After reading my incrediably insightful, raw and honest friend's blog, I am brought once again to ponder my own meaning in life. Not in a negative way. Rather, in a way that will bring about clarity in my choices and driven path on this journey.
I have read Man's Search for Meaning by V. Frankl a great many times already. However, when I begin to get down and feel lost along my path, I find the encouragement and hope I am looking for deep within his words of this book. Perhaps I should look into expanding my literary knowledge by reading a few other books by famous existentialists.
For now, mostly due to the constraits of an impedending non-existent income, I will choose to re-read this book, I would say over the next few days. But, let's be real people. I will probably read the whole thing tonight in an hour and a half tops (135 pgs). I read quickly. I devor knowledge in books that I find interesting.
Steve is always amazed at the fact that I re-read all of my books that I currently own - several times over and I never get bored. I gather knew information and potential for growth each time.
So, after I read Mr. Frankl's words of wisdom this evening, I have decided I will journal. First on paper in bed and then on the blog. Perhaps a simple stream of conciousness. Who knows. Wherever I am taken to.
13 May 2010
Finding my own path through a friend's quote...
I was reading a collegiate friend's blog this evening and happened to stumble upon some words that ring true for me to the core of my soul...I hope my dear friend does not mind that I have posted her beautifully written quote in my blog as I feel it is a great art to use words that pull at the depths of one's mind and heart to create meaning in this life. Reading her blog has always provided me with insight which I believe I lack most of the time. She writes so eloquently and passionately. I strive to have her enthusiasm and heart in life. Thank you Renee...
"strive for an existence worthy of your ideals and demand a life of meaning. refuse to settle for less than what you deserve, even if you are unaware of what you desire. follow your heart and you are sure to find the way. embrace the moments when your path is unclear, and remember to marvel upon the little things that would otherwise pass you by. aim to fill each day’s hours fueled by passion, shared with others, and inspired by hope. celebrate the road already traveled but never, never stop dreaming – for tonight’s slumber paves tomorrow’s adventure" ~rlk~
"strive for an existence worthy of your ideals and demand a life of meaning. refuse to settle for less than what you deserve, even if you are unaware of what you desire. follow your heart and you are sure to find the way. embrace the moments when your path is unclear, and remember to marvel upon the little things that would otherwise pass you by. aim to fill each day’s hours fueled by passion, shared with others, and inspired by hope. celebrate the road already traveled but never, never stop dreaming – for tonight’s slumber paves tomorrow’s adventure" ~rlk~
12 May 2010
Un viaggio in maggio
Below is a link to my blog from my trip last May that I took with a few other graduate students to Italy to learn more about counseling overseas. I took some time today to briefly reflect on my trip last year and what it meant to me. Check it out. The last entry on that blog was what I wrote today. It was meaningful to go back and read my blog from the beginning of the two weeks. Each passage brought back vivid memories - memories that I could see, taste, smell and feel with my entire body. Memories that provided me with much needed reflection. I plan to write over the next few weeks as I take time out of my busy life to reflect on the deeper meanings... http://italiancounselingtravels.blogspot.com/
In all things, great and small, happy or sad, life is good. I know this in my heart of hearts. Sometimes I just need a moment to remind me...
In all things, great and small, happy or sad, life is good. I know this in my heart of hearts. Sometimes I just need a moment to remind me...
07 May 2010
Your Wii age is....
Today really hasn't been my day for physical activity. Actually, when I think about it, it is more likely that the past few years haven't really been my sunny spot for physical activity. Today was just a nice swatch of icing on the cake - ha!
I am always so tired lately and well intended to continue working out. But, the gym BORES the hell out of me. I was so in shape in high school and even in college. Now I get winded walking anywhere and pretty dizzy, too. I decided to turn on the Wii fit again today...For like the first time in like 4 months.
