I’ve struggled with the balance of scheduling enough fun for myself and making sure I don’t get over-scheduled and overwhelmed. It’s a hard balance to find and I know that it will be something that I have to probably work on for my entire life. I usually have a run of going way too much and need to take time to be home alone for a while. Then after I’ve been avoiding plans I feel like my life is too boring and need to go out and do things. I go back and forth all the time and wish it was easy to find the perfect middle ground.
One way that I know I can find a middle ground and balance is to have really simple and easy plans with friends. When I see my friends it doesn’t always have to be an elaborate event or something that requires a lot of planning. Just going and getting a quick dinner or something with a friend can do so much good for my mental health.
This week, I had one of those simple but fun plans with a friend. Mondays are my day off of work and I don’t always plan something fun. Sometimes it ends up being my day to catch up on things I need to do to be ready for my week. But a friend and I decided that we should go to a movie when she was done with work, so I had plenty of time to do what I needed to do and go to a movie. We really didn’t end up making the plans until about an hour before the movie started, but it was so easy to figure out when we could go and just do it.
I rarely pay to see movies because of the screenings I have access to, but I hadn’t gotten a screening invite to see “Captain Marvel” and I really wanted to see it. I was more than willing to pay to see it, plus I like to support with my money when I can and I want to support female led films. My friend has the AMC annual pass for movies, so we went to the AMC theater that was closest to us. I let her organize the tickets since I don’t know how the movie pass things work. So I just paid her cash for my ticket after she ordered it.
The tickets were more expensive than I thought, but I figured it was because I rarely pay for tickets and I probably forgot how much it was to go to a movie. We got some popcorn (another treat since the screenings I go to don’t allow you to have food) and went to the theater.
Turns out, the reason the tickets were expensive was because we were in the fancy theater at that AMC. The seats were larger than normal and had a few different reclining options. And there were fewer seats than a normal theater so there was extra leg room in each row. It felt much more like a nice screening room than a regular movie theater. Yes, we could have gone to a cheaper movie if we had realized we were going to a time in one of the nicer theaters, but it didn’t matter too much. Since I don’t go to movies at AMC often, it’s nice to do something special when I do.
Before the movie started, my friend and I both kept saying how this felt so luxurious. It wasn’t a huge splurge, but it really felt like it. We were already excited to see the movie, but getting to see it in a nice reclined chair with large armrests was going to make it that much better!
And “Captain Marvel” didn’t disappoint! I loved the movie and the message that it had. It was a very empowering movie and I’m so glad that we had another female superhero movie out there. It’s not that common to see that and I think they need to make more of them. And not only was the message good, I think it was one of the best soundtracks for a superhero film I’ve seen! The music was from when I was in middle school, so I knew all of the songs. I’m not a big music person, so for me to know the songs is pretty rare.
My friend and I didn’t do anything after the movie. We talked about maybe getting dinner, but we ended up not doing it. But that didn’t matter. Just going out to a movie felt so out of my normal routine and special and it was exactly the type of casual friend hang out that I need to do more of. It required almost no planning or organizing, but it was just as fun as some of the more elaborate things I organize. Plus, I got to see an amazing movie that I’ve been wanting to see!
You Might Also Like
Having A Season Of Musicals (or Finally Enjoying Something I Haven’t Done Since I Moved To LA)
Remembering To Have Some Fun (or Hangouts Don’t Always Have To Be Events)
Gospel According To First Squad (or Enjoying A Play Reading)
A Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie)
Enjoying More Food and Wine Festival (or Enjoying A Hot Day At Disneyland)
Cheating With Pie (or Trying To Splurge The Right Way)
