Advertisement

My advertisement is for twirl a perfume by Kate spade new York.
There is a picture of multiple couples dancing on a dance floor and the couple in the middle is highlighted and it shows them smiling and looks like they are having a good time. There is also a picture of the perfume bottle and it's name. I found it in an old copy of Elle magazine. I think it targets teenage girls. Every girl wants to find a guy to take her to the prom and I think that is what this advertisement is entailing. The purpose of te advertisement is to sell the perfume.

Effective layout

The article talks how the different elements needs to make an layout effective. Balance, proportion, unity, clarity and simplicity, and emphasis. It is applied to many advertisements these days. If the advertisement is lacking in one area, it can easily be made up for in another. As long as the advertisement is unified, easy to look at and read and it also emphasizes the main point then it's layout to somewhat effective.

Democracy of Goods.

The analytical tool being used here is to express how using everyday, ordinary products can make you feel like you are top of the rank or make you feel like you belong in a place that seems out of reach. Most products still use this kind of advertisement. All advertisers want to make their products more appealing. I haven't picked out my ad yet but I think reading this will help me choose.

Ad on TV

For me, the beauty advertisements get me. I find myself going out to buy the new hottest things. The ads that work for me are ads like Dove commercials. It shows average sized girls and not tall skinny models. I want to buy more of Dove stuff because of this. When I see ads with tall skinny girls it doesn't make me want to buy the product because not a single product out there can make you taller or skinnier. One of the Dove's ad shows humor between a couple friends and what soaps they use. I love all of Doves advertising. I don't dislike anything about them. I have brought many Dove products since their new commercials have came on.

Small Dog Breeds Make the Best Pets

My thesis is that small breeds of dogs, tend to make better pets than large breeds and better than other animals for various reasons. Some of my main points include: most small dogs are low shedders, trained easily, great lap dogs and even good secrurity. I've included why they are better than bigger breed dogs, cats, snakes, farm animals, and other animals. I think explaining why smaller dogs are better than these other pets work good for my essay. I wanted to do other animals than just dogs.

Works Cited.

I'm working on finding more.

Small Dogs - Small Dog Breeds - Toy Dog Breeds - Toy Dogs. JustDogBreeds.com. Web. 17 Oct.    

           2011. <http://www.allsmalldogbreeds.com/>.

"Small Dog Syndrome - Small Dogs vs. Medium and Large Dogs." Dog Breed Info Center®, DBI. 1998.

Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/smalltoydogs.htm>.

Style.

I don't really enjoy writing essays a lot, I am more of an creative writer. I like having a set top to write about so essay writing really doesn't come natuaral to me. One reminder said write in a way that comes naturally. While revising my essay, I am going to try to focus on writing my essay on what I feel comfortable with.

One reminder  was do not inject opinion, but I feel like for my persuasive essay I need to add a little of my opinion to argue about my topic.

"Letter from Birmingham"

Dr. King is addressing a form of government, who has not been too fond of his Civil Rights movement. His tone almost seemed angry and it was very stern. I think his argument is well-balanced and very effective.  I liked how his letter started out addressing that he normally doesn't respond to complaints and negativity. To me, I felt like Dr. King knew he needed to address this and went for it. Dr. King is a very influential speaker, so probably a lot of his letter I could use for good examples.

Logical Fallacies

Bandwagon appeals: It doesn't matter if I steal, everyone else is doing it.
Oversimplification: No one would drive and text if the penalty was jail time.
Rationalization: I would have been there on time if the traffic wasn't so bad.

Topic

Small breed dogs make the best pets/dogs.
Haven't decided which approach I am going to do yet.

My opinion..

When I transferred to Washburn I had to fight for some of my credits from Cameron University to actual transfer. I lost the fight on my Comp. 2 class, but I won on my biology credits. I had to bring the syllabi to the dean of science and explain why I thought it should transfer. I had to make a case and present it to the professors. Many professors could care less about students opinions but it helped to speak mine when I knew I learned just as much as I would have here at Washburn. I am now fighting for other credits to transfer, so hopefully my opinion will help me out a little.

