Living Our Own Campaigns: Dressing Your Part

Life in general is a busy campaign.  Everyone is trying to sell something or someone.  But most importantly we are all trying to sell ourselves.  To friends, family, relationships.  It is a never ending cycle.  So what psychology is behind this?  It is a psychological fact that you are what people SEE on the outside, at least at first.  You are what you wear.  Its a cut and dry fact.  I have met so many people who tell me they dress badly on purpose because the people worth being friends with will see past that and see who they are as a person.  Sadly this is a very overused and completely unacceptable excuse.  Firstly, the problem with that excuse is that it is geared toward the people around an individual.  If you want to dress badly or just dress like you don’t care then take the responsibility on yourself.  Say, “I just did’t give a crap today and I decided I would dress this way.”  That is the mature thing to do.  By blaming other people for not seeing past your appearance, the appearance you give everyone, and thus backwardly calling them shallow or vain is not fair.

I’ve been called vain and shallow in my life.  Simply because i get up on some days up to an hour earlier to get ready for my day.  I take care of myself.  I know how I like to look and if it takes me an extra hour in the morning then that’s my decision and it doesn’t really affect you.  So calling my vain and shallow because I like to feel good about myself is evidence of a hidden conviction in yourself maybe.  Taking extra time for makeup, hair, clothing choice is a lifestyle changer.  If one does it  right then it has the ability to open doors of opportunities that may not have been opened before.  People automatically judge your appearance.  It is built into us whether by society or by just evolved human nature, the appearance we give to everyone else matters.  More importantly it changes how we see our self.

Taking extra time to make yourself feel confident, pretty, and secure is a human right.  We all need to feel secure in ourselves to move  forward in life.  It’s easy to get caught up in the things other people say.  I myself got caught up in people saying I was shallow for taking an hour in the morning to get ready.  But that was ME getting up an hour earlier than I needed to and losing that much sleep by choice, to get to my classes or appointments on time with the confidence I needed to feel happy in the day.  If they could look in the mirror and see that the judgement that they were putting on me for what they considered a waste of time and realize that my time is mine.  What they do with their time is their prerogative.  Their choices say who they are the moment.  Don’t let other people bring you down, because in the end most people are their own destruction.

Shallow or Secure.

Conceited or Confident.

You decide.  Taking time to make yourself into the person you want to be is not Shallow or Vain.  Its your right.

Dress not how you feel at the moment, but how you want to feel in the future. Invest in yourself. All the world is a stage, and your costume matters.

  

Living in a Hopeless World…

The world, at times, seems hopeless.  More recently than naught.  Its full of dark thoughts, evil plans, and entitled people.  The weight of heaviness sometimes seems like it will overcome any light of goodness that manages to shine into its darkness.  There always seems to be that one moment when we as individuals sit down and give in to the fight against the darkness. Weary and beat down, the fight seems futile and fruitless to continue.  But the moment passes and struggling we hopefully rise and strive to persevere against the evil in this world.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ~Edmund Burke

That statement rings as true today as it did the day it was first said.  Some of my favorite movies are filled with examples of righteous anger and the desire for justice.  Movies like The Patriot, The Last Samurai, Gladiator, and Tombstone.  Men who lived and maybe died for their freedom and in the name of what was good and right.  Everyday is a battle and every person is a soldier on their own battlefield.  If we aren’t ready and equipped with the knowledge we need to survive…. we won’t.  Sometimes it takes a hard lesson to teach us the things we need to know.  But if we don’t learn the lesson the first time, then it will be repeated until we listen and understand.

“Charlotte: You have done nothing for which you should be ashamed.

Benjamin Martin: I have done nothing. And for that I am ashamed.”

~The Patriot

Do your part in your own war.  I came so close to giving up recently and leaving my faith for a life I thought would be easier.  But it wasn’t easier.  I think about those movies that I love watching and I know that if I am not convicted within myself to be the best person I can be, then I have let down the people I look up too.  There is no reason that I shouldn’t face my demons with the courage of Benjamin Martin in The Patriot, the willingness to learn and love like Nathan Algren, and the perseverance of Maximus.  

  

A spirit of fear is not what God has given me or anyone who believes in him.  He gives us the tools to triumph over evil if we put use them…. and Live.

  

Spring Break

As a college student any break in the year is so appreciated!! Spring Break is coming up in a couple dayssss. So I will be heading home. But this break is special. My mom has a birthday over the weekend before I come back and I am very excited. I have been staying up almost all night lately making some awesome gifts for her. I feel so happy that the crafts I have been attempting recently have turned out perfectly on the first try. It has been hard but I am getting it done! 

For me the look on my moms face when she loves something I’ve made is so awesome. It’s the feeling of joy and happiness that comes when she knows I took the time to make something I thought she would like.  Maybe this break should be spent just feeling the love in family. Even with all the mistakes we all have made in life it is so nice to be together. I miss my family and have to admit I may just stay home after this semester and find a trade profession to work on. 

I feel like my crafts could be a way to earn money and have thought of starting a little stand or business. But this spring break will be denoted to family and making things for family ☺️ What are your priorities this Spring Break? 



Snow Histories

Snow is so amazing! One day it’s just a cold winter day and the next morning it’s winter wonderland.  I must admit that when I looked out the window at the fresh fallen snow that I had that rush of excitement I had as a child growing up. I used to pray for snow in great amounts so that school would be canceled and I could go play in the white fluff. It’s like snow makes the familiar world around us new again. 

Snow makes the world feel like an adventure again. While laying in my bed deciding if I should venture outside as I did when a child, I find it funny that what once was a split second decision of “Yes I am running outside”, has now become a twenty minute debate on the pros and cons.

