1. If you break into a coughing fit, people will stare.
2. Breathe... slowly, or else you'll have another coughing fit.
3. Phone calls are nice sometimes.
4. Have faith things will work out.
Hey, it's Megan. Is it Wednesday? It doesn't feel like Wednesday.
Holy buckets has it been a stressful week so far. Grease opens tomorrow, and while neither Melissa nor I have been involved, Nicole is logging some serious hours. It's funny, I kind of want to find an association between level of stress, lack of time, and propensity to blog... On top of that, we all have assignments or papers due, aaaand it's registration week which means we're all stressing over our adviser meetings and deciding what classes to take.
I myself have been incredibly ill over the past three days. I think I caught the plague. Don't listen to Nicole or Melissa--I won't cough up a lung, nor do I intend to die. I just have a racking cough and some congestion, that's all. I've been chugging DayQuil as well as tea and popping cough drops as well as vitamins. Just give me another day or so and I'm sure I'll be good as new.
It seems like everything is suddenly hurling into hyper speed and coming down to the wire. I have to be up around 6 tomorrow to register for my classes and I'm entirely set on taking this one history class. The problem is it appears to be full. Sad right? Naturally, I emailed the professor and am anxiously awaiting a reply that says I've been granted an override, but I'm still stressing about the possibility that I won't get the email in time and thus not be able to take this class--a huge bummer since I've been looking forward to diving into my history major.
The trick is to remain positive and have some faith that it will all be okay in the end. This situation has loads of possible outcomes. I might get the override and be able to take an epic class, or I might have to take something else. If I don't get in, I still have an epic psychology class and philosophy class I will hopefully get into. Oh, and did I mention I'm going to try to take Social Dance? Yep, look out world! Megan's going to try to learn how to dance. Even if things are really stressful and coming down to the wire, it's going to be okay. That's what the weekends are for, relieving stress, and we're already making plans...
Take care, be well. Don't get sick like me.
-Megan
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Take a Moment
1. Caffeine is a good thing if you didn't get much sleep.
2. You can tell who is on the make-up and hair crew because they their hands are covered in make-up testing and their clothes have bobby pins clipped on.
3. Hugs make life better.
4. Come back down to earth.
I did make it through my crazy day yesterday! By the time I got back to my dorm, it was 11:45pm, my hands were covered in hairspray and make-up (because I am doing make-up, hair, and costumes for the musical), and all I could think about was writing a letter. Odd, huh? Of all the things I could think about, I thought about writing a letter to a friend.
This is what I posted as my status today: "Breathe in, breathe out. That's all I can do at this current moment of stress." So here's to breathing. Or writing a letter. Or whatever else. If you are stressed beyond belief, take a moment to yourself. Focus on something and be in the moment, weather that be your breath, writing a letter, drinking a cup of tea, reading a non-school related book, or whatever else you enjoy. Take a moment to not worry about what is to come or whatever else.
You've got time to do so too. Or at least, make some time for it. You are of no use to the world if you are frantic and flustered and generally disconnected. Take a moment to come back to the ground. You will be of so much more use to yourself and others if both of your feet are on the ground.
2. You can tell who is on the make-up and hair crew because they their hands are covered in make-up testing and their clothes have bobby pins clipped on.
3. Hugs make life better.
4. Come back down to earth.
I did make it through my crazy day yesterday! By the time I got back to my dorm, it was 11:45pm, my hands were covered in hairspray and make-up (because I am doing make-up, hair, and costumes for the musical), and all I could think about was writing a letter. Odd, huh? Of all the things I could think about, I thought about writing a letter to a friend.
This is what I posted as my status today: "Breathe in, breathe out. That's all I can do at this current moment of stress." So here's to breathing. Or writing a letter. Or whatever else. If you are stressed beyond belief, take a moment to yourself. Focus on something and be in the moment, weather that be your breath, writing a letter, drinking a cup of tea, reading a non-school related book, or whatever else you enjoy. Take a moment to not worry about what is to come or whatever else.
 |
| Megan's note to me on my white board |
Just breathe. And try to enjoy what you've got.
Peace!
-Nicole
PS A hug might help the cause too.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Busy
1. The third floor of the library is also a very good place to study at 10:30am.
2. A vacuumed floor is an amazing thing to behold.
3. Chocolate milk makes a dreary day just a bit brighter.
4. Life gets busy at times, but it is just fine.
Let me tell you my schedule for today.
