What's your Space Jam?

What's Your Space Jam?
A lesson from kid president:

The world needs you to stop being boring. Boring is easy. Everyone can be boring, but you’re gooder than that.
Life is not a game, people.
And if life is a game, aren’t we all on the same team? I mean, really, right. I’m on your team. Be on my team!
“Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took the one less traveled…and it hurt man! Really bad! Rocks! Thorns! And glass!" Not cool, Robert Frost.
But what if there really are two paths? I wanna be on the one that leads to awesome.
Like that dude from Journey said- “don’t stop believing…unless your dream is stupid. Then you should get a better dream.” I think that’s how it goes.
Get a better dream and then keep going. Keep going and going and going and going.
What if Michael Jordan had quit? Well, he did quit. Actually, he retired…but before that, in high school! What if he had quit when he didn’t make the team? He woulda never made Space Jam. And I love Space Jam.
What will be your Space Jam? What will you create that will make the world awesome?
Nothing if you keep sitting there! This is your time! This is my time! This is our time. We can make everyday better for each other. If we’re all on the same team, let’s start acting like it.
We got work to do. We can cry about it, or we can dance about it.
We were made to be awesome. Create something that will make the world awesome.

Plans Shmans.

When you are younger, your perception of time and age is skewed. You think your babysitter, your student teacher, and basically anyone over the age of 15 is old. So you make plans and predictions based off of your skewed idea of time and aging, and sadly, it never quite works out how you planned. When I was younger, I never really pictured myself graduating high school. It’s not that I pictured myself flunking out or anything like that, I just never really mentally got past high school. Then as high school fast approached, I could never picture my life after college. I assumed, much like my mental block of graduating high school, that eventually with time I would be able to picture my life after college. However college came and went. I’m now a year and a half post-grad and I still can’t picture my life after college. High school has a definite end. 4 years and then you move on. College has the same definite end. But the real world? No definite next step, no definite end. And that scares the crap out of me. I think we base our predictions of our lives and our futures by what we grew up with. My parents got married when they were 20 years old, so I kind of assumed that I would finish school and move in with my husband. When you’re young and making plans you never account for the fact that you might be eternally single, or have to move back in with your parents, or move to a random city where you don’t know anybody to chase a dream that you’re not really sure about. It all becomes quite unclear and really nothing like you imagined. My big plan was to graduate, get a job that I loved, move out on my own, fall madly in love, get married, and start having children by the time I was 30. I’m currently 23 and have none of these things. Realistically, at the pace I’m going, I’m not really on track for my plan. Which I’m learning to accept. Plans change. Heck, if I stuck with my childhood plans, I would be living with my best friend Sarah and professional figure skating. Things have a way of working themselves out in due time. I get that, I really do. It’s just hard once you graduate and everyone goes on their own separate paths at their own separate pace. One of my friends is moving to New York to attend grad school at NYU. She’s getting an apartment and living in a big city and studying to get her masters. I can’t help but think how grown up that all sounds. And my other best friend just got engaged and is moving to Kentucky with her fiance. So it’s no wonder I can’t help but feel stuck or left behind. I’ve always moved at a slower pace than everyone else, so I shouldn’t be surprised. So who knows what the future might bring. Honestly, I’m excited to see where life takes me. But I can’t help but feel a little sad for the loss of my childhood plans.

To wrap it up, there’s a song I heard on a CD a friend made for me and the words really hit me while I was driving the other day. There’s a part that says: “Ever since you were a child, you had a picture in your dreams, of how you wanted things to turn out, of what you’d like your life to be. Now you’re living with an image, that you hardly recognize. You don’t have to gloss it over, like everything’s fine.” This is so freeing to me. I know that I can’t dwell on the past, but this just reminds me that it’s okay to feel sad and afraid and confused and stuck when things don’t turn out like you planned. You know what they say, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans”. Haha, God. Haha.


　

Faith in Humanity

Really bad drivers. Customer service workers who don't smile. People who run into you and then get angry. People who hate babies and/or puppies. Nickelback. Snookie. Bad things happening to good people. Disease. Poverty. The ecomony. Hunger. Human trafficking.

These are all things that make me lose faith in humanity. And now that I've thoroughly depressed you, I'll make my point.
Sometimes life gets overwhelming and the world seems so big and mean and harsh and full of terrible things. And maybe it is. But it's also full of beauty and joy and happiness and genuinely amazing humans. So let's take time to be inspired by the goodness in the world.