Steve wasn't at home so I figured I could test my skills without being laughed at. Well, the damn thing made me re-check my body test - weight, BMI, balance and coordination. So, apparently, in the last few months my BMI has only gone up a percent but stayed "normal". It proceeds to chart this for me to see and then weighs me. Whatever, I don't really care about my weight, usually...Until it made a grand entrance on the large TV screen. Wii apparently wanted to congratulate me on "meeting my goal" even if it took a little longer than normal. It told me that I had worked out long and hard to reach this goal and I should not give up even after meeting it; I should set a new goal. Wow, that's really great. I didn't do much of anything and I met my goal - I wish other things in life were this easy. Until it told me what I did. I gained 10 pounds. WOW, in 4 months, spiffy. Maybe now my damn doctor will quit yelling at me to stop losing weight. Seeing as to how I have managed to do just the opposite in record time! I am now a certified chunkus monkus. Don't worry wii fit, my new goal is to lose 10 pounds in a month...guess I better get moving.
Next up is the balance and coordination testing - this ought to be fun. I mean, come on now, I danced on my toes for quite a few years, spun in circles without getting dizzy, did the splits and high kicks without pulling hamstrings or kicking myself in the face - no problem, right? HAHAHA - according to wii "donkey" my center of balance is still pretty good, but my hand eye coordination is awful as well as my eye foot coordination. It actually asked me if I found myself tripping quite frequently and running into things- I asked it if it found itself getting punched in the face often. It didn't respond. Probably because it knew that even if I aimed well I would still miss!
That should have been my clue to just go sleep in the hammock....
Wii then proceeded to calculate my age - I am now 43. My parents had me when they were 12. It's cool.
I shut it off and left the house.
Still thinking about my nice age of 43, I decided to rollerblade. Since I rollerbladed constantly back in Michigan, I figured I would pull out my blades and give it a whirl in the neighborhood. The brake on the back is well worn out but I can T-stop and weave to slow down. Laced the good ole boys up and headed down the driveway.
Up the hill onto the next street. Got on the sidewalk since cars were driving up and down the street coming home from work. Started up another long hill and when I reached the peak, tried my best to Tstop or brake. Neither worked. It's cool. I have it under control. I can weave a little on my path to slow down my speed. Just kidding. Oh, did I mention the stop sign at the bottom of the hill? Yea, Fan freaking tastic. Not gonna happen either. But, I can finesse my way into a curve and turn to slow myself down. Negative. Human catapult. Large white mailbox and post directly in my line of vision and still going about 700 mph on the wheels. Think quick. Prefer not to impale myself this afternoon although my green ensemble would look lovely contrasting with the white mailbox. Dodge to the right. Large lawn to crash land on. Now, why the hell would I stop there? That would be too easy really. Instead, my wheels keep burning the midnight oil all the way across the lawn - you would have thought I was on a track surface and not St. Augustine grass. Hit the curb, bounce, fly forward and strawberry skin my arm. Somehow land on my ass and bounce into the street. WHEW. No one saw, I'm a little bruised but good.
HAHA - turn around Chunkus Monkus... Grams, driving her Cutlass Supreme, is sitting behind me mouthing "ouch". Not, "are you okay" or "need help?", just "ouch". Well, I sprung up, took a bow, flashed my biggest grin and gave her the thumbs up sign. Don't worry Grams, I'll be here all week...
It's cool, friends. You can laugh at me. I laughed at me.
I have managed many interesting feats in the last few years. I ran into a large woman's behind in Disney World and bounced off of her and almost fell backwards. Good thing that Steve was behind me to catch me. I fell into a hole in our backyard and twisted my ankle. Managed to punch myself in the face while ice skating. Hand eye coordination is seriously a problem for me. Hey jackass, your hand is headed for your OWN eye, maybe you should stop it from moving or at least move your head. What did you say? Oh, move my head, Whoops, too late...And now, I managed to slide and bounce on Rollerblades... down a hill, across a lawn, over a curb and into the street.
Do they offer coordination classes for idiots?
Don't worry. For now, I am going to bed. I'm pretty sure I will think of something to do that is klutz worthy. I'll let you know when it happens.
I am always so tired lately and well intended to continue working out. But, the gym BORES the hell out of me. I was so in shape in high school and even in college. Now I get winded walking anywhere and pretty dizzy, too. I decided to turn on the Wii fit again today...For like the first time in like 4 months.