8:00 Wake up, shower, get ready
9:00 Meet Megan for breakfast, have her help me memorize my lines
9:50 go to the poetry chapel with Megan
10:30 walk Megan to Spanish, then head to the library for some homework and some blogging
12:50ish eat a small lunch
1:20 take a Spanish test and hopefully get done early to squeeze in some homework before the next class. 2:40-4:00 go to theatre productions class
4:30-5:30 go to Spanish conversation group
5:30 grab a quick dinner
6:15 be in the theatre, wearing all black, and do make-up and costume changes for the musical
10:30 practice for the scene I'm in
11:45 back to dorm then do some homework and head to bed hopefully before 2
6:50am Wake up and go to class
I'm just a bit busy. This is kind of what my week looks like too. I'm on the technical crew for Grease and this week is technical week, which means it's mass semi-organized chaos. I don't think I've been this busy since this past spring and even then I had time to breathe and sleep. From the looks of it, I won't have much time for even that this week.
Being busy is oftentimes a good thing. It means you are doing something and enjoying life. But that doesn't mean that if you aren't busy your life is meaningless. I always thought I should be busy to have a purpose. But now I have found that to be not true at all. My life is so amazing right now and I'm not nearly as busy. I am spending each night laughing with friends and meeting new people. Relationships have grown deeper and as I have said before, I'm happy.
But life should be a bit busy at times. It changes the pace and teaches you a whole new set of lessons. So find a balance. Don't overload yourself, even if you think you should build up your resumé or find some place to be. Oftentimes the best things in life come when your schedule isn't packed full of things. But if your life is busy, like mine is right now, take a few deep breaths, take one step at a time, and be in the moment.
Just enjoy whatever you've got.
Peace!
-Nicole
PS I might not be posting much this week because of my schedule. I'll get Megan and Melissa to fill in for me.
2. A vacuumed floor is an amazing thing to behold.
3. Chocolate milk makes a dreary day just a bit brighter.
4. Life gets busy at times, but it is just fine.
Let me tell you my schedule for today.
8:00 Wake up, shower, get ready
9:00 Meet Megan for breakfast, have her help me memorize my lines
9:50 go to the poetry chapel with Megan
10:30 walk Megan to Spanish, then head to the library for some homework and some blogging
12:50ish eat a small lunch
1:20 take a Spanish test and hopefully get done early to squeeze in some homework before the next class. 2:40-4:00 go to theatre productions class
4:30-5:30 go to Spanish conversation group
5:30 grab a quick dinner
6:15 be in the theatre, wearing all black, and do make-up and costume changes for the musical
10:30 practice for the scene I'm in
11:45 back to dorm then do some homework and head to bed hopefully before 2
6:50am Wake up and go to class
I'm just a bit busy. This is kind of what my week looks like too. I'm on the technical crew for Grease and this week is technical week, which means it's mass semi-organized chaos. I don't think I've been this busy since this past spring and even then I had time to breathe and sleep. From the looks of it, I won't have much time for even that this week.
Being busy is oftentimes a good thing. It means you are doing something and enjoying life. But that doesn't mean that if you aren't busy your life is meaningless. I always thought I should be busy to have a purpose. But now I have found that to be not true at all. My life is so amazing right now and I'm not nearly as busy. I am spending each night laughing with friends and meeting new people. Relationships have grown deeper and as I have said before, I'm happy.
But life should be a bit busy at times. It changes the pace and teaches you a whole new set of lessons. So find a balance. Don't overload yourself, even if you think you should build up your resumé or find some place to be. Oftentimes the best things in life come when your schedule isn't packed full of things. But if your life is busy, like mine is right now, take a few deep breaths, take one step at a time, and be in the moment.
Just enjoy whatever you've got.
Peace!
-Nicole
PS I might not be posting much this week because of my schedule. I'll get Megan and Melissa to fill in for me.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Spontaneous Combustion
1. Roller derbies are amazing.
2. Sleeping-in is glorious.
3. Don't watch scary shows alone.
4. Be spontaneous.
What has my life come to? First off, last weekend I stayed up until 6:30am talking. Then this weekend I play a game of sardines (sort of like hide and go seek) at 11:30pm on my whole college campus. After that, I had a tea party in someones room then watched She's the Man. Then today, I decided that Megan, Melissa, and I should go to the FM Roller Derby. The thing is that all of these things were spur of the moment. None of it was thought through, nor would I have ever thought of doing any of it.