Here are 21 pictures to restore your faith in humanity. Enjoy!

Lessons from Dance

As you may know from my previous posts, I used to be a dancer. And growing up as a competitive dancer was not always easy. The time commitment and hard work that was put into it was often undermined by my peers. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “dance is not a sport”. And I couldn’t disagree more. Competitive dance is very much a physical sport. It requires technique, skill, memorization, precision, courage, strength and grace, all at the same time. One of the great things about this sport was the amount that I learned over the years. I truly grew and developed into who I am today because of some of the lessons learned from dance. So here are a few things I learned from dance (excluding pirouettes, fouettes, and other various combos):

1. Time management. I could not have possibly passed school and danced if I had not learned time management. In fact, to this day my mother credits my good time management skills to my time as a dancer. I had school all day and dance all night, with competitions almost every weekend, so it became crucial that I learn how to manage my time and fit homework and sleep into my schedule. Honestly, I have never been more organized and well prepared than I was when I danced.

2. Team work. Dance is a tricky sport. It’s very competitive, individually. (Actually that is mainly the mothers. I never felt very competitive against the other girls in my group, but the mothers compared us to each other all the time, making it slightly competitive). However, unless you are doing a solo, dance is a team sport. You train as a team, you learn choreography as a team, and if one member of your team is falling behind or struggling, it affects the whole group. So you learn to work with one another and play off of each others strengths. You learns that everyone has different strength and weaknesses and that is what makes you a diversely skilled group. You learn to lean on one another when necessary. And you learn that spending 6 days a week traveling, dancing, learning, and growing with one another turns you more into a family.

3. Giving it your all. Unfortunately I didn’t learn this lesson until it was too late. But in class we were always told to practice full out, facial expressions and all, so that when we got to competition we would be so used to going all out that it would just be second nature to us. However, I have always cared too much about what others thought of me, which actually served as a disservice to myself in some way. I never used facials. I never went all out for fear of looking silly or goofy or overly confident or over the top. However, when everyone else is smiling and “ooh and ahh”ing, you actually end up looking like the silly one for not making facial expressions. I was afraid to have too much fun with my dancing for fear of losing control and/or being made fun of. But looking back I realize that sometimes letting go is exactly what is needed. And sometimes giving it your all and really going for it is actually much less embarrassing then playing it safe.

4. Work ethic. You do not simply wake up one day being able to do a tricky turn sequence or one footed wings. You practice. You practice every day. You practice while you are in dance class, you practice while you are waiting in the lunch line, you practice when you’re day dreaming in class, you practice when you are brushing your teeth. You have a continuous loop of “5, 6, 7, 8” playing in your head as you mentally run your dances over and over again. (I have scuffed up every surface in my house and every grocry aisle and school hallway, marking dances over and over again). You work for the skills that you earn. Yes, some people are more naturally talented than others. But in order to memorize 5 or 6 different choreographies for a single competition, you have to practice. There is no way around it. There is something so wonderful about seeing “you get out of it what you put into it” played out in real life.

5. Sportsmanship. This was a hard one. There were so many times that Pierrette Sadler’s dancers were called for platinums as our team just sat and internally rolled our eyes. There were ever times when people from your own studio would win and you found yourself letting out a big sigh. But during the awards ceremony when you are sitting on a stage with all of the other dancers from the whole competition, and all of the judges and parents sitting in the audience watching you, you quickly learn to graciously accept whatever comes your way. You shake hands, you clap, and you cheer for other studios (while silently cursing them). Yes, of course you will probably pick apart the competition on the bus ride home, but in the moment you learn to appreciate the other dancers and handle yourself with grace.

So although some may not consider it a sport, I learned some vital life lessons through my years as a dancer, and I wouldn’t trade in those years for any other “sport”.

Here is one of my favorite dances that I ever did. I have never worked so hard at a dance in my life. We literally worked on this until it was nearly flawless. And while it was hard work, I have some amazing memories with my teammates. Plus it felt good to work so hard at something and get something so great out of it. Disclaimer: The video quality is crappy.
　

　

　

　

You think you have forever, but you don't...