Steve wasn't at home so I figured I could test my skills without being laughed at. Well, the damn thing made me re-check my body test - weight, BMI, balance and coordination. So, apparently, in the last few months my BMI has only gone up a percent but stayed "normal". It proceeds to chart this for me to see and then weighs me. Whatever, I don't really care about my weight, usually...Until it made a grand entrance on the large TV screen. Wii apparently wanted to congratulate me on "meeting my goal" even if it took a little longer than normal. It told me that I had worked out long and hard to reach this goal and I should not give up even after meeting it; I should set a new goal. Wow, that's really great. I didn't do much of anything and I met my goal - I wish other things in life were this easy. Until it told me what I did. I gained 10 pounds. WOW, in 4 months, spiffy. Maybe now my damn doctor will quit yelling at me to stop losing weight. Seeing as to how I have managed to do just the opposite in record time! I am now a certified chunkus monkus. Don't worry wii fit, my new goal is to lose 10 pounds in a month...guess I better get moving.
Next up is the balance and coordination testing - this ought to be fun. I mean, come on now, I danced on my toes for quite a few years, spun in circles without getting dizzy, did the splits and high kicks without pulling hamstrings or kicking myself in the face - no problem, right? HAHAHA - according to wii "donkey" my center of balance is still pretty good, but my hand eye coordination is awful as well as my eye foot coordination. It actually asked me if I found myself tripping quite frequently and running into things- I asked it if it found itself getting punched in the face often. It didn't respond. Probably because it knew that even if I aimed well I would still miss!
That should have been my clue to just go sleep in the hammock....
Wii then proceeded to calculate my age - I am now 43. My parents had me when they were 12. It's cool.
I shut it off and left the house.
Still thinking about my nice age of 43, I decided to rollerblade. Since I rollerbladed constantly back in Michigan, I figured I would pull out my blades and give it a whirl in the neighborhood. The brake on the back is well worn out but I can T-stop and weave to slow down. Laced the good ole boys up and headed down the driveway.
Up the hill onto the next street. Got on the sidewalk since cars were driving up and down the street coming home from work. Started up another long hill and when I reached the peak, tried my best to Tstop or brake. Neither worked. It's cool. I have it under control. I can weave a little on my path to slow down my speed. Just kidding. Oh, did I mention the stop sign at the bottom of the hill? Yea, Fan freaking tastic. Not gonna happen either. But, I can finesse my way into a curve and turn to slow myself down. Negative. Human catapult. Large white mailbox and post directly in my line of vision and still going about 700 mph on the wheels. Think quick. Prefer not to impale myself this afternoon although my green ensemble would look lovely contrasting with the white mailbox. Dodge to the right. Large lawn to crash land on. Now, why the hell would I stop there? That would be too easy really. Instead, my wheels keep burning the midnight oil all the way across the lawn - you would have thought I was on a track surface and not St. Augustine grass. Hit the curb, bounce, fly forward and strawberry skin my arm. Somehow land on my ass and bounce into the street. WHEW. No one saw, I'm a little bruised but good.
HAHA - turn around Chunkus Monkus... Grams, driving her Cutlass Supreme, is sitting behind me mouthing "ouch". Not, "are you okay" or "need help?", just "ouch". Well, I sprung up, took a bow, flashed my biggest grin and gave her the thumbs up sign. Don't worry Grams, I'll be here all week...
It's cool, friends. You can laugh at me. I laughed at me.
I have managed many interesting feats in the last few years. I ran into a large woman's behind in Disney World and bounced off of her and almost fell backwards. Good thing that Steve was behind me to catch me. I fell into a hole in our backyard and twisted my ankle. Managed to punch myself in the face while ice skating. Hand eye coordination is seriously a problem for me. Hey jackass, your hand is headed for your OWN eye, maybe you should stop it from moving or at least move your head. What did you say? Oh, move my head, Whoops, too late...And now, I managed to slide and bounce on Rollerblades... down a hill, across a lawn, over a curb and into the street.
Do they offer coordination classes for idiots?
Don't worry. For now, I am going to bed. I'm pretty sure I will think of something to do that is klutz worthy. I'll let you know when it happens.
12 April 2010
Wedding Wonderland to Thee and Thou
Wait for it...
