by Jen Woodlee
Spring time. It’s a time of rejuvenation. The budding and blossoming of what’s to come for our future is evident in everything around us. Spring brings forth from within and magnifies desires, compulsions, and allergies to the point of desperation.
Spring cleaning. If ever there were a time when I can say that cleaning feels good, this would be it. Spring cleaning for girls means that we get to throw away all of the frumpy winter clothes and replace them with our sexy little numbers. It’s our hope that these Nair-commercial-worthy legs will land us Mr. Right or even Mr. Right Now (See Spring fling.) For guys, this means cleaning up the beer cans and the pizza boxes from the party your buddy had at your apartment a few months back, and heck, while your at it, you might even wash your sheets. Spring cleaning means that you clean out your closet, refrigerator, storage closet, and possibly your life. Now might be the time to consider changing jobs, assuming you have the option. You might consider making a lifestyle change like dying your hair, getting a gym membership, or getting out of that relationship that would make any therapist cringe. In the immortal words of Barney, “Clean up, clean up! Everybody clean up!”
Spring fever. This is not just an old (and amazingly awesome) Elvis Presley song; it’s the excuse we give ourselves for romping around outside being the social butterflies that college dictates. Believe it or not, but this being an actual condition (i.e. heightened sex drive, energy, and mood) and most of us feel it. When I say feel, I mean you’re walking on campus and the lethargy that usually overtakes you by the time you get from the trigon to Zachry doesn’t consume you. Instead you have the energy and confidence/raging hormones to run up the stairs, get a great seat in class, and promptly ask your sexy class neighbor to a little rendezvous at your freshly cleaned house (see Spring cleaning.)
Fling. “To be thrown with haste, to rush at or be thrown into with haste.” Tack on Spring, and we have your obligatory Spring fling. Spring flings are those relationships that moved a whole lot faster than a usual fling of sorts. It’s a lot like “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days” where you meet, fall in love, and then subsequently hate each other all in a total of about 10 minutes and then you’re ready to move on with your life. Whatever, you know Matthew McConahay and Kate Hudson couldn’t have come back from that. “Spring fling” can also be applied to relationships more solid than a drunken night of Northgate crawling. I blame Spring fever for this one, but the surprising urge to buy a ring and ask your long time girlfriend to marry you. Note: This feeling may subside. Few girls will give up the chance at being the ever-coveting June bride, so think this one through just a bit longer. So, if you were paying attention, this means that Spring fever leads to Spring fling which leads to June bride. Isn’t math great?
Spring is the time that we feel the need to change, just like the landscape around us, into something more beautiful, more efficient, and more fulfilled than what we were previously. We’re constantly changing, even during the stolid winter months. Our close ties to our surrounding environments can’t help but influence us, and we’ll see the need for change stronger now than ever. Embrace the change, and roll with it. Don’t let these changes define you; instead, why don’t you define the change?