I hate breaks. And I don’t mean the short ones. I mean winter and summer breaks, the ones when you have a lot of time and not a lot to do.

It’s always frightening to have to sit by yourself with nothing to do; that’s when questions begin to creep in. The questions about what I’m supposed to do when my to-do list is done.

When you’re not busy enough, you’re in danger of having to think about big questions, question the significance of things, maybe have doubts, maybe grapple with the ineffable.

While having my fill of colored eggs for Jesus in Frisco, I thought about how busy we always are. We sure are busy a lot. I mean, when people ask you how you’re doing, what do you say? Most times it’s probably “busy.” That or you say, “okay,” “fine,” or “good” because you’re on your way to do something else.

Sometimes people don’t really want an answer from you, they just want to fill that space of 10 seconds when some type of human interaction should be happening. I think we all feel guilty about it sometimes, but we’ve got places to go. So we get by on good. We make it on fine.

So when was the last time you weren’t busy? Sometimes we’re too busy to face other people and sometimes we’re too busy to face ourselves. When was the last time you just sat down in a room by yourself or walked over to Goar Park just to think?

And not about homework. I mean about life. Being human is a complicated thing, so I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you needed some time to ponder it.

Or perhaps we’re too busy for other people. I have two lists (kind of like Santa Claus). One is a to-do list and the other is an oh-rapturous-joy list. I measure how I’m doing by how many activities are on the latter.

So make some time to chill with your peeps (or peers, I suppose). Give someone access into your life; go out of your way to smile or talk with someone. I mean, we’re all in this college thing together, right? We might as well make it as enjoyable a possible.

So what are you doing this summer? If you’re going to be busy with internships or work, make some time to reflect. Do something to stretch yourself. And if you’re ever “bored” (I use quotes because I don’t actually believe in the concept, but that’s for another article) then there are always people who you can help around you. It’s amazing the things you’ll see when you just make time to start looking.

Nick Elledge is a sophomore political science, economics, Spanish, and public policy quadruple major. He can be reached for comment [email protected].