Hello again esteemed friends! Welcome back to episode two of Martha’s Mindful Madness, a series where I, Martha Gazzard, attempt to soothe my weary, aching brain by placing it in the Epsom salt baths that are my friends’ favourite relaxing activities. This week, I hung out with Izzy Wilkinson, which admittedly I do every day, but this time we focused hard on chilling out.

You may know Izzy Wilkinson as a famous student DJ, or King’s resident redhead, but among her nearest and dearest she really is very humble, and willing to teach me what she does to calm down after an intense day of napping and sitting in KBar. Our attack was three pronged – to shop, to DJ, and to go for coffee. We also planned for me to go to CULC in order to argue with some men, but I felt too weak on Sunday evening and so we put that on hold. I can confirm, however, that arguing with men is a good way to relax, if only because of the wave of relief that rushes through your body when he decides to go and find someone else to scrounge baccy off.

“Our attack was three pronged - to shop, to DJ, and to go for coffee”

PART ONE: SHOPAHOLISM

Izzy and I decided to embark on one of our favourite activities to do as a couple – hitting the Grafton Centre hard, and then hitting the charity shops even harder. Fuelled by a quick Greggs pit stop, we started our meandering journey, chatting unsubstantiated shit about anyone we tangentially knew, and decided that if we weren’t doing HSPS, we could probably get a degree in Psychology by next week. However, disaster befell our afternoon when it started to drizzle, and we both soon lost steam. Time to hop into Aromi. This was also not hugely relaxing, as I spilled my orange juice, and then we both had quite intense conversations about our respective relationships (all good things boys!). We were also sitting in the corner next to the industrial fridge, and I got a faint whiff of shit anytime someone went to the loo, which was also located nearby. We decided that although we are great friends, this maybe had not been a great success, but it did make me think that perhaps mindfulness doesn’t have to be all sunshines and rainbows, and sometimes spending time with one of the people you love most in the world can do you good without you even realising it. In any case, Izzy’s bike lock then broke and I had to go home to make a meeting while she got accused of stealing someone else’s bike. 5/10.

“I laughed very hard, discovered a new talent, and gained a deeper appreciation for the thing my friend is so good at”

PART TWO: TURNTABLISM

And so we turn to Part Two of our tale where, once I had returned from my singing lesson, I had a little tinkle on the decks. I thoroughly enjoyed this – mixing Lana Del Ray with Crazy Frog, mixing Bon Iver with Crazy Frog, and mixing Ed Sheeran with Crazy Frog – I felt a blossoming career unfold before me. I did find it very tricky in the beginning to deal with the fact that the song inside my headphones was different to the song outside them, and I had to have just a teeny tiny sensory break near the beginning to gather my thoughts. Overall, though, this was lovely. I laughed very hard, I discovered a new undeniable talent, and I gained a deeper appreciation for the thing my friend is so good at. As a stress-reliever? For me, I don’t think I’ll be reaching for CDJ-2000s over listening to music the old fashioned way anytime soon, but I am glad I have the option. 7/10.

PART THREE: POETS’ CORNER

At the end of the day, Izzy and I decided to go to one of the hidden gems of Cambridge – the Caffè Nero on King’s Parade. Our friend Max referred to it as Poets’ Corner the other week and we can never look back. As with last week’s smoking, this was one of those activities that I do all the time – I think I am at PC at least 3 times a week at this point. I just love that long, meandering queue and the slightly-not-worth-it prices, but most of all I love that it is opposite my house (King’s College). Anyway, Izzy and I decided to go in our slippers, saying ‘screw you! ’ to conventional footwear norms and carving a soft path of our own. We had a special guest in the form of Joshua Shortman join us, who we promptly took the piss out of for getting an espresso rather than the more traditional iced oat latte every sophisticated girl (including Josh) should be sipping on. We laughed, we giggled, and we relaxed, in the company of friends. 10/10.

Thank you again for joining me while I talk about my week into the ether, I hope my actions have given you some insight into what might help you get through this tricky horrible awful term – if all else fails, go to a coffee shop, set up your laptop, and play the NYT minigames for four hours straight.