I never thought of myself as a spontaneous person. Sure, I was crazy, but never spontaneous. I thought everything through and I always followed the rules. I don't know if this sudden change is because I think faster or there aren't many rules to follow here, but I now definitely am the spontaneous person. Last night, when trying to find people to play sardines with us, Megan asked one of the girls on my floor and she said, "You know, I think I should stay here and get some work done. I know what you do. I read your blog." Megan promptly says to me, "We have a reputation!" I've had some weird reputations in the past; this by far is the weirdest. And probably the one I am most proud of.
I am re-learning who I am right now. Everything I do shocks me to a small degree. But somehow all that I do fits in with who I am, or at least I think I might be making room for it in my personality. Before, I couldn't even do anything that wasn't planned and nothing that was out of my 'normalcy'. I always had confidence, but I never knew how much I could have. Over the past few months, my confidence has spontaneously combusted; it's grown exponentially. A ton of stuff has helped, but I do know something has helped: spontaneity.
Life is a bit more exciting when spontaneity is involved. Sure, life is good when it has a consistent routine to it, but not much can be learned from it. So what if spontaneity is part of the routine? Make it a part of your daily life. And maybe I will never know who I am. But I figure I will never fully know who I am. Who I am is a process - not a set thing. My life is constantly changing, so why should I expect who I am to not change?
Bring a bit of spontaneity into your life. It may bring a few interesting things into your life. Heck, you might even spontaneously combust.
Peace!
-Nicole
2. Sleeping-in is glorious.
3. Don't watch scary shows alone.
4. Be spontaneous.
What has my life come to? First off, last weekend I stayed up until 6:30am talking. Then this weekend I play a game of sardines (sort of like hide and go seek) at 11:30pm on my whole college campus. After that, I had a tea party in someones room then watched She's the Man. Then today, I decided that Megan, Melissa, and I should go to the FM Roller Derby. The thing is that all of these things were spur of the moment. None of it was thought through, nor would I have ever thought of doing any of it.
I never thought of myself as a spontaneous person. Sure, I was crazy, but never spontaneous. I thought everything through and I always followed the rules. I don't know if this sudden change is because I think faster or there aren't many rules to follow here, but I now definitely am the spontaneous person. Last night, when trying to find people to play sardines with us, Megan asked one of the girls on my floor and she said, "You know, I think I should stay here and get some work done. I know what you do. I read your blog." Megan promptly says to me, "We have a reputation!" I've had some weird reputations in the past; this by far is the weirdest. And probably the one I am most proud of.
I am re-learning who I am right now. Everything I do shocks me to a small degree. But somehow all that I do fits in with who I am, or at least I think I might be making room for it in my personality. Before, I couldn't even do anything that wasn't planned and nothing that was out of my 'normalcy'. I always had confidence, but I never knew how much I could have. Over the past few months, my confidence has spontaneously combusted; it's grown exponentially. A ton of stuff has helped, but I do know something has helped: spontaneity.
Life is a bit more exciting when spontaneity is involved. Sure, life is good when it has a consistent routine to it, but not much can be learned from it. So what if spontaneity is part of the routine? Make it a part of your daily life. And maybe I will never know who I am. But I figure I will never fully know who I am. Who I am is a process - not a set thing. My life is constantly changing, so why should I expect who I am to not change?
Bring a bit of spontaneity into your life. It may bring a few interesting things into your life. Heck, you might even spontaneously combust.
Peace!
-Nicole
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Everything's Magic
1. Finding creative alarm clock solutions is enjoyable.
2. Little things can brighten moods.
3. Make eye contact.
4. Don't be sorry for things you can't control.
Megan here, It's Wednesday and I'm back. Happy Wednesday!
So, today was our long awaited Harry Potter themed dinner in our dining hall and wow did they do a great job! It was everything one could want and more, complete with Butterbeer, a sorting hat, and Professor Trelawney providing divination. To give you an idea of what it was like, I ate a dish called Dobby's ears, was sorted into Slytherin, and was told by Trelawney that I would experience many trials and tribulations, but would prevail. There was also something about a short year of happiness ahead. All in all it was a wonderful night and once again Nicole, Melissa, and I crashed in Melissa's room to unwind before hitting the books. Granted, we stayed longer than we wanted to, but it was still an important and much needed break since the stress is starting to pile up once again.
