The Gryffindor Paw Print
(Editorials)
Can Vacation be a State of Mind?
Author: Sky Alton, Gryffindor
Sometimes you just need to get away from it all. I know from personal experience that the occasions when I’ve thought ‘man, I need a holiday’ vastly outweigh the occasions where I’ve actually managed to get one. For various reasons, it’s just not practical to run off to a beach or a snowy lodge every time I find myself in need of some serious TLC. There are ways to compromise, of course: I might be able to manage a brief get away or a weekend with friends. Sometimes a few days at home without the pressures of work is enough to help me get my equilibrium back. But there are times where none of these are practical either.
That doesn’t mean I have to carry on grinding myself into the ground though. I just need to adjust my definition of vacation. If I set aside a day or even just an evening for myself where I can be completely indulgent, it can help a great deal. Just the act of setting aside time for me to do the things I love is a powerful thing.
For me, a Mini Vacation is giving myself permission not to work. It also involves not doing anything for HOL or any of my other volunteering roles. Though this can make me feel guilty, once I’ve committed to it, it feels luxurious. I have to be firm and not allow myself to displace the feelings of responsibility and urgency I would
be channeling with work onto something else. If I can break down the barriers so that it stops feeling selfish in a bad way and starts feeling selfish in a good way, then I have won half the battle.
But what makes something like this a vacation and not just a ‘day off’? I plan to have my favourite meals or drinks and maybe treat myself to a new Kindle book. If there’s something I’ve been wanting to watch on Netflix, then I watch it. All the little pleasures that I usually eek out or ‘save up’, I blow on this day or evening. There is a lot to be said for ‘making things last’ but nothing can beat the pure enjoyment of doing something you’ve been wanting to. I’ll find other things to look forward to so why not just have fun now?
Your mini vacation might look totally different to mine. Yours might involve doing a sport you love or even going to try out something or somewhere new. I’ve found that the key for me is to give myself permission to do the things I haven’t had the time or energy for. Embrace the guilty pleasures for a few hours. While it might not
miraculously make you feel less tired or less stressed, it could help. It’ll certainly be fun. There is a lot to be said for getting used to the idea of looking after yourself so that it no longer becomes something you have to give yourself permission to do. Until that happens though, maybe try and find your own mini vacation.
The True Meaning of Bravery
Author: Iverian Gnash, Gryffindor
The term ‘bravery’ is often associated with Gryffindors. But what exactly is bravery? Most people associate Gryffindors and bravery with more dare-devilish traits, not being afraid of putting themselves in physical danger. However, while this could be one definition of it, bravery can come in many different forms. Bravery is all about not being afraid of doing something, whether that’s physically endangering yourself, or whether it’s more mental. Being brave mentally is all about trying new things and taking on challenges you tend to be frightened of, but believing in yourself enough to try it out anyway. Everybody is brave in their own way, whether or not it’s apparent at first. A prime example of this is Neville Longbottom. At the beginning of the Harry Potter series, he was thought of as more of a coward, but as the books go on, we realize that he is incredibly brave, just in his own way. He stood up to his friends, Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort himself by the end of the series.
Bravery is not being without fear, but rather standing up to fear and facing it head on when it presents itself. Nobody is entirely without a fear in the world, and nobody is brave in every circumstance, but people can be as courageous as they allow themselves to be. Courage comes when you believe in yourself. If you don’t trust yourself in a situation, chances are your courageous side is not going to show.
Bravery is all sorts of things. It’s saying no to something when it’d be so much easier to say yes. It’s disagreeing with something that everyone is agreeing with. It’s speaking out when you know something isn’t quite right. There are limitless forms of bravery.
Bravery is not just being a daredevil, in fact, sometimes it’s quite the opposite. Brave people are able to say no when told to put themselves in a dangerous situation for no reason other than to show off. Brave people will say yes when asked to put themselves in a dangerous situation that will ultimately result in the benefit of others. There is a difference between being a daredevil and actually being brave.
Bravery is also chasing your dreams and not backing down when troubles present themselves. So many times in life you will run into obstacles that you will have to overcome if you plan on going any further. Courageous people will see this as a challenge and will accept that challenge. They will overcome obstacles and take them head-on.
Acts of bravery are all around us, we just have to open our eyes up to them and recognize them as such. The more we believe in ourselves, the braver we become. Bravery: Believing in yourself and not allowing fear to stop you.
Sunshine’s Significant Effects
Author: Iverian Gnash, Gryffindor
When I spotted the topic for this month’s edition, I immediately remembered how beautiful the weather has been recently. Normally, where I live, it becomes incredibly hot around March/April and doesn’t cool off until about December (so very few months that it is cool). However, the other day, the weather was surprisingly cool, not a cloud in the sky and nice and sunny. As I went about my day-to-day activities, I noticed how much energy I had. It seemed like the beautifully cool and sunny weather had an impact on my productivity and general personality.
