Teachability

One of my first assignments for the school year (yes I started another year of college, yay!) was to go through a leadership inventory and pick the characteristics that most fit us. I have done this kind of thing before, ranking things like responsibility and respect and organization, but this one had some very interesting leadership characteristics. One that particularly caught my attention was one that my professor listed as "teachability." It was described as the ability to learn and grow, listening to others and considering other possibilities. I'm paraphrasing a little, but you get the gist.

I think that this is a very important characteristic that a lot of people under-appreciate or grow out of. Even I feel like an expert on something and feel almost threatened if someone challenges the way I think about something. But it is so good for me. It can be really simple things. Sometimes I'll rant to my roommate about something or someone and she'll challenge me by asking me to think of it from another perspective. If I do, I usually feel a lot better about the situation. Sometimes it feels even better to learn something new or think differently about something than to be "right." Although I am always looking to be right haha.

I also read a book recently called In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez that talked about dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. It mentioned Fidel Castro a few times in the book and it had a completely different perspective on him than I had got from history books in high school, as a revolutionary that inspired others instead of a communist dictator. It prodded me to look more in depth into this historical figure in order to form my own opinions. This learning moment was really cool for me.

So I guess that's just my own food for thought of the day. I hope by jotting this down that maybe I'll look back someday and my future self will read this: Don't ever let yourself get to the point where you aren't still learning or listening. Always consider other possibilities. Your way isn't always the right way, even if you really want it to be. If you're unsure, explore. 

Hope everyone else that is starting a school year is having a great start. Thanks to all my readers. Maybe I'll have something more exciting to write about next week :)

Saying Goodbye

I remember once as a kid, my parents dropped me off with my aunt and uncle in Columbus to spend a week in the summer. Being away from my immediate family for the first time, I was intensely afraid. I didn't want to let my parents go and couldn't even sleep the first night. But then when they picked me, I cried on the way home because I already missed my aunt, uncle, and cousins so much.

The funny thing is, as a 21 year old, I still feel this same anxiety whenever I leave a place. I have been waiting all summer to get back to Lincoln to be with my friends again and then, yesterday, when I got in the car to leave I wanted to cry just like I did leaving Columbus all those years ago. I already missed my family so much.

We can't always be with everyone we love. Everyone has their own paths and they aren't the same paths as all of our loved ones. Moments like these, though, help me to remember to appreciate all the moments when our paths do cross. It's common to hear "don't live in the past", but you can't always be looking to the future either. Appreciate the present and the people in it, because before you know it, you might have to say goodbye.

My Reading List

So, I don't really have anything I wanted to talk about this week, but something I am asked quite a bit, since I read so much, is what books I would recommend. I think this is a much more difficult question than it seems 1. because every has different preferences and taste and 2. because some things that I loved two years ago might not appeal to me anymore; different books are better for different ages and places in life.

But, I am still gonna give you a list of some of my all-time favorites. Anyone can always read descriptions online to decide if it sounds like a good fit for them.  Also, I am always open for suggestions for new books. Please tell me if you just read something awesome. I want to know :)

-City of Thieves-David Benioff
-The Darkest Minds-Alexandra Bracken
-And the Mountains Echoed-Khaled Hosseini
-Lock and Key-Sarah Dessen
-Flight Behavior-Barbara Kingsolver
-The Fault in Our Stars-John Green
-The Time Traveler's Wife-Audrey Niffenegger
-The Truth About Forever-Sarah Dessen
-The Poisonwood Bible-Barbara Kingsolver
-Eragon-Christopher Paolini
-The Silver Linings Playbook-Matthew Quick
-Anna and the French Kiss-Stephanie Perkins
-Shanghai Girls-Lisa See
-Where the Red Fern Grows-Wilson Rawls
-The Art of Racing in the Rain-Garth Stein
-The Help-Kathryn Stockett
-The Glass Castle-Jeanette Walls
-I Am the Messenger-Markus Zusak

My Favorite Things

So today I happened to hear the song My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music. "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens..." And the thing I love most about that song is her "favorite things" are all small things that you might happen by on a random day. So I decided to make a list of all the random little things that have brightened my day this summer.

-Fireflies
-My cat purring
-The sound of laughter from someone who was just crying
-An unexpected hug
-A day when my hair is particularly soft
-The feeling of pressing a pen against a fresh sheet of paper
-Silence after it rains
-Sand beneath my toes
-Cleaning a room and feeling accomplished
-Singing along to the radio
-Finding an old bookmark in a library book
-The center of a cinnamon roll

So I hope you find something in your day as simple as these things that makes you smile. After all, "a smile is a curve that makes everything straight."