For all the Harry Potter fans out there, do you remember all the fascinating things about the books? I mean, three epic friends lived at a castle complex and learned magic! To be honest, that's kind of what college (and High School) is like if you so choose to view it that way. School is our life, and life is our school. Here on a college campus, there is no separation from your learning environment and your living environment. Every hour you spend outside of a classroom is still spent learning. Sure it's different subject matter, but it really is a learning environment. You learn about different people, learn different perspectives, learn better communication skills, and on some level, you learn more about yourself as a person, and wow am I learning a lot. It's like every time I check my now fading-to-green hair in the mirror, I see aspects of my future self--almost like looking into the Mirror of Erised.
I find it kind of funny how some of my classes make me think about things I never thought I would. Melissa and I have our psychology class together and we've been discussing happiness quite a bit as a part of our unit on emotions. We had to read an article on how monetary wealth doesn't necessarily equate to happiness because a high paying job might take away time from being with a family and things of that nature. Yet... here we are, college students trying to be successful, a term society now associates with monetary wealth. I find it funny because, like Nicole, I am also experiencing a great deal of happiness. The thing is I am a very poor, very sleep deprived college student! So why am I happy? I think it's because I am learning, not only from incredible professors, but from incredible friends and peers as well. When I leave my Utopian Philosophy class with a headache from pondering whether or not I truly have free will, or when I'm up late in a lounge coloring a Spanish project, I have little moments of not being able to explain what this experience is. How do we explain things we don't quite understand? Simple. It's magic.
So view the world as a magical place, because sometimes it really is. Heck, I might even ask the Chemistry students how Potions class is going...
That's it. Peace out. All my love!
-Megan
2. Little things can brighten moods.
3. Make eye contact.
4. Don't be sorry for things you can't control.
Megan here, It's Wednesday and I'm back. Happy Wednesday!
So, today was our long awaited Harry Potter themed dinner in our dining hall and wow did they do a great job! It was everything one could want and more, complete with Butterbeer, a sorting hat, and Professor Trelawney providing divination. To give you an idea of what it was like, I ate a dish called Dobby's ears, was sorted into Slytherin, and was told by Trelawney that I would experience many trials and tribulations, but would prevail. There was also something about a short year of happiness ahead. All in all it was a wonderful night and once again Nicole, Melissa, and I crashed in Melissa's room to unwind before hitting the books. Granted, we stayed longer than we wanted to, but it was still an important and much needed break since the stress is starting to pile up once again.
For all the Harry Potter fans out there, do you remember all the fascinating things about the books? I mean, three epic friends lived at a castle complex and learned magic! To be honest, that's kind of what college (and High School) is like if you so choose to view it that way. School is our life, and life is our school. Here on a college campus, there is no separation from your learning environment and your living environment. Every hour you spend outside of a classroom is still spent learning. Sure it's different subject matter, but it really is a learning environment. You learn about different people, learn different perspectives, learn better communication skills, and on some level, you learn more about yourself as a person, and wow am I learning a lot. It's like every time I check my now fading-to-green hair in the mirror, I see aspects of my future self--almost like looking into the Mirror of Erised.
I find it kind of funny how some of my classes make me think about things I never thought I would. Melissa and I have our psychology class together and we've been discussing happiness quite a bit as a part of our unit on emotions. We had to read an article on how monetary wealth doesn't necessarily equate to happiness because a high paying job might take away time from being with a family and things of that nature. Yet... here we are, college students trying to be successful, a term society now associates with monetary wealth. I find it funny because, like Nicole, I am also experiencing a great deal of happiness. The thing is I am a very poor, very sleep deprived college student! So why am I happy? I think it's because I am learning, not only from incredible professors, but from incredible friends and peers as well. When I leave my Utopian Philosophy class with a headache from pondering whether or not I truly have free will, or when I'm up late in a lounge coloring a Spanish project, I have little moments of not being able to explain what this experience is. How do we explain things we don't quite understand? Simple. It's magic.
So view the world as a magical place, because sometimes it really is. Heck, I might even ask the Chemistry students how Potions class is going...
That's it. Peace out. All my love!
