Taking a gap year. It's honestly one of the best decisions I've ever made.
The thing I'm most thankful for today...
Taking a gap year. It's honestly one of the best decisions I've ever made.
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I missed yesterday because I was asleep by 8, talk about tired! So here's two days for ya!
I'm thankful for... How wonderful this weekend is turning out (more about that on Tuesday!) Sleeping in Warm blankets and soft beds Hot tea long hair Being woken up nicely by a brother who I used to wake up by opening his eye lids...for him Having books to read French fries...potatoes in general, really Imperfections What are you thankful for today? I'm thankful for...
Angels and inspiration. This is beautiful. "Happiness is not a limited resource, and when we devote our energy and time to trivial matters and choose to stress over things that ultimately are insignificant, from that point we perpetuate our own sadness and we lose sight of the things that really make us happy and therefore rationalize our way out of doing amazing things" -Christopher Aiff More terrible advice from a girl with no experience.
This is moveable.weebly.com party of one, that's how many people have visited this website in the last two days. Losing readership, whaddup. I throw "whaddup" at the end of almost anything because it always makes sense, whaddup, see? whaddup! Never under-appreciate a woman, don't even average-appreciate her. Love her more than she deserves, always. I haven't actually figured out how to do this yet, but I'm convinced I can't live with "what ifs" in my life. Like, just sitting here imagining how so many things could be different "if" something else was done differently. That just isn't healthy. The only thing I can do is give my full attention to the present, the right now. I think if I learn to do that I won't have to face "what ifs" later, but then again maybe imagining alternate scenarios is human and basically unavoidable. That remains to be seen. When it comes to how other people see and understand you and your character it's all the little things that matter. Not the big, bold, brave, glorious statements that we're all apt to make at some point or another to get attention or to feel heard, but all the small moments in between. Those are the ones I remember and the ones I think about the most, the ones I reference most often to understand the people in my life. We all want to be remembered for our great victories, in whatever shape those victories may take, but I'm beginning to see greater character in people who daily are able to keep up a forward motion without mass applause and for the benefit, only, of the things they love. I never want to become too stuck in or blinded by my ways to not listen to others and respect them. I reserve the right to change. I don't laugh as much as I use to, I hate being serious...I love laughing this needs to change. My new favorite food is spaghetti I'm thankful for... spaghetti A long drive to work mints My momma, she's the best, honestly yo momma ain't got nothin' on her. (See what I did there?) Ciao amici...or shall I say amico since there's only one of you :) Thanks for reading whoever you are! I'm thankful to be able to vote freely. It's incredible. I feel so blessed.
Greater than err'ting I've ever done. I'm thankful for leftovers. Thanks Aunt Patti.
I'm thankful to have family who drives across town and back again to get me a key when I'm locked out of the house. Thanks Aunt Patti and Rob. And I'm thankful that I have family who lives across who let me wait with them while I waited for said key. (Warning: the following post maybe totally off but I'm a first time voter so let me learn and think this out)
I'm really excited to vote tomorrow. Freedom to vote without fear is one of the many things that makes the United States unique and I'm a firm believer that every citizen should take advantage of this right. It's our responsibility. Last February I spent a week in Annapolis at the State House working as a Student Page in the State House of Representatives. Before I went I didn't know what to expect because growing up politics wasn't a big point of discussion in my house but I knew I had a passion for it after the AP U.S. History class I took my junior year. So I went and I had a great time. I was able to meet delegates from all over the State and hear from them directly, and guess what? They aren't these evil, conniving people who don't care. They're intelligent, passionate individuals who want to make the state, their hometowns, better, safer places. Yes they all have different ideas but they try to work together. That was the most important thing I saw during my week in Annapolis. Democrats, Republicans, and Third Party leaders literally lean across the aisle to work together for the people. I truly believe they work with good intent, if I didn't, for me, the entire democratic process would be futile. I didn't really start following this election until perhaps August. In Italy I got a lot of questions on my opinion on both the candidates and who I was going to vote. At the time I didn't know much about any candidate for any office and absolutely had no clue about who I was going to cast my vote for-I wasn't even a registered voter yet. What also struck me in Italy was how knowledgeable people my age were about both America's politics and their own country's. These people had real conversations about real issues. It made me feel so immature. I kept thinking "Why can't people my age in America talk about stuff like this?". The Italians I knew didn't always agree, some were far on the right of the political spectrum and some were far on the left but they could still talk about things without shunning or disowning each other. They accepted each others opinion without labeling one another. I really liked that. I spent a