Tonight I am reminded that life is short, and we are not promised tomorrow. So many times we take days, or even moments, for granted. We rush through life at such a fast pace, eager to see what’s next. However, we often forget to soak in the here and now. We focus on the big picture, forgetting that it is made up of smaller moments. I am extremely guilty of this. In fact, this morning I found myself thinking, “I can’t wait for next month, for it to be summer”. But what about today? If I had fast forwarded through my weeks, I would miss the opportunity to go to a middle school soccer game, or have a delicious dinner with friends, or a fun weekend with girlfriends. Who knows what opportunities lie around the corner? We can’t possibly know. So we must wait. And enjoy the time that we’ve been given and make the most out of the situations we’ve been dealt. I think this post by David duChemin sums it up best:

“We think we’ve got forever and that these concerns that weigh us down are so pressing. We worry about the trivial to the neglect of the most precious thing we have: moments we’ll never see again. We talk of killing time, passing time, and getting through the week, forgetting we’re wishing away the moments that comprise our lives. We say time is money when in fact the time we have is ALL we have. Money can be borrowed, time can’t. We fear taking risks, unaware that the biggest risk we run in playing it safe is in fact living as long as we hope and never doing the things we dreamed of. And then it’s too late. We watched our favorite TV shows, we fought a losing battle with our weight, we picked up the guitar once in a while and never quite finished the french language courses we wanted to do. We managed to get a large flatscreen and new cars once in a while, but the list of things we’d have done if we could really, truly could have done anything, kept growing. And we never did them. We’re all terminal. We’ve got less time that we think. Whatever your dream is, find a way to make it happen. Your kids can come with you. Your job can wait. You can find someone to feed the cat. I know, I know, there are so many reasons we can’t and some of those reasons are valid. Life is not only short, it is also sometimes profoundly hard. But I think sometimes our reasons are in fact only excuses. If that’s the case, take stock. It’s the realization that life is short and no one is going to live my life on my behalf. And one day soon – because it’ll seem that way, I know it – my candle will burn out; I want it to burn hot and bright while it’s still lit. I want it to light fires and set others ablaze. Life is short. Live it now. And live it with all your strength and passion now. Don’t keep it in reserve against a day you might not have. While the ember is still lit, fan it to flame. Be bold about it, even if your circumstances mean all you have is to love boldly and laugh boldly. Because now is all we have, and these dreams won’t chase themselves.”

　

　

　

　

　

　

Thoughts on the elderly...

Everyone belongs to someone, and everyone has a story and a past. These are just a few of the things I have learned so far in my clinical. I’ll admit that I was less than excited when finding out I was assigned to a nursing home. The elderly population has never really been my thing; I find that I have a hard time being patient and understanding with this certain population. However, after meeting and working with my patient, it’s hard not to think of her children and grandchildren, as well as her younger days. She has a ton of pictures scattered around her room and on the walls- a few of her children, many of her grandchildren, a few of her in her younger years, and, much like my grandmother, a ton of random children and pets of people she barely knows (My grandmother had a picture of her "grandmonkey" on her fridge. It was a pet of one of the employees at my Poppy's nursing home) . Browsing through all of her pictures reminded me that she belongs to someone. She is someone’s daughter, mother, grandmother, wife, sister, aunt, and friend. She has a story. You see, me and my sweet patient are not that different. I’m hoping that with all of that in mind, I will grow in patience and respect for the elderly. After all, I would certainly hope that the nursing home employees treated my precious Poppy with respect. I know he may have been hard to deal with, and towards the end I know that he wasn’t always pleasant or good company. But he was a son, a brother, a father, a husband, and an amazing grandfather. He was not always old and dependent. He had a story, a past, and he deserved to be treated with respect, patience, and honor, just like my patient.

*me and my Poppy*

Stuck in Reverse

I am the most sentimental person I know. I also have one of the most ridiculous memories out of everyone I know. These two traits combined can be very interesting. For instance, I can hear a song that I heard 10 years ago while driving down the road with my mom, and I can still tell you exactly what road and intersection we were at when I heard the song 10 years before. This leads me to say “Aww! Remember that time…” after almost every song while my friends roll their eyes and assure me that normal people don’t remember those sorts of things (Sorry to all my friends who have to hear this constantly).  I’m not the kind of person who can take a stroll down memory lane. I take more of a camping trip down memory lane, stopping for a while and observing and taking in everything before moving on. I’m not the kind of person who should watch old home videos or look at old pictures unless I am willing to be emotional and daydream about my childhood for the rest of the day. But yesterday I did just that.
It started off simple, with me and my roommate sitting on the couch looking up YouTube videos of childhood TV shows. We watched countless videos of the various Mary-Kate and Ashley shows and sang along to the songs (embarrassing? yes. no. maybe?) I then proceeded to look up videos from the Big Comfy Couch, another one of my favorite shows from when I was younger. My roommate and I then got into a discussion about our childhoods and she said that she enjoyed her childhood but she wouldn’t want to go back. This threw me for a loop, seeing as how I would give almost anything to go back to 3^rd grade again. But then I realized and remembered that most people enjoy living their lives in a forward motion, enjoying each event as it comes and then moving on. For some reason, I tend to get stuck in the past. I never enjoy a moment as much as when it’s over, and then I look back with envy, wishing I could go back. I think that is oone of my biggest flaws. I’m 22 and I have a good life; I have no major complaints. But what I would give to go back to the time of Nintendo 64, Matilda, sleepovers, happy face pancakes, fruit roll ups, and make believe. And yes, it was fun to go back and watch some old videos of childhood shows, but I really need to be learning how to live in the present and appreciate what I have while I have it and stop living my life wishing there was a rewind button. But what can I say, I’m a work in progress. And suggestions are welcomed.