-Megan
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
That Melancholy Feeling
1. It's so much fun to be with your sister, especially if it is the second time you've met.
2. Halloween candy is quite delicious.
3. Get your assignments done before class, just so you don't have to catch up later.
4. Life has it's ups and downs.
I have been ridiculously happy lately. It's been sort of crazy. I have so much going for me to be happy for. I can't seem to find anything to be sad about. Sure, there are things to be sad about, but it seems nothing will bring me down. And it's easy to see why: I have amazing friends, I love my college, and I am pretty emotionally stable.
I was talking with Megan last night about being happy. We had spent most of the evening with Melissa and Sally (a girl on our floor), just telling stories and laughing. I was already excited when I met up with them at around 7 because I had just spent the last few hours with my sister and my nephew. When I met with them, they were jittery and full of energy. We spent nearly 3 hours laughing. Later on, when I was talking with Megan, I said I had a headache. "Too much happiness?" she asked. I quickly responded, "Never too much happiness!" Then, Megan being the psychology major she is, she said, "In psychology we talked about how one can have too much happiness. If you're constantly happy, that's a lot of wear and tear. If you're constantly depressed, it's the same thing. If you experience a balance of highs and lows, you maintain overall balance."
That got me thinking. Sure, everyone wants to be happy and we all strive to make everyone else happy too. But I have always believed that there should be contrasts. Take love. In order to know what love is, we need to know what hate is. If we don't know what hate is, then we would never appreciate the other side of the coin - love. It seems the same is true for happiness. If we don't know what sadness feels likes, then how can we appreciate happiness?
Megan, Melissa, and I went to a play on Friday night called Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl. The basic premise of the play is about a woman named Tilly who is very, very melancholy. As the play progresses, she meets a few friends and they are all fascinated by her. Tilly often goes off on tangents about life and her friends soon fall in love with who she is. But then, because Tilly senses this love, she becomes dramatically happy. She almost becomes insane with happiness. But then Tilly's friends, who were once quite happy, become melancholy because Tilly isn't teaching them the things they craved to know. She notices her friends' unhappiness but doesn't know how to feel sadness for her friends because she has been wrapped up in her happiness.
We need both happiness and sadness to be balanced and content. For the past few days, I have been fearing my "downfall" from my happiness. I love the way I feel when I'm happy. Who doesn't? But sometimes it does get a bit tiring, being so happy all the time. And we need to feel all range of emotions to be well-rounded - it's what we all learn in 7th grade health.
So, don't fear sadness or melancholy. Often that's when we appreciate things the most. We need a balance. Be happy for a while, but also let yourself fall into sadness for a while. Always know that happiness will come your way again.
Peace!
-Nicole
2. Halloween candy is quite delicious.
3. Get your assignments done before class, just so you don't have to catch up later.
4. Life has it's ups and downs.
I have been ridiculously happy lately. It's been sort of crazy. I have so much going for me to be happy for. I can't seem to find anything to be sad about. Sure, there are things to be sad about, but it seems nothing will bring me down. And it's easy to see why: I have amazing friends, I love my college, and I am pretty emotionally stable.
I was talking with Megan last night about being happy. We had spent most of the evening with Melissa and Sally (a girl on our floor), just telling stories and laughing. I was already excited when I met up with them at around 7 because I had just spent the last few hours with my sister and my nephew. When I met with them, they were jittery and full of energy. We spent nearly 3 hours laughing. Later on, when I was talking with Megan, I said I had a headache. "Too much happiness?" she asked. I quickly responded, "Never too much happiness!" Then, Megan being the psychology major she is, she said, "In psychology we talked about how one can have too much happiness. If you're constantly happy, that's a lot of wear and tear. If you're constantly depressed, it's the same thing. If you experience a balance of highs and lows, you maintain overall balance."
That got me thinking. Sure, everyone wants to be happy and we all strive to make everyone else happy too. But I have always believed that there should be contrasts. Take love. In order to know what love is, we need to know what hate is. If we don't know what hate is, then we would never appreciate the other side of the coin - love. It seems the same is true for happiness. If we don't know what sadness feels likes, then how can we appreciate happiness?
Megan, Melissa, and I went to a play on Friday night called Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl. The basic premise of the play is about a woman named Tilly who is very, very melancholy. As the play progresses, she meets a few friends and they are all fascinated by her. Tilly often goes off on tangents about life and her friends soon fall in love with who she is. But then, because Tilly senses this love, she becomes dramatically happy. She almost becomes insane with happiness. But then Tilly's friends, who were once quite happy, become melancholy because Tilly isn't teaching them the things they craved to know. She notices her friends' unhappiness but doesn't know how to feel sadness for her friends because she has been wrapped up in her happiness.