whole evening in the piazza discussing the differences between separation of church of state in Europe/Italy/France vs America. Two hours we talked it all out and I learned that the churches' rights really are protected here in America. When I got home I started reading articles and watched every debate. I read bias statuses on facebook and twitter and posted a few of my own. I know who I'm voting for now and I can tell you why. But what I can't tell you is why when I came back I felt an unreasonable sense of pressure to affiliate myself with a certain party, the one I didn't agree with entirely myself. I blame the two party system, I blame my generation for not being informed, I blame myself for not figuring this out earlier, I blame the stereotypes. That's what bugs me the most about this election-the stereotypes. Stuff like this: If you're a Christian you have to vote Republican If you're black you obviously support Obama If you're the middle class you're screwed If you're really rich you're a snob and greedy and paying off the Right to keep your money If you're really poor you're obviously an illegal immigrant and need to go back to where you came from Democrats hate God and life and want to destroy it (I actually read this somewhere) Republicans love God and appreciate the sanctity of life and will keep women in their place These, like any other kind of labels, hurt. I met a man from Holland over the summer who thinks the GOP's statements against women are comparable to those restrictions currently placed on women who are subjected to prejudices in the Middle East. I agree with him. We're all human, we're all created by God. We all deserve the same respect and rights from each other. Regardless of your current social class you're an American first. This country was founded by people who risked their homes, families, and fortunes to set up a rudimentary government that led to the development of the free world. I'm not sure why the rich, the poor, and the middle can't come together now and sacrifice what, in comparison to sacrifices of the past, is very little. Rockefeller, Gates, any other great American businessman weren't super-human. They were just human who had help from other humans to become what they are known as today. Don't be afraid to help out your fellow Americans. Please read this. If you're a Christian you don't have to vote Republican. You could vote for Mickey Mouse if you really wanted to, but I believe you should vote for the values a man or woman stands for, not the man or woman. That's where the party system hits rock bottom-when we start judging the man. Humans are fallible by nature, but we have a power within us to work for good. Vote for what you believe is good, not which human you think is better because then you'll be disappointed 100% of the time. I'm a registered Democrat and I plan to vote the same. I'm not afraid to tell you that because I believe everyone should be able to talk about what they believe freely. This is the free world after all. We shouldn't have to play "hush, hush" every time the word politics is thrown out in the open for fear of offending someone. A small part of me wants to offend you with the only intention that it'll make you be more informed.That's how it worked for me. I was offended and hurt by labeling and ignorance so I decided to not label or be ignorant myself. I want to listen to you, I want you to challenge me, I want you to challenge yourself. Tomorrow please think for yourself, please be informed, and please understand your vote counts. By not voting you only double the power of another person's vote. Tomorrow, please vote. ROCK THE VOTE! Ciao! So many good things have happened lately.
I watched this video. Listened to this song. Went for a run this morning Heard a great sermon today Slept in (thank you time change!) Danced Faced a few fears and conquered them I'm really happy things are going well. I wasn't sure how things were going to work out when I came home in September and was really hoping I'd be able to stay sane trying to figure it all out. But, with a lot of help and after a few tears things have been on the up and up! Today I was on facebook and one of my friend's statuses was day four of something she was thankful for. It struck me of how cool an idea this is and as I'm typing this I realize now that it seems like a good idea because I'm happy and feeling very blessed. I can tell you right now this time last year or even five months ago if someone told me I had tell them something I was thankful for I would have said no, I wouldn't have told them I didn't have anything to say about being thankful. Now while that would have been an absolute lie for me to say that, that's what I would have said. I typed it all out to say when we're down is the most important time to focus on what we have and not what we don't. I do this all the time with money or with the amount of food in the fridge. Everyday I fight back thoughts like "I don't have enough money what am I even working for?" and "There's no food. I have to eat the same things everyday". I have to force myself to switch those thoughts with "No, I don't have the most money/food but I have enough, I have what I need". I have to teach myself to be thankful to realize that in fact if I slow down and stop worrying I'll realize that I have too much. That everyday I wake up I have everything I want within my reach and then some, a lot of some. So in the spirit of my friend on facebook and for the girl five months go who thought she was completely without, this month, everyday, I'll write a post about something, or some things, that I'm thankful for that day and ask you to join in. It may be one thing a day, or five, or 10 I don't know. I do know though that I'm very thankful for so many things that it's going to be hard to not type them out in one post, so without furhter