Trapped

So this morning I woke up to the most awful noise. Something between a cry and a choking noise. Then the cry built up into a wail. Once I realized the noise was coming from outside my dream of aliens born in thunderstorms (don't ask), I opened my eyes.

Instinctively, I knew it was my dog Ginny. She probably just saw a rabbit. My window was open and I walked over and barked out her name. The sound stopped and I sat back down on my bed. High pitched squealing followed. How could a dog that small be so damn loud?

So, I reluctantly, even though it was after 10 am, made my way downstairs and out to the dog pen. My other dog Chelsea was sleeping near the gate. I thought it was lucky she was deaf so she didn't have to be battered with this arsenal of noises.

"Ginny! Ginny!" I began to yell. I checked the doghouse. Not a glimpse of white fur. And then a small moan. I am the most terrible pet owner on the planet. My dog is hurt. Where is she? I begin to panic, running all around the yard. And now, of all times, she has chosen the time to be completely silent. I think I hear a moan again from one yard over and run around the house to check it out. Nothing.

I then hear voices from the other side of the house. I begin to run around again when I look down at my muddy bare feet. I realize I am currently staggering around in the mud with major bedhead, talking to myself, and wearing only a baggy t-shirt and underwear. I have become the character from every scary movie that I yell at my screen to stay away from.

I dart in the door to the house and throw on some pajama pants. I think maybe I should call someone and grab my cell phone, only to drop it right behind the couch where, I know from experience, it will take a team from Ocean's Eleven to get out. I take a deep breath and walk outside again.

After a few laps around the back yard, I finally see a tiny bit of white fur from under the deck. Her nose is covered in thick mud and her chocolate eyes are pleading with me for imminent rescue. She has dug a hole under the deck and trapped herself in. I run over and immediately start digging. My hands turn brown and I speckle my dog with the same color.

After several minutes to no avail, my dog turns her head and nudges a big stone next to our hand/paw dug hole. I stop digging and realize a Jack Russell Terrier has just outsmarted me. I pull out the stone and, alas, there is a gap big enough for her to slip through. Once she is out she starts running around the yard, shaking mud off everywhere she goes.

She then comes over to me and those same brown eyes that showed sheer panic moments earlier look up at me like I'm an angel. She follows at my heels as I head back into the house. I think the whole ordeal wore her out.

Private Emotions

I'm sure if you're as big of an entertainment news buff as I am, you've probably seen and read numerous stories this week about the death of Cory Monteith, a star from the TV show Glee. I obviously did not personally know Cory. I wasn't even watching the show. But something about his death has lingered with me all week. Why would someone who was seemingly living the "American Dream" turn to drugs and alcohol? Why didn't he call his rehab support team, his girlfriend, his family? What causes a 31 year old to have that much pain?

And I'll never know the answers to those questions. And neither will anyone else. I just saw a passage in the book I'm reading today (And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini) that I felt captured this perfectly. "I know now that some people feel unhappiness the way others love: privately, intensely, and without recourse." My mom is always telling me the mind is a powerful thing. And sometimes you become your own worst enemy. I just hope for all the private sorrow or loneliness in the world, there is a counterbalance of public love and understanding. I think that is the thing I hope for most in this world.

Lyrics

So this is a pretty random post. I was listening to music this morning and reflecting on how beautiful a particular verse was. Some songs are very poetic. I remember an assignment in my high school English class in which we took lines from a book and made "found poetry." I thought I'd take a stab at a similar type of thing using some of my favorite lyrics. It was much more difficult than I imagined, and it didn't turn out to have any flow, but I thought I'd post it anyway because I thought it might be fun for you to try to figure out what songs I used. The answers are posted below.


You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
We can burn brighter than the sun.
I hope some day the world will be as one.
But our scars remind us that the past is real.
And your mind is playing tricks on you my dear. 

Just don't you worry your pretty little mind.
It's not always rainbows and butterflies.
People throw rocks at things that shine.
But we can set the world on fire.

Today is winding road, 
But lights will guide you home.








Answers:
Imagine-John Lennon
We Are Young-fun.
Scars-Papa Roach
Little Talks-Of Monsters and Men
Ours-Taylor Swift
She Will Be Loved-Maroon 5
Thunder-Boys Like Girls
Fix You-Coldplay