Muddiest Point

 This assignment is pretty straight forward. I didn't think any of the guidelines were unclear. I think the hardest part for me will be picking a topic.  The assignment provided good examples, but I can't seem to decide on what topic I should go with. I think enough time has been given for me to figure it out though. 
However, I think the assignment would be a little easier if we had certain boundaries to follow while choosing our topic.
   I have no questions at this point. Hopefullly my topic will come to me soon.

-Notaro-

Notaro's essay grabbed my attention in the first sentence, I did not expect it to do that. From the start, the essay is right to the point.
 The charecters depicted seemed real. I know they sounded like my parents who did anything for their familes.
The sentence variety was easy to read and easy to follow. It was also easy to relate to, which I really enjoyed.
The essay was intensed, yet had a soft side. I think the conclusion added the last bit it needed to make a good story.

-White-

• I love fishing, so yes the introduction caught my attention. 

• White remembers specific moments when he had been there before.

• I like how he described the smell of lumbar and how he described how beautiful the lake was. I pictured the lake he was at.

• There wasn't really any dialoge. Just memories.

• Readers will connect to White if they have expeinced fishing, camping and doing all the other lake activities he talks about. I connected to his essay because I grew up going to the lake every weekend and i remember the smell of wood and animals I saw hiking or the fishes I caught.

• Yes, he includes a lot of memories that were very important to him.

-Sedaris-

·         Honestly, after reading the introduction I probably wouldn’t have kept reading it if it wasn’t for class.I thought the humor was a little unspecific and not related. I didn’t really know where he was attended school either.

·    He focused a lot about just his class in Paris. He didn’t write much about what happened outside of class. I think that emphasizes how much he didn’t know the language.

·     The only thing I could really visualize was that his teacher was tan. I did feel like I could hear her mocking and abusing her students though. He described some of his classmates. I feel like there wasn’t enough detail to picture who they were and what they looked like.

·    The writer quoted a lot of speech which made each character a little more important.

·    I got the feeling that because the abuse of the teacher, he wanted to prove her wrong and had an ever stronger desire to learn better and greater.  Towards the end, he starts to understand everything his teacher is saying and can follow closely.

·     I think the conclusion does reinforce the main point of the story.

Sentence Variety

Sam got in her car, drove to the mall to go to the shoe store, where she bought a pair of boots and a shoe shine kit. Afterwards, she went to the food court and bought a burrito that had onions and peppers on it. As Sam was eating the burrito, she saw a cute boy at the pretzel stand. The boy looked at Sam, and she blushed. Sam said hi when the boy walked over to her, but the boy wrinkled up his nose. Sam was confused, so she said hi again. The boy gagged and walked away, leaving Sam shocked. Sam ran to the bathroom crying and then she realized she had bad breath. In the bathroom, Sam shined her new boots and put them on. She then walked out of the bathroom full of confidence. Sam found the boy and told him that he needed manners. She then kicked him with her new boots. As the boy fell to the ground, Sam walked away and out of the mall. 

Mechanics

When it comes to the principles of writing I believe choosing a design and holding onto it is what I need to work on. This is because when I pick what to talk about and create my outline, my mind starts to wander about other things I could also write about.  I always have to read my essay over and over again to make sure I stuck to the main point I was trying to get across. I think my strongest point would be omitting useless words. I try to look my sentence over and if a word or two can be taken out, I delete it.

Summary Revision Checklist

In my essay I wanted to talk about Zinssers four pressures in his essay. They are economic, parental, peer, and self-induced. I started out by mentioning the name of the essay followed by the authors name, then go on to discuss the main points of the essay. I think that it clearly sets the tone on what I wanted to introduce in the first paragraph. I tried to make a separate paragraph for each pressure and then got into certain things mentioned in the essay. I am a very opinionated person, but I did leave out my own opinions and just stuck to summarizing the essay.