...That's right folks, I CAN'T HEAR at ALL! She started chuckling and said "you mean when we said "I THEE ENDOW?!" Well, Why yes, silly, of course...
That's what I said, didn't I?!
07 April 2010
Misfit Easter
We had a houseful of company for Easter this year! Quite honestly, I was nervous at first about entertaining so many guests, but I really enjoyed all of it!
Jade and Gasper arrived on Thursday afternoon and that evening we drove to Montgomery to pick up Khiri!
Friday, Jade and I went to get "hot stone" massages as a sister activity. I am not sure who enjoyed the massages more - us or our massage people listening to us talk about the hilarity that is our lives! We all met up with Steve's grandparents who had an unexpected stop in Alabama due to car troubles on their way back to Michigan from Florida. I told Steve that the car troubles were God's way of encouraging his grandparents to spend some of the Easter holiday with us. Then, that evening, Justin arrived to begin the holiday festivities!
We spent Saturday "touring" Birmingham, with stops at Vulcan, Jim N Nicks downtown, Charlemagne Records and Birmingham Botanical Gardens =) Jade and I made everyone color eggs with us, too!
Jade and Gasper arrived on Thursday afternoon and that evening we drove to Montgomery to pick up Khiri!
Friday, Jade and I went to get "hot stone" massages as a sister activity. I am not sure who enjoyed the massages more - us or our massage people listening to us talk about the hilarity that is our lives! We all met up with Steve's grandparents who had an unexpected stop in Alabama due to car troubles on their way back to Michigan from Florida. I told Steve that the car troubles were God's way of encouraging his grandparents to spend some of the Easter holiday with us. Then, that evening, Justin arrived to begin the holiday festivities!
We spent Saturday "touring" Birmingham, with stops at Vulcan, Jim N Nicks downtown, Charlemagne Records and Birmingham Botanical Gardens =) Jade and I made everyone color eggs with us, too!
Sunday, I got up bright and early and went to early church service with Justin and Khiri. It was a great way to start my morning out. We then got home and started cooking and sat outside and enjoyed mimosas until dinner! We had plenty of company for Easter, too! Claire, Rhiannon and Joel joined all of us and participated in the Pinata and Egg Wars! Steve managed to corral several people for games fo "cornhole" and bocce ball before he "retired" for the evening in the hammock. I think it's fair to say it was a long but exciting day for all of us!
Monday we took Jade and Gasper to The American Village in Montevallo and then to eat at Joe's Italian in Alabaster. Jade and I quite enjoyed ourselves and the historical "living" characters we had the opportunity to chat with throughout the village. Steve, however, was on the grumpy side from a recovery from Sunday and Gasper I think just thought Jade and I were weird. George Washington seemed to enjoy us, though! HA!
28 March 2010
Lazy Days Lately... This is from the last weekend in March...
Graduate School and Work have once again taken over my life and made me incrediably lazy when I am home...thus, no posts.
The last weekend in March, Steve and I went to the Air Show in Montgomery. We met up with my cousin, Justin, and while we had a great time, managed to fry ourselves in the sun WITH spf 45 on. I managed to get some fairly good shots of different planes on the warm and sunny day.
Steve and I also managed to NOT get jumped while walking 5 miles to the airshow from our parking spot despite passing a gang of 15 or so and several "unlucky" looking fellas along the trek. You know it's a bad area when a truck pulls over and offers you a ride into the base because the driver is a homicide detective for the city and tells you the only reason we weren't jumped in broad daylight was because there were so many people around. I just said hi to everyone we walked past as they eyed my purse because I figured if I was more friendly they would be less likely to jump a nice person...trying to psyche myself into positive thinking about the human race - HA!
Steve and I also managed to NOT get jumped while walking 5 miles to the airshow from our parking spot despite passing a gang of 15 or so and several "unlucky" looking fellas along the trek. You know it's a bad area when a truck pulls over and offers you a ride into the base because the driver is a homicide detective for the city and tells you the only reason we weren't jumped in broad daylight was because there were so many people around. I just said hi to everyone we walked past as they eyed my purse because I figured if I was more friendly they would be less likely to jump a nice person...trying to psyche myself into positive thinking about the human race - HA!
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