Technology Hates Me

The Hard Drive on my one-year-old computer is not feeling so well as of late. I can feel the slimy tendrils of stress slithering around my shoulders whispering angry nothings into my ear. I am already considering how much it will cost me (I can guarantee you it will be more than what is in my pitifully small bank account). There's also the problem of my cell phone. HAHA! The fact that I've never been able to keep a phone alive for very long is a family favorite when taking jabs at me. I don't physically break them but they all seem to malfunction without fail (...or with fail? I don't know). Either way, I now have a phone on the fritz and a computer with an impending crash. Needless to say I was feeling pretty down and out. I was whining (perhaps a little too much) and my mom said these words to me, "My God! You're like one big First World Problem!"

Through the laughing that ensued I saw the wisdom in her words. She was right. These are both First World Problems. While they are still very prevalent in my mind since school starts back up in a week, I can take to heart that I still have food in my tummy and a roof over my head.

Happy New Year, all.

Christmas Time Is Here

Why is it that I spend the first eleven months of the year singing the joys of Christmas and when it comes I just wish it would be over? I get stressed and disheartened and generally just wish it'd pass as quickly and with as little pain as possible. About this time every December, though, I find something to be the kick in the pants I need to get back in the spirit. It's different every year. This year it came in the form of a very dear friends blog post. She wrote everything I wish I could think of. Give it a read, it's worth your time.

Reframing: Holiday Style

Date A Girl Who Reads

"If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are. Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads." - Rosemarie Urquico "Date A Girl Who Reads"

Sometimes I feel like I must be the only one to feel the way I do, but then I remember there are seven billion people on this planet. I cannot possibly be the only one who feels so strongly. When I am sad, I am devastated. When I am happy, I feel as though I'm floating amongst the heavens with the sun radiating inside me. When I read a book, I feel the book. I'm still not quite convinced some people understand how deep this can go.

I once had an idea for a new story. I was writing feverishly and listening to a song from a movie score. The song flung me into a pit of despair and I found myself writing and weeping. No, I was not just being an emotional wreck. I was feeling. Simply feeling. Feeling so strongly that I thought I was the story, that it was all happening to me.

Does this happen to any of you? Do you have moments when you're listening to a song and you can't help but close your eyes, purse your lips shut tight-you couldn't bear to speak? You just...feel. You get swept away in a sea of emotion, be it happy, sad, quiet, or loud.

If this doesn't happen to you-I'm sorry. Even when it's a sad moment, being able to feel so deeply and strongly is something that everyone should experience. If it does, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.