"College Pressures"

So far in college I have been through almost every single pressure imaginable. Economically, I am always worried about money. Out-of-state tuition is making my debt higher and higher every semester. It is absolutely ridiculous. Since, I can not find a job I worry about my savings slowly dwindling away. Parental pressure can sometimes be the worst. I always worry about letting my parents down. I know that they are always proud of me, but I struggle with the fact of making a good enough GPA or not being able to make it home for a special family occasion. Then comes my stupid self-induced pressure which drives me insane. I am so worried about my plan that I forget to take a step back and realize that change is inevitable. I forget the fact that nothing is certain except for uncertainty.

"University Days"

For me, College Algebra is still the class that has been the hardest. I am stupid when it comes to anything math. I don't get it, never have! I had to take Intermediate Algebra before I could take it and I barely made a C in that class. I passed College Algebra with a C as well.

I took College Algebra over the summer and I never learned how to pronounce my professors name and I never cared to learn. She barely spoke english and it annoyed me. I had the class twice a week from 5:30 to 9:30. That was a little too much for me. I might have skipped class a few times, oops.

I am so glad to be done with that class! For now, I am not going to do any other math classes until I focus myself because I can not afford to make any more C's!

"On Keeping a Notebook"

I agree with Didion's conclusion of keeping a notebook as a way of "keeping in touch".I think people keep a notebook to keep themselves sane. I do not think that keeping a notebook, blog, etc.. is a way of being narcissistic.
I think many people have a hard time expresssing their emotions and posting online or in a diary is a good way of expressin themselves. Every litttle girl growing up has some sort of diary, but back then all we wrote about was who we were crushing on or chased me around the playground. These days, I do have a blog and enjoy writing in it. I don't really write about myself. I use it more to post my writing about life, love and everything in between.
Social Media is the new "notebook" I think. Many people have became famous just from social media. But, I also think site like Facebook is a way of keeping in touch with old friend more than it to to express yourself. I have a facebook, but I never post anything about my feelings or talk about myself unless I post a status that says what I am doing at the time.

A little about me..

My name is Amy Dawn Taber. I was born and raised in Oklahoma City. My birthday is in April and I share my special day with my wonderful twin sister, Jennifer. We are the middle of four, older sister and younger brother. I am two minutes and forty-five seconds older than Jennifer. My mother and father will be married for thirty years on September 11th. Hopefully, I will be as lucky as them one day.

I am a Sooner fan all the way. Just because I live in Kansas now will not make me a KU or KSU fan. Boomer Sooner. I still am not a big fan of the state of Kansas. I absolutely hate snow. I'm used to ice, I have barely ever seen as much snow as I did last year. I came to Washburn on a whim. I rolled a die, it landed on five and that is what number I assigned Washburn to. When I am done here, I will eventually go on to Physical Therapy school. Yes, I have a loooong time to go.

I cheer for Washburn. I am the oldest on the team. (We have a very new and young squad) I cheered last year too, and I cheer at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma the year before. It's a way of life. I've also played soccer my whole life.

I can't think of anything else. :)

Bye, bye personal life.

I'm using this blog for a class now. This whole semester I will only be posting for this class. I'm too lazy to make another one. I'll be back in December to bitch and bitch about my wonderful life. :)

I'm moving back to Topeka on Friday.

Moving - It can be a time of great apprehension, or it can be a time of excitement. One may be tempted to feel querulous, and another may feel ecstatic; it all depends on YOU and the situation. The positive sides of moving and the negative balance each other out to create an equilibrium between the two. :)

I have an equal balance of positive and negative. I just hope the negative doesn't come and bite me in the ass now.

I'll give it my all next time around..

Humans are social creatures, instinctively meant to be paired, right?  It is our nature to couple, mate, and coexist.  Our bodies produce hormones to attract potential partners and to bond once said partner has been attracted.  With nature working so hard to ensure that your existence is not a lonely one, why on earth are you still single?

