Happy Sunday!
Hello, fellow readers of mine. I hope you enjoyed the weekend like I did. The weather, for the most part, lent itself for people get out and breathe in the fresh air.
There is reason why I am a little late in posting this week. I made the 3 hour trip from Cedar Falls to Spencer, IA to spend the weekend with Courtney before the summer gets me too busy. We went to see a couple of movies; I got to finally meet her parents and her 3 entertaining dogs; Courtney showed me around her hometown of Laurens, IA, and much more! I want to thank Courtney, her mom and dad, and her dogs for letting me stay for the weekend! It was quite an entertaining and enjoyable time.
This post will contain some spoilers for the movie and this post is not a movie or book review.
One of the movies Courtney and I went to was called Me Before You. It was a film-adaptation of the book of the same name which was authored by Jojo Moyes. Now, we knew before going into the movie that will be sad and there would be many tears shed. After? This movie actually left what felt like a gaping hole in my heart and some food for thought.
The movie follows Will Traynor, a man turned into a sarcastically blunt and bitter quadriplegic after being hit by a vehicle, and 20-something, chatty woman, Louisa Clarke, with a quirky sense of style. Louisa is hired to essentially cheer him up and tries to do until she accidentally overhears the news that Will gave his parents 6 more months then he wanted to end his painful life through assisted suicide. She is momentarily set back but her sister inspires her to make his last months filled with bucket-list-like activities. Along the way, in my thoughts, the two opposites attract and fall in love. A part of me thinks she hoped that her efforts could help him change his mind about the assisted suicide. In the end, his mind couldn't be changed.
This is the food for thought. I am not well-researched on the topic of assisted suicide, but here are my thoughts and opinions on this. In the story of Will, his day-to-day life was a painful uphill battle and even the slightest hitch caused an enormous amount of problems. It comes back to the quality versus quantity/quantitative debate. What it comes down to is choice. It's the choice of the person and the quality of life they want for themselves. It's their choice. The loved ones of the person? It's not up to them to make it.
What they can do is support the said person, cherish them, love them. While the loved ones might disapprove and try to convince them to change their mind, the only person who has control over your body is YOU and (should) only be you. I'm not sure if this is something someone has said before or not, so, if it is, I apologize for my ignorance. Love isn't about control. And to love someone means not controlling or trying to control them, make decisions for them. Love is appreciation, not control.
Until next week,
Thought of the day
Happy Friday!
Glorious day! Friday is one of my favorite "f" words, right behind food and family. If you haven't treated yourself yet today, go do it now...or when you can, but definitely today. Why? You survived the week's challenges and you deserve it. We can get caught up and forget celebrate the little things.
It's been a long week, even if we had a snow day. I had three tests, and I did fairly well on all of them. I do have a little bit of breathing room until next Thursday and Friday, and then next weekend I can relax by going to visit my sister, seeing my parents, and hopefully going to see "Annie" with Courtney (an amazing human who lets me rant and vent).
My latest Odyssey article links: In Remembrance of Lost Panthers and 14 Signs You Might Be A Hopeless Romantic.
Coming back from working out, Courtney and I started talking about Valentine's Day and I know how excited she gets about that "holiday". She, bless her heart, said that it's a little sad that she doesn't have a valentine to share it with. She'll probably kill me for saying that, but what I said after should make up for it (fingers-crossed!). First thing I said, "You're not alone in that not having a valentine." But the second thing I said is what is important: "enjoy the day for yourself, or be your own valentine".
Many people, myself included, get caught up in the commercialistic aspect of the holiday and end up feeling sad or get the pity looks from your friends in relationships. It's hard not to get caught up in the mess. Our society puts so much emphasis on having a boyfriend or girlfriend or just have someone to spend the day with. And on the of chance, if you don't have someone, society has this way of "trying" to make you feel better about it. I recently realized that, single or in a relationship, you should at least be your own valentine. Instead of wallowing, spend the day doing something you love to do or with people who make you happy/ make you feel comfortable about yourself.
On Parks and Recreation, the girl characters all get together the day before (February 13th) and have brunch and give each other presents. It's Galentine's Day. A day to best with your best girl-friends. Still to this day, it's one of my absolute favorite episodes because of that fact. Not worrying about having a date or getting a significant other or feeling sad you don't have anybody to spend the day with, instead they are spending it together, whether or not you're in a relationship, and enjoying the company.
Until next week,
Thought of the day
Happy Friday!
Guess what? I have some truly fantastic news for you. Want to hear it? You, yes, you might not have won the powerball, but you did survive the work week or for college students, the first week of the semester a.k.a syllabus week!
And you know what that means? Three words (two, technically): Treat yo' self. Me? I got myself some Panda Express and plan on binging on Parks and Recreation after I get done with this post.
There are congratulations in order for a couple of couples. Recently, my best friend, Emily Boyd got engaged to her boyfriend Logan Bradley. It was absolutely precious! I better be at the wedding, so I can flirt with all the single guys and fail because I would be too chicken to approach them, but mostly I want to be able to tell you (Em and Logan) and everyone else how happy I am for you two and wish you guys the very best. And that if Logan hurts her, he'll have many people to answer to, specifically me. No pressure.
