I believe in...

I believe in..

- Late night conversations about life and the way society is. The ones that completely open up your mind and you're spilling thoughts like a busted faucet while everyone else is doing the same. Gaining understanding and perspective; becoming the kind of person that this world needs in order to be set straight.

- Keeping a moleskine journal with me at all times for when the inspiration hits, or when there's something I don't want to forget.

- The importance of hard work, especially that of farmers. They are truly some of the most under-appreciated people out there. Fourteen hour work days when things are going well, accompanied by the kind of wages that make you wonder; "Are you joking?"

- Taking long walks when I need to clear my head. Usually my Border Collie tags along.

- The Golden Rule. If you want to be treated well, treat others well. I don't think you should ever treat anyone with less kindness or respect than you expect to receive.

- Documenting your life through photos. You can never have too many pictures or too many memory cards :). I believe this allows you to preserve moments, freeze them if you will.

- HUGS. Such a day brightener, don't you think?

- Doing things just for you, whether it be taking a day off from school to give yourself a break, indulging in a bowl of icecream so-good-you-refuse-to-check-the-nutritional-facts-because-you-would-rather-continue-feeling-good-about-yourself. Or even just driving, going somewhere that you want to go, keeping your own agenda and going at your own pace.

- Love, and that it's inexplicable. I think that's why so many people have a hard time dealing with it, because there are no solid answers. You can't prove if someone's in love or not; you can't measure who loves who more. It's something you have to put everything out on the line for, and trust it'll turn out okay. I think love exists on many levels, including friendship, and can change at any time. There isn't an on or off switch, you learn and grow with someone and it progresses from there. Sometimes people realize they're better off as friends, sometimes they live happily ever after, and sometimes they find their own nook somewhere in between, and it works for them. People try to systemize it, force it, and it fails. I believe it's one of those things that you have to allow to take its own course.

- The power of a good read to change your outlook on life.

- Doing little things to be kinder to the environment. Turn the lights off when you leave the room, recycle your bottles, buy products that have been recycled, or are environmentally friendly. I'm also trying to eat more naturally; whole grains and natural foods. I'm not giving other things up entirely, but I believe that if you atleast increase the things you do that are good for the world and good for your body, it will without a doubt make a difference; atleast in your own life.

- Balance within everything. I'm the kind of person who does everything in moderation, or atleast tries to. I like having the freedom to verge off in different directions, depending on the time and the day. I don't like to put myself fully into anything, there are too many other things going on to be a part of and experience. I think this is why I have the curse of being the "over-involved student".

- The beauty of wandering and not having to know exactly where you are. I wish I could have been on the road with Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady. That would have been a riot ;).

- Resolving disagreements as quickly as possible. If something is wrong, I want it righted ASAP because you never truly know how much time you have. Sure, you could have eighty more years to talk to this person, but what if you don't? You've wasted time, and that's a shame.


- Creativity and artwork whether it be in the form of a painting, a sculpture, music, or a beautiful garment. Self expression is a wonderful thing, especially when it comes with a message.

- Science and evolution, but also in respecting the beliefs of those who think differently.

- Music and it's wonderous ability to lift your spirits and trap you in thought.

- Acting like a child when winter time rolls around, I believe in having fun.

- Writing letters by hand, and that they are more meaningful than a facebook comment could ever come close to. I believe I need to make more time to do this, and buy plenty of stationary when I depart for college.

The lovely Allison inspired me to write this post :). There are many other things I believe, but this should give you a taste, hahah.

Just living the life.
Attempting to keep my word in my last post, I've been trying to give myself more time to relax and have fun. Last week was pretty tightly packed, but I managed to have an enjoyable Friday as pictured above :). I hung out with those guys, who are basically like brothers/bro'has to me, hahah. We had a little kareoke session where we took turns singing. I was a little nervous at first because I don't consider myself to be vocally talented, hahaha, but it ended up being really fun. Saturday I ran errands and didn't do as much as I should have. It was one of those "Let's waste all of my time on Facebook" kind of days, hahah. That evening I went out with the guys to celebrate Derek's birthday :D. We had dinner at a chinese buffet and I stuffed myself full.

Sunday I finally went back to work-- I've had the longest stretch of time off! It was nice, but I didn't really need to extra time :P, especially since I'm trying to fly out to Iowa with my mom at the end of the month. After work I attended a garage show that my friends who are in a punk band were hosting. It was quite a bit of fun :), the bands I made it in time to see were pretty good, energetic. It was so loud in there though, my eardrums felt busted afterwards but that's okay. I needed a night out to enjoy myself. Then today I gave myself the day off from school, hahaha. Terrible, I know. But I didn't finish my assignments over the weekend, I was already exhausted, and my best friend Amanda already stated she was staying home to work on her art. Adding all of that together was more than enough to convince me to sleep in :). I actually did get a decent amount of work accomplished too. Lately I'm realizing that I've piled too much on my plate, and now I need to toss some scraps beneath the table. I cannot handle my regular classwork/homework, Yearbook, 2 hours twice a week of play rehearsals, 3 hours of mock trial twice a week, along with random key club/NHS/student council meetings while trying to hold down a job, help out on my farm, and attempting to have friends and eat/sleep/live as well. This is what we call an overload. I think I'm going to have to drop mock trial, although I thought it was a fun idea. I think I'm stuck with theater.. so I'll have to just pace myself through that. I don't know how else to cut things back, I think that's as much as I can do for now. It's tough stuff, this growing up business.

Have a wonderful week! I'll be catching up soon :).