Fear is an emotion triggered by distress.  It often operates in the unconscious mind, preventing you from knowing how hard it’s really working to steer you away from potential danger.  You’re attractive, easy to like, and you have a good strong set of teeth; yet you still have no plus one.

The dating world can be a frightening place.  Maybe you’re afraid of being rejected, being hurt, or that it will end badly. Perhaps you are afraid that your partner will tire of you, discover that you have flaws, or leave you for no reason at all.  These are all valid fears, but being afraid can also equal being alone.

Love does not come with a heart back guarantee.  There is no warranty that can be used to replace a lost love.  Loving someone means being vulnerable, it means exposing your tender parts, with hope that you will be handled with care.  Opening your heart is like giving someone a free pass to experience the whole of you, naked and unguarded.

You weren’t born with the tools to combat rejection; you acquired these tools from past experience.  Here’s the good news, not every experience will be a bad one.  The vast majority of people have good hearts and good intentions.  Like you, everyone innately wants to feel desired, loved, and adored.

It’s time for you to give your guard a vacation and take a chance.  Give yourself permission to be open.  You don’t have to be an open book, but be open to the possibilities.  Introduce yourself and the world to the person who has been hiding behind the iron mask.  This world has so much to offer and so many interesting people to share in the experience.

In order to truly live a full life, there has to be a level of vulnerability.  You may not be able to see into the future, but an open heart will act as a GPS to guide you in the right direction.  It's okay to be vulnerable and just give your heart to someone else.

Saying NO..

I wrote this a while ago and a recent occurrence made me want to share it. :)


Saying NO.

Yes. When someone asks you to do something, they want you to say yes.  It’s not to say that they didn’t entertain the idea that you might say no; but the optimal answer is yes.  Yes means you agree.  Yes means that you confirm the idea or question of the asker. Yes is easy, sometimes it rolls off your tongue before you've had time to really think about it. Yes can spread like a disease and fester out of control, if you let it.  Yes implies commitment.

No is something altogether different.  No means that you disagree.  It means that you will not comply.  No is definitive and straightforward.  Contrary to popular belief, it is not impolite to say no.  In fact, since no does not give any false hope, it might be even more polite than yes. The problem with saying no is we live in a society that perpetuates the notion that we should all get what we want.

Although children typically learn to say no, even before they learn to say yes, they understand the meaning of the word yes before the word no. In growing older, you find that saying no becomes more difficult and accepting no for an answer even more difficult than that.

Somewhere along the way it becomes uncouth to say no.  People become shocked and bewildered when they hear the word. There is an immediate feeling of disappointment.  The entire energy of a conversation can shift the moment you utter this simple word…no. How did this two letter, one syllable word, become so very powerful?

The only real art to saying no is staying true to your authentic self.  That little voice inside of you that knows exactly what you want and what you don’t.  The voice of reason that lets you know what’s acceptable and what isn’t.  Your authentic self will never allow you to bite off more than you can chew.  It will never try to pull the wool over your eyes or try and shield you from the truth (even when it hurts).  Silencing the voice of your authentic self, is the first sign of trouble.  This silence will prevent you from setting boundaries, for yourself and others. You will forget who you are and when you should say “no.”

Your authentic self may not have fans, at first. But when you choose to live in truth, goodness is sure to follow.  If someone asks you to do something and you’re unsure of how you should respond; ask yourself “will this decision cause me to be angry or resentful later?” If your answer is yes, then the answer should be no.  Simple and painless. You may feel uncomfortable saying no, at first, but it will be refreshing. 

What if...?

Sometimes we drive just to think and other times we can’t sleep because the thoughts keep us up. It seems that we all do it at some time or another. It is the act of thinking about the past. Whether it is just asking what if I was somebody else or me thinking about certain “what ifs”. Is it simply thinking, remorse or is it all regret?

