Energy

1. Chocolate cupcakes are a great pick-me-up.
2. Smash is a great TV show, although it does have some faults.
3. Doing simple math in Spanish is quite hard.
4. Renew your energy.

Well hello there! Sorry for the long hiatus - it was spring break for us last week and this week is "hell week" for the Vagina Monologues (we open tomorrow!), so things have been busy. Life is pretty much back to normal, which is always good.

But to be frank, the weeks leading up to spring break weren't the greatest; it felt like everyone was falling apart and there was nothing I or anyone could do. Energy levels were really low and what was there was very negative. I hated to say it, but I just wanted to get away from everyone. I didn't want to leave campus because I loved the people and the culture of it all, but I couldn't stand the negative energy.

Then spring break came. I ended up spending a few days with my sister and brand-new niece (who, by the way, is my goddaughter). I was hesitant to go because I was so exhausted physically and emotionally. But it was what I needed. What I wanted was to spend a whole week alone in my house, watching movies and doing nothing. But I needed was to be somewhere with someone who loved me, but didn't care about what was going on. I needed to be swept up into a different energy. Being around a 1 week old baby and a 2 year old - one can't particularly think about themselves. It was what I needed and I am so glad I went. (I did end up spending some time alone and some time with friends from high school.)

Presley and I

Each of us influences the energy around us. The more positive people, there are more positive thoughts and ideas - positivity breeds positivity and negativity breeds negativity. Typically, when I felt like I was in a negative situation, I would leave. But because I am so connected with my friends here on campus, I couldn't do that - it would hurt more than help. I needed to 'reset' my energy, bring it back to a neutral level, one that was stable and easy.

Sometimes, we need to get away, we need to be swept up into a different energy. Sometimes we need to stop focusing on ourselves. Sometimes we need to stop trying to fix ourselves because at some point, it loses its effectiveness. And when you do come back to your world, come with an open mind and heart. Connect with friends in different ways and on deeper levels.

Sometimes, we just need to fix the fuse and flip the switch.

Peace!

-Nicole

Better Days

1. Conserve dining dollars so you can pig out on comfort food during the last two weeks
2. My laptop (now known as Dorky) does not have the battery capacity to handle both a Spanish film and a Psych lecture.
3. Appreciate little moments, like when someone starts playing a flute in DS
4. It's nice to receive two letters in one day.
5. Find things to look forward to. (I'm looking forward to the Christmas concert)

Hey, It's Megan. Happy Wednesday.

It is the first week back on campus and we've all been hurled into hyper speed with finals, projects, and papers. It's definitely rough and stressful going, but all the Christmas decorations are popping up over night and they're fun to see.

All the stress and projects and things have left us a little bit at a loss. There's no time to sit and simply exist anymore. On Friday I'm reading Life Without Principle by Thoreau, and in it he criticizes being busy all the time because it doesn't allow one time to reflect or work on reaching a deeper level of personal depth. It's true though! When we have open time to just exist, we usually spend it together and talk or do things that contribute to our own depth of existence. We take that time to learn about ourselves and one another, but we are still learning, and it is still hugely important. Now, we don't have much time to do that at all... and it's easy to lose oneself in the mess.

Unfortunately, we can't avoid the stress of everything. And it's almost certain to get worse before it gets better, so here is some of my advice for getting through all the work.
1. Eat well
2. If listening to music, listen to instrumentals to not get distracted (Search "Study music" on Youtube)
3. Take short study breaks
4. Plunge

Let me explain plunge. Plunging is when you completely throw yourself into what you're doing. Find some passion and use it to complete your current project. You have to lose track of time and stop focusing on how big of a pain it is and just dive right into it. I find that If I can get into the zone, I'm more efficient and end up with a better finished product. Think of it as swimming under water. I don't know about you, but I swim faster under water than on the surface. Less splashing and flailing, and overall chaos I think. So take the plunge (and it's perfectly okay to wear floaties.)

It may not seem like it, but better days are ahead. It may seem like the chaos and stress will never end, but it will. You just have to maintain your sanity, hunker down, and push through it. Better days will come, and it'll be okay to sit and talk for a few hours, or have a relaxing lunch, or just goof off. So find something to motivate you to get all the work done, remember your floaties so you won't drown when you take a small study break, and smile. It's going to be okay. It is definitely going to get better.

I leave you with a link to this song... 'cause I like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-kHleNYIDc&ob=av2e

And here's an acoustic guitar playlist I always find helpful for studying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQlyHbu0zz4&list=PL7C739E2E2D7E861C&feature=plpp_play_all

-Megan