Credit: Screenshot of Franz Ross’ Facebook
Parents and older siblings will tell you that the years you spend in college are the best of your life. For the most part, I can’t argue with them. However, I would say that these days can sometimes become monotonous.
You wake up, go to class, go to work, get a bite on High Street, do some homework and perhaps have brief time during the weekend to enjoy Netflix and some libations. Now, I’m not complaining about this, and I realize that others live far less glamorous lives than we students do at Ohio State.
I am, however, stating that our everyday lives might not always seem unique or exciting. There are weeks and months that seem to run into each other that cannot always be distinguished. One way I’ve attempted to counteract this repetition is by titling my days.
I have always thought life was a bit like a TV show. In this show, you are the main character, and your closest friends and family are the cast. Tell me you haven’t compared yourself with Jim and your co-workers with “The Office” or yourself as Robin and your friends with “How I Met Your Mother.” I like to think that like each television episode, a day should deserve a unique title.
I say “unique” because titling a day “bio exam” or “ate too much pasta” could happen a number of times. I avoid these generic titles because television episodes, like days, should never have the same title.
I tend to title days after unusual occurrences. For example, when I was tear-gassed after Ohio State won the national title in football, my title for that day was “Tears of Joy, or, Tears of Gas: Sometimes, It’s Hard to Tell.” Other times, I’ll look back at a title and have no idea why that day was eventually called “I Like the Way You Eat That Purple Ice Cream” (May 24, 2011).
If you post the days’ titles on social media, it can become a fun thing among your friend group. On numerous occasions, my friends, family and co-workers have asked me what my title was, or if my day’s title evolved from an experience I had with them. This would be evident on Aug. 27, 2013 — which was titled “Humid: Franz and Luis Demonstrate True Hatred.”
I started titling my days in 2010, and it’s a practice that I feel has had a positive effect on my well-being. At the end of each day, I get to recollect the day’s events and process what has happened. What was an odd occurrence (meeting James Franco) versus a repeated normality (maybe I heard four different people mention the word “pineapple” in an eight-hour period). Whatever the case, no day is completely “normal” or mundane. Something out of the ordinary happened, and the great part of titling your days is that you get to rediscover and appreciate the nuances and wonders that make up the human experience. I get to see why that day is special and why it was special.
There are certainly other ways of marking time. However, one sign of giving respect or notification to something is through the process of naming. I believe that by naming or titling your days, you’re giving them an identity other than just 4/10/2015. By titling your days, you are giving them life. You are showcasing the incredible and cataloging the magic of the mundane. So, what is your story for the day, and what is the title?
