

As overachieving, hyper-competitive Cornellians, cultivating balance in our lives usually doesn’t make it to the top of our priority lists. Acing an organic chemistry prelim, for example, is usually associated with pulling a string of all-nighters rather than sleeping restfully or grabbing a great bite to eat with friends the night before. I’d like to dedicate this article to challenging the notion that balance gets in the way of professional success. On the contrary, I believe that a vibrant social life, self-care routine, and emphasis on both mental and physical health can lend itself to even better performance, and more importantly, to happiness.

ON MY MIND | I Don’t Feel Like Smiling

There’s an old chain email/Facebook adage that goes something like: “It takes 37 muscles to frown but only 22 muscles to smile. So smile. It conserves energy.”

I’ll tell you right now that I googled this saying to see if it had any scientific merit, but the first three links I tried were all inconclusive or confusing so I gave up. I give up on a lot of things, so it’s not really a big deal. Anyway, I only looked it up in the first place because I wanted to let you know that smiling is too hard and consequently I’ve decided to stop until further notice.

CULTURALLY SHOOK | We Don’t Sleep Anymore

I want to dissociate. Split myself into two bodies, break myself apart into two corporal entities. It would be a twisted ode to nuclear fission, except instead of dividing the nucleus of an atom I would just be dividing myself. Just imagine! I could exist in two places at once, think two thoughts at once, do two things at once.