It is strange to think that often times, the thoughts we have of regret, are the ones that lead us to do something positive. There are people out there that think they are experts, or may be experts on this subject.  These folks would say the thought of wishing, or wondering, of what could have been is negative. After all, shouldn't we live for the moment or at least strive for a better future?  Imagine how successful we would be of only we strove for success, did our best each day and kept pushing forward. But, how can success of any kind, even short term, have any value? I mean, even the most successful people are successful because they don't want to feel the same way they did when they experienced a mistake. These people may be prime examples for being positive.  What led them to this was probably something negative. It was the result that seems positive. I for one can say that when I am unhappy is when I am either worrying about the things that may go wrong in a situation that hasn't happened yet. But, what makes me really unhappy is when I think maybe life could have been better. I will ponder the question, we all do, the one that at the time is leading to nowhere. But will eventually lead us to do something different, or for some, the same act, and eventually the same thought. Basically it is a cycle of cause and effect. I know this based on my own experience, and observations of others. I continually want to do better because I will compare myself to the most successful people my age. What separates us is fairly simple. Those that dwell on these kind of “what ifs” in life, and make no action from this thought and there are those that move forward after questioning a “what if”. It is up to you. Take from the past and don’t think “what if” for too long.

Cookie Bouquet!

My momma loves me and apparently my roommates. These should last us a day or 3. :) So ready for next tuesday to be here.

Yay.

I like knowing that I am not the only one who reads my post. I have had a lot of page views recently. :) So thanks! I've had a bad day so I do not feel like writing much. I hope everybody has had a better day than me. Maybe it'll turn around here pretty soon.

Another year older..

Another shared birthday, another year older, and somehow turning twenty inspired me today in ways that I have not been inspired in a long time. Just when you give up on thinking that things won’t get any better, they most likely will. It will take for by surprise, but good things do happen to everyone.  But the truth is, things change in an instant: one wrong word, one bad grade, a 45 second phone call, one harsh comment, one tender kiss, one silly mistake, and nothing remains the same.  The how and why is beyond me. Changes  are the greatest mysteries of life.

In one day, you shift a number and all of sudden you are not the same anymore. Turning twenty means I am not in the category I was the day before. I am still an adolescent, but out of the teen years and I still feel like the kid I was years okay. Just a little taller, wider, and smarter.  I am not quite sure that feeling will ever truly change.

Life. It’s all a game of numbers: how old, how many times, how long, how often, how much and that’s just how life works. You get your numbers right and everything aligns perfectly but if you miss one digit then it is probably complete chaos.

Sighh. Here’s to another number that will change soon enough. Happy Birthday to me. oh, and HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE :)

My roomates surprised me with a decorated room. I love them.



"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions..."

The quote in the title is by Mark Twain, and I really like it. I don’t have many friends because I stopped being friends with those who belittled me or maybe it is because I am hard to get along with. It has help me become the person I am.  You might think they are your friends, when in fact they are not at all. You might think they are trying to help you out honestly, but they're really not. People lie, it's a fact of life, but you have to find people who will make you a better person not only emotionally but challenge you to be the best you can be all the time. Those people who make me a better person are my best friends who have been in my life forever and I do not see that changing anytime soon. They push me to be and do my best. I hate not being able to see them since I moved away. Those people are also roommates dragging me out whenever I am feeling down. My roommates give me motivation to do stuff like finishing a assignment. I'm lucky enough to have friends like that this semester. But I also think I have grown as a person and have been working to motivate myself.  I just imagine all the things I want to do and have later in life and I know that education is my key to getting there.

I also have been thinking a lot about lately not only deleting negative people out of my life, but also getting rid of other things that God wouldn't want in my life. God wants us to have a pure, wholesome, and amazing life. We just have to trust in him, because when we doubt God we are basically telling him in our own way that we think that we are bigger then the creator of all the earth and universe and can do it ourselves. When in fact, we are just like a dot on the map, or as I like to think of it when you are taking off in an airplane and everything is so tiny and the people look like ants, that's how small we are in perspective to the whole universe. But the amazing thing is God knows each and every one of us, and made us in his image. That just blows my mind thinking about it. Yes, purging your life is hard but with God by your side and carrying you, anything is possible.