Also! My cousin, Sarah Nachtman got engaged to her boyfriend, Brian Buehler. I can't wait to hear the proposal story (I'm a sucker for those) behind it! At least I will be able to legally drink (I turn 21 this December! ...yikes?) by time the wedding happens, but in reality I can't wait to share in the day with you two. I have only met Brian a couple of times and one of those times was playing Wii bowling, and I can tell you that he's a good sport when he loses, just like the arguments he'll lose against Sarah. I'm kidding, Brian...only a little bit. He likes Panda Express, so that's a win for him.
The first week is always stressful to me. It's the professors telling you, "Hey, here's all you have to do in 16 weeks: two big projects, four exams, ten quizzes, and five three-page papers." And your reaction is to sit and stare, trying not to cry. Another thing is that you would haven't got a routine down yet, which I'm all about routines. I'm trying to just take each day as it comes, and I'll eventually find my routine.
One of the classes I'm taking this semester is Ballroom Dancing. Okay, before you start your laughing fit or give me a strange look, let me explain a few things. One, I wanted to try Yoga, because I believed it would help me with strengthen my muscles in a different way and it would also help me with my anxiety and stress levels with learning to calm myself. Two, the Yoga class closed right as I tried to register for classes. So I had to rearrange my schedule yet again, and the others options seemed too intense for me. My thoughts were that if I couldn't get into that class, why not do something that will pay for itself later; answer: ballroom dancing.
I will be honest that I didn't take the class as seriously as I usually take my classes. Yesterday, I had my first taste of actual formal dancing. And it was way more intricate and complicated and serious than I thought. We started with the dance that is most known: the Waltz. If you don't know, this dance is between someone who leads and someone who follows. Makes sense so far? Good. Stay with me; I'll make my points soon enough.
So, my professor asks who will be which role, I immediately volunteer to be the follower. In unfamiliar territory such as formal dancing, Melissa was like, "Play it safe! Yes! I can be a follower!" So I did. But the thing about following? You have to be willing to have someone lead you. My partner literarily told me those exact words, "You have to let me lead." It didn't strike me until later what that meant. I'm so used to being the leader, consciously or unconsciously, and therefore, in control, and when I am forced to let someone have control, or share it, it's so very hard for me. This is one of the three lessons, so far, and reasons why this class will be beneficial to me: letting someone lead me for a change and/or let go of some control.
Then in the middle of class, my professor threw me (and a few others in the class) for a loop when she said we couldn't look at our feet anymore. I was like, "WHAT?! But how will I know when to step and where to step??" It didn't occur to me until later what this meant. I had to just go with what my gut told me and hope that it will be right. Instead of thinking and worrying if I got the steps right, I need to just feel and let things happen as they do. It shouldn't be a surprise, knowing my anxiety and stress and OCD-tendencies, but it was hard and it will continue to be hard for me. Lesson/reason number two: forcing me to learn how to just do something by feeling instead of always thinking.
The third lesson I realized during class combines reason number one and two: a good dance partner is like someone who you are in love with and intend to marry someday. Why? You need someone will take the lead when you are scared, but you need to be willing to let that person to take control. Sometimes the roles are reversed and you need to be the leader.
It's only the first week of the class, and look what I've learned from it. Also, this will pay for itself when I go to Emily and Logan's and Sarah and Brian's weddings! Ha. Clear the dance for me to show off.
Until next week,
Thought of the day
Happy Friday!
Once again, you have made it through another week! Sadly for many college students, it's their last week of break, and classes resume on Monday. And you know what you should do, treat yourself; it's cheat day after all.
This week my life consisted of work, sleeping, and Parks & Recreation binging. While I will admit that I want another week of break, I'm ready to get back on schedule again. I can tell you right now that this will be a short post today, because I'm exhausted for some reason and hungry.
Here's the link to my latest Odyssey online article: Grades Do Not Define Who We Are.
For many big stores, the Valentine's Day flowers, chocolate, teddy bears that say "I love you", and candy was already put out shortly after Christmas or New Year's Day. My dad had the perfect reaction to this: what the frick? Anymore Valentine's Day lost the original meaning behind the day and now has become so commercialized that's it's a cliché and ridiculous holiday.
To me, this day is sort of pointless because you shouldn't tell the special someone how much you love them and appreciate them for all that they do for you, etcetera only on February 14th. It's something I believe someone should do everyday but not going all out, obviously. I do get it if you want to do something a little out of the ordinary, but it bothers me when people go all out on this day. If I see people do that, it feels like they are trying to make up for all the times they missed out on.
What I look forward to is that day after V-Day when all the chocolate and candy are all reduced prices.
A friend asked me for some relationship advice because they thought they still might have feelings for an ex-significant other, while, at the same time, starting to date and have feelings for another person. I told them, "I believe there's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. People often don't realize this for whatever reason." My friend eventually figured it out and thanked me for the advice.
"I love you." Loving someone can apply to sibling relationships, parent-child relationships, friend-to-friend relationships, romantic relationships, and etc. This is more of an emotion or feeling.
"I'm in love with you." Being in love with someone is different. You are being specific. You are telling that one person that you have fallen for them. You are in a state of being. Which is being in love with that person.
Until next week,
Thought of the day