We need both happiness and sadness to be balanced and content. For the past few days, I have been fearing my "downfall" from my happiness. I love the way I feel when I'm happy. Who doesn't? But sometimes it does get a bit tiring, being so happy all the time. And we need to feel all range of emotions to be well-rounded - it's what we all learn in 7th grade health.
So, don't fear sadness or melancholy. Often that's when we appreciate things the most. We need a balance. Be happy for a while, but also let yourself fall into sadness for a while. Always know that happiness will come your way again.
Peace!
-Nicole
Monday, October 31, 2011
Beautiful Mess
1. Halloween dances are exciting.
2. Fake blood is hard to wash off.
3. Don't stay up until 6:30am, then sleep, then wake up at 1pm. Doesn't feel too good.
4. It's a beautiful mess.
This weekend was a bit of a mess. Melissa, Megan, and I went to a play on Friday night, then ended up in my dorm watching Dracula. We got half way through the movie, then we all went to bed. Then on Saturday, I worked in the theatre for set construction. Then the three of us went to a thrift store to buy a costume for that night's festivities. Saturday night was our Halloween Bash, which included a haunted house, photo booth, and a dance.
We had a blast, but when it got done at one in the morning, the three of us didn't want to go to sleep. So, we went back to our dorms, changed out of our costumes, then headed to a 24-hour restaurant. After we got bored of the restaurant, we hopped back into my car, and since we still didn't want to head back to campus, I gave them a 3am tour of Fargo/Moorhead. We finally ended up back in our dorms at 4am.We said goodnight to Melissa then Megan walked me to my dorm, fully intending on saying goodnight. The both of us ended up sitting outside my dorm door, talking... until 6:30am. By the time I went to sleep, my RA was already up and heading to the bathroom to shower. When I woke up I felt terribly ill; I felt like a complete mess.
But I don't regret anything. I am so happy I went out to eat with some of the most amazing people I have ever met. I am glad I stayed up until 6:30, having a conversation that I needed. I was a mess the next day, but it was sure a beautiful mess. It was beautiful because it didn't feel unnatural. It felt natural for us to talk for hours on end. It felt natural for us to drive around town with no destination. It felt natural. But it was also a mess because from an outside perspective and from my logic's perspective, it was probably a poor choice to stay up so late. It was a beautiful mess.
So maybe sometimes life has to be a mess in order for beauty to show. When life is a mess, we tend to be the most vulnerable. I certainly would not have had the amazing conversation I had last night if we had had it at 4pm instead of 4am. When you are vulnerable, it is the time you change the most. It's when you become a new creation and when your beauty really shines.
Life is a mess. Don't be afraid when it is because sometimes, it's beautiful.
Peace!
-Nicole
2. Fake blood is hard to wash off.
3. Don't stay up until 6:30am, then sleep, then wake up at 1pm. Doesn't feel too good.
4. It's a beautiful mess.
This weekend was a bit of a mess. Melissa, Megan, and I went to a play on Friday night, then ended up in my dorm watching Dracula. We got half way through the movie, then we all went to bed. Then on Saturday, I worked in the theatre for set construction. Then the three of us went to a thrift store to buy a costume for that night's festivities. Saturday night was our Halloween Bash, which included a haunted house, photo booth, and a dance.
 |
| Our photo booth picture Laura (a girl on my floor), Melissa (as my victim), myself (vampire), and Megan (Trinity from the Matrix) |
But I don't regret anything. I am so happy I went out to eat with some of the most amazing people I have ever met. I am glad I stayed up until 6:30, having a conversation that I needed. I was a mess the next day, but it was sure a beautiful mess. It was beautiful because it didn't feel unnatural. It felt natural for us to talk for hours on end. It felt natural for us to drive around town with no destination. It felt natural. But it was also a mess because from an outside perspective and from my logic's perspective, it was probably a poor choice to stay up so late. It was a beautiful mess.
So maybe sometimes life has to be a mess in order for beauty to show. When life is a mess, we tend to be the most vulnerable. I certainly would not have had the amazing conversation I had last night if we had had it at 4pm instead of 4am. When you are vulnerable, it is the time you change the most. It's when you become a new creation and when your beauty really shines.
Life is a mess. Don't be afraid when it is because sometimes, it's beautiful.
Peace!