I have a lot of big dreams and yes there will be hard times, when I feel like giving up, but I am never going to give up. I'm a fighter and a believer. People will try to bring you down and hurt you, that is inevitable, but it's all about how you deal with it.

Anyways I am off to take my last test for the week and then I am going home for Easter and my birthday weekend. :)

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain

4/19/1995.

My heart still feels for those lost in Oklahoma City bombing. I can't believe it was that long ago and that I was so young. I don't remember it of course because I was only almost 4, but I do know that my mom and older sister felt it driving to class. My mom lost her best friend in the bombing. No one knows why things like that happens, but it is important to remember to just  be there for somebody, anybody on anniversary's of days like today. Praying for all the families another year later. God bless.

If you haven't been to Oklahoma City and haven't seen the memorial I reccommend it. It it devastaing, yes but it is something to see. You get to walk on the site, see some of the trees still standing. I know it is just Oklahoma, but it will touch your heart. I took my roommates for the first time over winter break and they all about teared up. They had never even heard of the bombing. So if you are passing through OKC, look into it.

I watched this video today, and I thought'd I share it with people who may not know about the bombing.

Hope..

It is important to have hope in everything you do in life. Without hope, the human spirit cannot thrive. It's the same as not having water to drink or food to eat. Eventually, that person will become too tired and stops. Human beings need hope. It can be the driving force to keep going against all odds, or a desire for an expected outcome. Hope is one of those things we cannot see with our eyes, but without it - we won't get anywhere and probably won’t last very long. I would say the human spirit's worst enemy is hopelessness. Hope plays an active role in human survival. When I watch shows and movies like "I Shouldn't Be Alive", where a person tells about their experience of being trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation, I am amazed at how they refuse to give up hope. They know that if they do, they will succumb to their own death. So they continue to do whatever they have to, to keep themselves alive as long as they are able to. I pray that I never find myself in that situation, but if it was to happen I would like to think that I would have enough hope to get myself alive. Once the light of hope goes out, there is nothing left but to wait for death. So hope is one of the most important entities of the human spirit.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Most of the time things don't go my way, and it's hard to remember that everything happens for a reason. As much as I hate that stupid saying.. it is so true. As hard as times might be, it will all work out. He has a plan for all of us and he is leaving it up to us to follow him and then everything will be okay. :)

I wish I could be selfish..

I need a freaking break! I have a really bad habit of just sitting and thinking of all the things I have to do and getting really stressed out and really pissed off and  frustrated. Well I did that today and just got caught up in everything and over thinking everything. I also have people blowing up my phone about their personal problems which really doesn't help me either. But then I thought to myself, don't make other people's problems your own. So I managed to be the nice person I am and text some of them back. This may sound selfish, but I wish sometimes I could put myself first and not be there for people all the darn time. I always put others first.  I care for others more than myself.. I really want to text these people and tell them I’m too stressed out to listen, but I won’t because that is not the kind of person I am!

All I have to say about all of this is I just need some peace and serenity, so God if you're listening I could really use some peace right now for my body and mind. Please just give me the strength to keep going this week and get all my work done for school and stay organized and don’t let me forget I get to spend the weekend at home with my family. I just need some help right now dealing with all of this. Tomorrow is a new day and I really hope it is better than today has been. Tomorrow is a week from my birthday so it should be okay. J

I hope everybody has a great night!!

I need a camera..

I took these on my moms camera.. I will buy me a nice one someday soon. I might not be good at taking pictures, but it has its way of calming me. I sure when I go home for the summer i'll have more pictures to post.

Sign of weakness.

I often think, I am going through something right now. Then I stop and realize that I am always going through something.  It’s just that it feels unique and different every time, and I hold onto this false idea that there is some kind of normal life where I don’t feel like I’m riding the waves of the ocean–where it isn’t one thing after another.  But that isn’t life, I know.  And thank God, because how fing boring would that be?

