It is not news to anyone reading this: working in a library is hard. Doing any kind of public-facing customer service work is always hard, and right now a lot of things are coming together to make it more complicated.

We can’t fix that for you. Sorry.

But this semester, we are going to provide small weekly stress-management/happiness builder ideas. They aren’t going to make all your issues magically solve themselves. But, everyone can use a reminder to take a step back and breathe.

I am the first to admit: I’m a pretty boring person. I don’t do exciting things, I don’t go exciting places. But when you find things that make you happy, you should go with them – even if they aren’t too exciting sounding to other people!

And, one thing I like to do is to pick up litter. I watched Sesame Street at an impressionable age, and the Willie Wimple: Litter video really hit me. And the writer humorist David Sedaris has been talking for a while about how he picks up litter while he walks outrageous numbers of steps each day. It’s almost like Pokemon Go, or other video games: you get a little dopamine hit every time you grab some trash!

How does this relate to happiness? Well, it’s good to be outside and moving around. Getting your heart rate up and blood flowing around helps you to get oxygen moving and produces some happy chemicals. That’s not news.

But. Have you heard of plogging??? It’s sort of a combination of the words plodding and jogging – which is just about my speed. (I’m slow!) And in addition, you stop, squat down, and grab litter. You might want to bring a bag with you. So you get some good cardio, good blood flow, along with some muscle-building squats. And, on top of that, you get that bing of dopamine for scoring a piece of trash!

You can find a more detailed guide to plogging here, but this is the gist.

And what is our takeaway here? Obviously: get outside! Move around! This helps defeat anxiety and build happiness on its own. Adding in a couple more features can make it a little more fun for you.

And? Don’t be afraid to try some happiness-building activities that may seem a little strange when you describe them to others! Join me in some plogging fun!