-Nicole
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Unforeseen Outcomes
1. Purple hair dye is amazing, except when it turns blue.
2. Going home is bittersweet.
3. Red hats are cute.
4. There can be unexpected outcomes.
Sorry for the long period of not posting. It was mid-semester break for us and I spent most of my time doing nothing, so not much was learned. Monday night, though, Megan came over and we dyed a section of her hair purple. The end result ended up being blue instead of purple. We then curled up and watched Let Me In, which is not fun at 2 in the morning. During the movie, Megan kept on staring at her hair. "It's blue!," she would whisper every once in a while, "This is an unexpected outcome!"
I asked her why it was an 'unexpected outcome'. She said not only did the color come out wrong, but she never thought she would ever dye her hair. She then proceeded to tell me that the past two months of us knowing each other has been an unforeseen outcome, which seems to be true.
An unexpected outcome is not necessarily bad nor is it necessarily good; it is simply unexpected. When I met Megan, I tackled her on accident. (See this post for reference.) When I did bring her down, all that was running through my head was, "Oh snap. Now this friendship is never going to work." But then, somehow, our relationship seemed to bloom and quite quickly too. For me, and probably for Megan, our relationship is an unforeseen outcome.
A few days ago, we were talking and Megan put it quite eloquently, "Imagine everyone going around and tackling people. Tackling and being tackled is an intimate experience - it would totally mess with people. It's physical contact before physical contact has been okayed. Who knows, maybe you're a revolutionary?" Now I'm not saying you should go around and start tackling people, although it would be a funny thing to see, but here's my point: life is full of unexpected outcomes. Sometimes they are terrible, but other times, they are amazing.
Instead of panicking and not knowing what to do, accept the fact that life is full of unexpected events and outcomes and keep living. Maybe we should even start to create unexpected outcomes. We often want so much control of our lives, when in reality, we have not much control at all. A lot of our lives are 'controlled' by other people's actions. Which means we have 'power' over other people's lives. So maybe we should go around and start tackling people and see what happens. I think life would be a bit more exciting if suddenly we all started to create situations where the end result is unknown. Living would become more real.
So, maybe tackling isn't such a bad thing.
Peace!
-Nicole
PS Megan is taking a hiatus for today, which is why I'm posting on Wednesday.
2. Going home is bittersweet.
3. Red hats are cute.
4. There can be unexpected outcomes.
Sorry for the long period of not posting. It was mid-semester break for us and I spent most of my time doing nothing, so not much was learned. Monday night, though, Megan came over and we dyed a section of her hair purple. The end result ended up being blue instead of purple. We then curled up and watched Let Me In, which is not fun at 2 in the morning. During the movie, Megan kept on staring at her hair. "It's blue!," she would whisper every once in a while, "This is an unexpected outcome!"
I asked her why it was an 'unexpected outcome'. She said not only did the color come out wrong, but she never thought she would ever dye her hair. She then proceeded to tell me that the past two months of us knowing each other has been an unforeseen outcome, which seems to be true.
An unexpected outcome is not necessarily bad nor is it necessarily good; it is simply unexpected. When I met Megan, I tackled her on accident. (See this post for reference.) When I did bring her down, all that was running through my head was, "Oh snap. Now this friendship is never going to work." But then, somehow, our relationship seemed to bloom and quite quickly too. For me, and probably for Megan, our relationship is an unforeseen outcome.
A few days ago, we were talking and Megan put it quite eloquently, "Imagine everyone going around and tackling people. Tackling and being tackled is an intimate experience - it would totally mess with people. It's physical contact before physical contact has been okayed. Who knows, maybe you're a revolutionary?" Now I'm not saying you should go around and start tackling people, although it would be a funny thing to see, but here's my point: life is full of unexpected outcomes. Sometimes they are terrible, but other times, they are amazing.
Instead of panicking and not knowing what to do, accept the fact that life is full of unexpected events and outcomes and keep living. Maybe we should even start to create unexpected outcomes. We often want so much control of our lives, when in reality, we have not much control at all. A lot of our lives are 'controlled' by other people's actions. Which means we have 'power' over other people's lives. So maybe we should go around and start tackling people and see what happens. I think life would be a bit more exciting if suddenly we all started to create situations where the end result is unknown. Living would become more real.
So, maybe tackling isn't such a bad thing.
Peace!
-Nicole
PS Megan is taking a hiatus for today, which is why I'm posting on Wednesday.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
What's in a Name?