I poked around a bit to see if there was any real correlation between people’s moods and the weather. Apparently, this has been a topic of interest multiple times. One study outright stated that “The majority of people think they feel happier on days with a lot of sunshine as compared to dark and rainy days.” Now, I know that this is true, or at least seems to be from personal experience. A friend’s family moved down south because they ‘felt depressed every winter when the sky looked all gloomy.’ I haven’t been up north for the winter too much, but last Christmas I went on a ski trip in Pennsylvania. The first few days I found exciting mostly because I hadn’t experienced snow and freezing weather that often. However, as the days went on, I got tired of never seeing the sun out. I found myself more and more staying inside and not getting out. It was too cold and mostly, there was no sunlight. Sunshine does have an impact on people.
Now, taking this from a different angle, let’s talk about books. How many times has a story used “a dark and stormy night” to indicate that a bad event was about to take place (even if they don’t use those exact words…)? Literature does it all the time. Right as a scene is about to occur that has a negative impact on a character, it begins to rain and/or the sky becomes dark. Now, on the flip side, authors will utilize sunshine to set the scene for perfect events. Why is that? Well, for so long, darkness has given the illusion of evil while everything good is blanketed in light. For instance, look at the Harry Potter series. The side of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eater’s are referred to as the “dark side” while the Order of the Phoenix and all the ‘good guys’ are referred to as the “light side”. Picture a scene of a movie where a character is out by themselves walking. If this scene was in the middle of the day at say noon and the sun was out shining making everything bright and sunny, you would probably assume that something good was about to happen. Picture the same scene, but this time, it’s raining and the person is out at say… ten o’clock. Now you’re nervous. The weather does seem to be used to hint to people that something good/bad is about to take place.
Straying away from both of these topics, let’s focus on... what gets us up in the morning. Personally, I struggle with waking up if it’s too dark outside. When I can hear the rain and I can’t sense any light at all coming in the window, all hope may as well be lost for a good wake-up hour. However, when the sun is streaming in the window and hitting me on the face, I end up getting up pretty quickly. When I’m in class early in the morning and it’s relatively dark/raining outside, I find myself dozing off. On the flip side, when it’s bright and sunny, I’m incredibly alert. One group who analyzed people’s alertness during times when the sun was out versus times that it was not found that, “Sleepiness decreased and alertness increased during 1:00 p.m. and 20:00 (8:00) p.m.” Not surprisingly, those hours are the normal times when there’s the most sunshine to when the sun is beginning to set (of course this depends on where you are in the world). The weather does seem to have an effect on how alert we are.
Sunshine definitely has an impact on people. Their personalities change depending on weather conditions. Authors and movie directors know this and so they utilize the weather to hint at good/bad events. People tend to be more alert when the sun is shining than when it is not. Sunshine plays an important role in people’s day to day lives.
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Bringing Sunshine
Author: Maxim Trevelyan
While literal sunshine is all well, a lot of people are still feeling down due to the general stress of life. Here are some of the ways that you can bring small rays of sunshine into their everyday lives.
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Compliment. Find opportunities to give people compliments. Either be it for their clothes, hair or just their work, it costs nothing, takes no time, and could make someone’s entire day.
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Volunteer. This will maybe take a lot of your time, but volunteer are so important to the workings of most of the organizations, especially non-profit ones. See if there is an animal shelter near you (animals need sunshine in their life as well!), a homeless shelter, children’s center, a club or anyone that you feel might need your help. Even if there is no information whether they are taking on volunteers, you can always write them and ask.
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Flowers. Who does not like flowers? They are a quick-sure way to make someone’s day. If you cannot afford a nice bouquet, cannot pick your own or just simply do not have the time to get one, just a small daisy from the field, or even a drawn flower can be very beautiful. Not a few days ago, I got a bouquet from my spouse. It only had a single rose, but the rest of the bouquet was filled with blueberry bushes. So not only did I get a rose, but I had an opportunity to munch on the delicious forest fruits.
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Acts of Random Kindness (ARK). Either doing them for a stranger or someone you know, small, unexpected ARKs are the best way to make someone’s day. Help a person if you see someone struggling with a door or other task, offer the cashier at your convenience store a small and a good day, help an older person with groceries, pay coffee for the next person in line. These are all things that may be small, but can do a lot of good.
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Notes. I would like to finish off with this point. I always make sure that I write small notes to people that I am fond of. I write something small like I love you to my spouse and slip the note into the jacket pocket. Tell my best friend that I am happy to have met her and slip it into her purse. It does not take you a lot of time and it makes the people you love happy.