Open The Blinds

Hello sunshine, it's been a while.

In my apartment we don't really open the shades. The blinds stay down. Sometimes that's a good idea, like when my roommate and I tried to exercise in the living room but didn't want it to be a public show, or when it gets dark outside and we're winding down to go to bed. But during the day, no matter the weather, they stay closed. I didn't really think much about it until I noticed that it bothered me. The blinds were always closed.  Because I didn't want to disturb the peace of the apartment (I wasn't sure if my apartment mates liked having them down), and to be honest some days I was too lazy, I just kept the blinds closed. I didn't do anything about it. Instead, every time I would walk inside, I would notice the blinds and feel it bother me. They blinds stayed closed.

Closed off to seeing outside, closed off to others, closed off from the sun. No one could accidentally get a peak inside, and I wouldn't ever observe people walking by. I felt separated, like I was missing things. It's not like I have a great view or anything; it's just another set of brick apartment buildings. But for some reason, not being able to look and see outside felt very isolating. And here I was, not really doing anything about it.

Until one day I almost missed it. The day started off gray and cold. More of the same. But I was determined to not let the weather affect my mood. I got up fairly early and even worked out. But by 1pm I was hitting my Saturday afternoon slump. So instead of doing hw I took a nap. When I woke up I thought, Well, I guess this will just be another grayish Saturday, doing hw on my laptop. At some point I decided to peak outside. I don't know why, especially because I thought I already knew what the weather was going to be like anyway. I had checked online and it had said cloudy all day. But I peaked through the blinds anyway.

And there it was. Sunshine! The light was warm and yellow and looked so much more inviting than that morning's blue-gray light. The sun was out, and I had almost missed it! Something small like that had made my day. In that moment, it was not another dreary Saturday like the one before it. It was not a Saturday that acted more like a winter one rather than a spring one. This Saturday was the day the sunshine peaked through the clouds. The day the sunshine came.

And because of that, I want to try and be a better fan of the sun. Especially in March, when it seems like the sun has a hard time showing who's boss against the clouds. I want to open the blinds more often, enjoy the outside when I can, especially when the weather is having a tug-of-war battle with being decent and reverting back to winter. I think that opening the blinds is an act of a good supporting fan, cheering on the sun and warmer weather.

Hello sunshine, it's been a while.