1. Laughing is more fun in a library.
2. Filming scenes in one take feels very good.
3. Psychology will sometimes freak you out.
4. Just because it's sunny doesn't mean it's warm.
5. Mousepads don't work with gloves on.
2. Filming scenes in one take feels very good.
3. Psychology will sometimes freak you out.
4. Just because it's sunny doesn't mean it's warm.
5. Mousepads don't work with gloves on.
Hey, Megan here. Happy Wednesday!
Let’s dive right in shall we? Names are a really important part of a person’s self. I mean you typically think about yourself when you hear your own name right? Throughout history people have attempted to break down and alter someone’s identity and self-concept by changing or simply taking away their name. The slave trade, the Native Americans, and more recently, the story of David Pelzer, are all good examples where names were either changed or stripped in order to break or better control a person.
Being in a place where no one calls you by your nickname is weird. It’s like people suddenly refer to me as Megan, and I’m obligated to respond because here they’re actually talking to me instead of the Megan behind me. No one refers to me by the name I had for approximately 6 years—I still use it to refer to myself sometimes out of habit or nostalgia, but still…it’s weird!
I started to hate that name after a while. It felt like a giant, exaggerated, misrepresentation of me that could only really exist in some work of fiction. Yes, I know it was merely a nickname, but there were some people who didn’t even know what my real first name was. Over time, my nickname became associated with everything I hated about not only middle school, but high school as well. It represented everything I hated about myself. I finally started to just accept it when I realized it wouldn’t go away.
So now that I’m Megan here at college, I feel like I have my identity back. My internal self feels more similar to what people see—the psychologist Carl Rogers calls this congruence. Well, I am now more congruent, and happier because of it. I don’t regret that nickname so much, and sometimes I miss hearing it being screamed down a hallway, but I am Megan. Hear me roar!
My point is that you ultimately own and command your identity. Don’t let anyone else put you in a situation where you feel uncomfortable or disconnected between who you know you are and who others perceive you to be. Even more so, don’t play along. Be congruent—it’s a good thing.
Can anyone else relate?
Since one of my rings today says “Love life, Be brave.” I leave you with that. Love life and be brave. You got this.
-Megan
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Note: Verbing
So today in my written communication class, we were talking about the invention of ideas. In groups, we were supposed to take a recent fad and do a spiderweb chart/graph to analyze it. My group had a fairly large list of idea we could expand. One of items: Verbing.
"What's that?," you ask. Well, let me tell you. Verbing (v): the action of adding -ing to a noun to create a verb. ex: Googling, YouTubing, Facebooking, etc.
We have been doing this for as long as we can remember. I heard the other day that the word "friend" is not longer just a noun. It has been added as a verb. I wanted to see if this was true so I opened my dictionary on my computer and sure enough, there it is. friend (v): add (someone) to a list of contacts associated with a social networking website: I am friended by 29 people who I have not friended back.
My group was trying to figure out why this is true. We first thought that is a marketing tool for companies, like Google. They were able to make 'to Google' an actual phrase. Then we thought it could possibly be used for news reports. Since a news report needs to be short and sweet, it might just be easier to shorten it up. But then we said it could be that we are possibly just lazy. Instead of saying, "I am going to go search for that on the internet using Google," we say instead, "Google it."
Is it laziness or is it ingenuity? It's just food for thought. Comment and let me know!
Peace!
-Nicole
"What's that?," you ask. Well, let me tell you. Verbing (v): the action of adding -ing to a noun to create a verb. ex: Googling, YouTubing, Facebooking, etc.
We have been doing this for as long as we can remember. I heard the other day that the word "friend" is not longer just a noun. It has been added as a verb. I wanted to see if this was true so I opened my dictionary on my computer and sure enough, there it is. friend (v): add (someone) to a list of contacts associated with a social networking website: I am friended by 29 people who I have not friended back.
My group was trying to figure out why this is true. We first thought that is a marketing tool for companies, like Google. They were able to make 'to Google' an actual phrase. Then we thought it could possibly be used for news reports. Since a news report needs to be short and sweet, it might just be easier to shorten it up. But then we said it could be that we are possibly just lazy. Instead of saying, "I am going to go search for that on the internet using Google," we say instead, "Google it."
Is it laziness or is it ingenuity? It's just food for thought. Comment and let me know!
Peace!
-Nicole
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