What I’m saying is that I’m going through something right now.  And it’s hard to explain, because when I express my optimism, it seems like im faking or hiding my emotions which is usually what I do and when I express the sadness, It just makes me pissed off at everything.  It seems like I am a bitch when truthfully I feel like crying, but it just never happens. I experience happiness, sadness, anger together in a way that seems paradoxical.  But, it’s that truth is often found close to where things seem uncomfortable and contradictory.

I do not show my feelings and that hasn’t always made life easy for me.  I’m not sensitive. I hide my sadness. I regret not being able to fully let go and let other people realize the person I am. I know that by trying to protect myself, I missed out on what could have been amazing experiences.  But I am largely at peace about it, because I think I needed that time.  And having taken it, I am becoming this person I’m really happy to be.  Just the other night, I thought, I wish I’d realized years ago how awesome I am and that it is okay to show sadness. I have always thought that being sad was a sign of weakness. To this day, I haven't cried over much and there are only like 2 people besides my family who have ever seen me cry.

I don't really know what I was trying to accomplish by this post, i just felt like writing. I feel like this is a new level of self-assuredness.  This kind of knowing I will be okay, knowing I won’t be swept away if I show my feelings.  More than that: genuinely liking the person I am in a way that I haven’t before.  Maybe this belongs in a separate post, but I think it has everything to do with why the risk of being swept away doesn’t scare me like it used to.  The fear was always of losing myself and the things I’d constructed myself out of, but I realize now that those things can’t be taken away from me and that I shouldn't associate weakness with my feelings.

The sadness is real and it is not made right by optimism or anything else, but I wish I could have experienced it more before I went off to college. I feel on a level even deeper than before and it is scary, but music sounds better here and words are more moving. Still, it is one thing after the next, and having arrived here, I find myself uncertain about what to do next.  I’m impatient. I want to be able to cry and not feel ashamed.

I want to jump off cliffs, (theoretically) but I find my life is more full of rolling hills instead.  I did jump off of one cliff and was reminded that the universe doesn’t always teach you the lesson you want to learn, because nothing happened.  And nothing is the worst.  I would have preferred to crash and burn.

I’m learning to let go, but it is not happening fast enough. I am still afraid to cry in front of people and won’t completely let someone in my life.

I guess it is all a part of growing up. Boo.

"Be a first-rate version of yourself."

Someone very smart once told me that “comparison is the thief of all joy” and that has stuck with me– it is so true! We are conditioned to look around us to see where we fit in the pecking order, and usually the act of comparing ourselves to others leads to feelings of inferiority, insecurity, anxiety, frustration, discontentment, and so on. Whenever we compare ourselves to others, we don’t usually feel better about ourselves- we feel worse! And on the rare occasion that we do feel better, the sense of confidence we gain from that is false and empty. So why do we do it?
One quote (by Max Ehrmann) that I love which speaks to this: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” We all at times are so busy worrying about how we measure up that we lose out on being ourselves, and we aren’t able to enjoy who we were made to be. Another one of my favorite quotes is by Judy Garland- who said, “Be a first-rate version of yourself, rather than a second-rate version of someone else.” I think she had it right! We are the only ones who can be the best at being us- so let’s focus on that!! We all have strengths, talents and interests that make us unique and when we aren’t able to see those for what they are, we miss out (and so do others)! The next time you find yourself playing the comparison game, stop and consider your strengths, abilities and your beauty- both inner and outer. The idea is not to become vain or self-absorbed– but it is so important that we see ourselves for who we really are, rather than viewing ourselves through a filter that is designed to categorize and classify our worth based on another.

Writings..

I have so many writings saved on my computer that I figured I would share. I started writing them in a college creative writing class and I have wrote a litte since then. I used to blog all the time, so I might start doing it again, Advice is very welcomed  :)
Enjoy.