*PS- I used to and still might be obsessed with the Olsen twins and played Mary-Kate and Ashley Detective Agency when I was younger. I would always be Mary-Kate. always.

Lessons of the Week

This past week has been crazy. I have had friends in town, packed, unpacked, road tripped to Maryland, and performed bridesmaids duties! Here are a few things I learned this week:
1. ‘When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long’ is a fitting quote in almost any situation.
2. Mapquest and the GPS have very different routes. Trust the GPS always.
3. You'll never know if you don't ask.
4. It’s almost never okay to wear a shirt that matches the exact color of your pants.
5. Playgrounds are fun at any age.
6. Emotions catch up to you at the strangest of times.
7. I can’t deal with fake nails. At all.
8. Sea turtles are precious. But maybe not the smartest.
9. Do not leave things til the last minute. It just causes stress.
10. My tilt table test was pretty accurate and I probably shouldn’t stand for more than 4 minutes at a time.
     10a. Bridesmaids actually do pass out at weddings. It’s not just something you see on TV. Oops.
11. Always eat and never lock your knees.
12. Roadtrips are designed to make people fat. All you do is snack.
13. I have a bladder the size of a pea.
14. Moving is exciting and stressful.
15. There are few things better than seeing your hometowns skyline after a long car trip.

Life Advice

Because I have hit a massive creativity/blogger drought, I have decided to keep this post simple with some advice from the wise Baz Luhrnmann:

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth- oh never mind, you won’t understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You’re not as fat as you imagine. Don’t worry about the future-or worry at all. Know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you. Sing. Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts and don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don’t waste your time on jealousy-sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. Remember the compliments you receive. Forget the insults; and if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements. Stretch. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life-the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. What ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own. Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. And don't forget to wear sunscreen.

xoxo

22 Days Left...

I have learned more in the past four years than I could have ever imagined. And yes, some years were better than others, but I can honestly say that each year and each set of experiences has really shaped me into the person that I am today. I have learned that I am better at change than I thought I was. I have also learned that I can be independent if I want to be, and that independence is actually very rewarding. I’ve learned that I am an extremely compassionate person and tend to take on the cares of the world, hence the Human Services major. Freshman year taught me that I can adapt. I can make friends and have fun and try new things. Sophomore year taught me that life throws you curve balls and bad things can all pile up at once and people are not a constant in your life, but God is. Junior year taught me independence. It taught me that I could be okay without a whole pack of friends surrounding me. It taught me that I am much stronger and resilient than I ever imagined. Senior year has taught me that it is okay to feel. It is okay to be excited and sad and frustrated and overwhelmed and nervous all at the same time. There is no right way to feel in any given situation. Senior year has taught me that time does not slow down, even if you want it to. You have to learn to roll with the punches or you will get left behind. But really, it doesn’t matter if you get a little behind. As long as you are still moving forward, that’s really all that matters. I have made friends that will last a lifetime and acquaintances who I have been glad to know. I’ve experienced late nights- some were spent climbing the roof of the business center or watching a meteor shower in the bed of a truck, some were spent having deep heart to heart conversations and crying, some were spent in the hospital, and some were spent laughing in the library. I have taken 24 hour road trips to both the mountains and the beach. I have filled trucks with popcorn, windows with peeps, and windshields with post-it notes. I have had an apartment fire and an apartment flood. I have been a Biology major, an Education major, and a Spanish minor, all before deciding on Human Services and Psychology. I have loved and disliked college. But with that being said, I will leave Elon in 22 days with a few regrets and a ton of precious memories.