ado let's get started shall we: What I'm thankful for: Adam. Today he was so cool. He's like the singular person in the whole world who I can look at and know it's okay, or that he understands. He's always surprising me because he likes to pretend he only likes football and Assassin's Creed but he's dynamic, thoughtful, passionate, and so much smarter than I ever have given him credit for. My job. To say that I love my job would be an understatement. I love it, yes, but not as much as I adore. I look forward going to work and I'm very, infinitely, thankful for that. My body. I only get one of these lovely creations so I'm not going abuse it now. This is definitely the healthiest I've ever been, physically and mentally, and I noticed it a lot today. I feel strong and confident and comfortable in my own skin, and boy that's been a long time coming, so yea I'm overjoyed about that. What's one thing you're thankful for today? Fall > any other season
Making mistakes > never learning Books > t.v. Real books > e-books Vegan food > most anything else, unless it involves cheese, so... Pizza > vegan food Pools > hot tubs Tea > coffee Being busy > not having a thing to do Sleeping in > everything Quiet...is unattainable WWC > any other college Pandora > Youtube Car radio > the same cd I've had in my car for almost a year that I really need to change before I lose my mind Long socks > regular socks What are four of your "greater thans" lately? Yesterday at work one of my co-workers and I started talking about music. She's a big fan of a lot of the bands and artists I like so we had a lot to talk about. She told me she goes to about 10 concerts a year and was even at the Jason Mraz concert two years ago at the Bob that I was at-she was in the sixth row and I was all the way up on the side of the stadium, it's crazy how small a world it is. It turns out she's met many of the bands and artists, too.
Maroon 5 Rob Thomas (5 times!) Gavin DeGraw Train (One of her girlfriends dated the drummer!) And I think a ton others that I can't remember...at one point she might have said Jason Mraz but who knows by this point in the conversation I was dumbstruck and obviously jealous. I never really understood the appeal of celebrities until recently (but only in the terms of my own profitably-like how could their status help my status if I were to meet one? selfish and self-centered. I know.) and I've never held celebrities above the rest of us in my head until I really got into Jason Mraz. It just never made sense to me to treat them like something special, but the older I've gotten the more music means to me and the more his music means to me. So this conversation with my co-worker got me thinking, if given the chance would I want to meet Jason Mraz? My answer: an unwavering no. I do not want to meet Jason Mraz, I know the experience just wouldn't be a good one because of three possible outcomes that my brain came up. But first I need to explain how my brain processes celebrity status, especially within regards to Jason Mraz. I think of all celebrities like Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby. Sometimes I look at celebrities like Daisy looked at Gatsby and sometimes I look at them like Nick looked at Gatsby. To Daisy Gatsby was "just so cool" he was untouchable and unattainable and thus all together more desirable. To Nick, I think, Gatsby was more transparent. Nick was able to see his flaws more clearly than another character. Gatsby was more human to him but still above Nick in a way that included fame. When I give celebrities a demi-god status I treat them like Daisy. Like they just must be "so cool" and Earth shattering and made of gold and studded with diamonds. If it's anything less than demi-god though I typically try approach the idea of them with a more Nick-like outlook. For Jason Mraz, I'm somewhere in the middle. Like, he must have some flaws and annoyances-he is human afterall-but he does such a sold job of keeping his private life private that "the world and his mistress" has nothing to blame him for he's "just so cool". The problem is however I can't imagine anything wrong with him, totally like Daisy, for this reason I never want to meet him. I'd leave disappointed, like Nick, or with him elevated on a higher pedestal, like Daisy, with is just unhealthy. Plus, I'd fangirl up, down, and all around that place that I'd ruin the chance of having a sane conversation with him. And I have so many questions about so many of his songs that I'd just leave disappointed if I wasn't able to ask him or not get the answers I was looking for. Like, what if he's incredibly shallow like Gatsby and just dreams of being a gold, diamond-studded statue so he weaves these seemingly deep but pointless lyrics together for girls like me who will swoon over them and follow him all over the map without question (this is how he makes money obviously). I'm not willing to believe that or face that possible truth. I prefer to live in blissful ignorance to a human version of Jason Mraz and keep what I imagine him to be like based off his music in my head forever. I don't want to meet him, or I guess any celebrity for that matter, it would make them too human and then they wouldn't be celebrities at all...then they'd just be people-yuck. The only reason I'm jealous of my co-worker is because she can handle those interactions. She can meet a celebrity and leave with them still being a celebrity. If she and every other fan in the world acted like me Hollywood would lose it's whole platform and that trillion dollar industry would go poof. So I'll keep it going by keeping my distance from any celebrities, especially Jason Mraz. I'd tell him sorry but I'm sure he doesn't mind, he doesn't know I exist, afterall. Craziness I know. Happy Friday have a great weekend :) |
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