“Well I could wear this and not be too cold…. But what if I get snow in my pants? It’ll be freezing… But it would be fun!! But I don’t have anyone to go with me…”

Finally when telling my mother my dilemma over the phone she told me to go outside and that it would make me feel better! So I have decided to venture into the snowy world like I did as a child.

Maybe that’s the best medicine in the world. To see everything the way you did when you were a child. ❤️

So here’s to snow days and childhood memories!! Woohooooooo

To Dream? Or Not To Dream…

Sometimes dreaming is hard!
Sometimes we dream and hope and hopes are let down. It hurts a lot sometimes. But is it better to be hurt than never to dream? Sometimes the balance of dreaming and reality is hard. If you dream too much you can miss opportunities in reality…. But if you become completely rational your life will be stagnant like a dead pond. Dreaming is a necessity. Holding your desires near your heart and never letting them go is the hardest most fulfilling relationship anyone may ever know. If you have lost the people you love your dreams are still with you. Relationships don’t always last, but dreams never die. When you trust in the possibilities of who you can be if you work hard, and believe in the support God, family, and friends can give you to make your dreams come true, it’s worth more than all the fairytales ever written. Because your fairytale just became a reality.
Live life in your dreams and embrace the world that they create. You have all the strength you need.
Just go for it.

It Takes Time….

I spent the whole day Saturday learning how to crochet different patterns and little flowers. I must say that i became so frustrated at one point that I swore I would never crochet again. But, lets be honest. I did crochet again. And when I finished I had made the flowers I wanted to make and a sense of pride in my accomplishment flooded over me, as is common in such instances. But it took hours to learn one flower pattern. Now that I am familiar with the pattern it won’t take nearly as much time and I will get faster and faster as I keep making them.
One of the things I noticed after doing this project was that a lot of things in my life right now are like that little flower. It takes so much time to get to the point where I am proud of what I’ve accomplished, and sometimes I get so frustrated I want to give up for good, but if I just hold out till the end and keep going, it might end up being something beautiful. I just have to take a break and then when I come back to the “flower” I will have a fresh perspective of what I need to do.
And sometimes the only way to get through the “flower” you’re working on is to watch a tutorial, and get help and advice from someone who knows more about what you’re dealing with. That is literally the only way I got through the flower project at first. I had to go back over the tutorial over and over again, tip I finally could relate what was being said to what I was trying to do. It makes me think about when my Mom would correct me. She was there to help me make the flower of my life. Yes I made so many mistakes but she was always there to help me see where I had made the mistake and try and correct it. She was my tutorial.
Now that I am on my own, I have to make my own tutorial. By seeing what works and what doesn’t, and rely on the flower I made in the first part of my life, to help me make the flower in my life now.
What will your flower look like?

Work out or Torture

So, I went to the gym yesterday… For the first time in forever never. I’ve been to a gym before but honestly never with the seriousness of working it. So the girl I was going with showed me around and we talked about differently things and what type of music we like to listen to. And she decided to use the bikes… So I started using the bikes too. I hit the quick start button and soon was pedaling away but I soon noticed that as I sped up I kept slipping out of the seat. I was having to practically hold myself up on the seat so as to not fall off while pedaling. Well after about 15 min I decided to try something else for a while.
I looked over and saw the elliptical machines. Well most guys make jokes about all the girls being on the ellipticals so I decided to be “that girl”. Once on the machine I started pushing my legs back and forth working different parts of my legs and soon found myself antsy and wanting to try something else….
So try something else I did.
Treadmill lasted 1 min.
Stairs lasted 2 min.
Rower lasted 5 min.
And that is why I am reminded as to why I don’t go to the gym. I lack the drive to stick with one machine long enough to make an impact. I feel awkward switching back and forth between all the machines trying to find something I like and want to keep doing. Does anyone else ever have these problems? Or is it just me?

The Struggle Is Real

So, if you’re at all like me, people are amazing to be around most of the time and conversation, time together, and companionship make your days so much better. Then… There are those days where people are evil. It’s a crawl-under-the-bed-hide-from-everyone day.
Well I have been having a lot of those days lately. Whether it’s being away from home for the first time, or having doors shut in my face that were open before, these days have been a challenge.
I’ve always been a little panicked in situations where people change the situation. But this situation causes more stress than I even considered it might.
It makes me nervous and I feel the need to protect my sanity by mindlessly doing things that take my mind off the problems. Mostly, because I feel helpless, due to the people in control who have all the information they need to right this wrong, and yet fail to do so out of what seems to be sheer spite.
I pray for the day that this will all but put to ease, one way or another, but soon I pray. As was promised, yet still hasn’t been delivered. When will this be over I wonder? When I be free to be myself again? …… The wait continues.

The Fashion of the Day: Is YOU

When you stand in front of the closet as much as I do, the time often seems to go to waste… But is it really going to waste?  Scientist have indeed proven that we are what we wear.  If that is the case maybe we should spend a little more time in the closet sometimes.. For me personally I like to admire the personal style that other people around me chose to express that day.  Some people are very predictable and I can genuinely say that the outfit they chose,
“Is totally them”, but it is also very refreshing if you are an individual like me who has a variety of “Me’s” hanging in your closet. But is that bad? Is it bad if there is schizophrenic problem in your clothes.  No.  That would be like saying because you ate different food sometimes you were cheating on the type of food you normally eat.  Embracing every part of the style you have inside you is a good part of finding who you are.  Even with all the ups and downs of life, style changes and it should be allowed to have free reign as long as it stays true to who you are inside.

Psychologists say that if you are having a dreary down in the dumps day that the best immediate thing you can do to attempt to feel better, is dress the way that you wish to feel.  So if you’re feeling like the day is lined up with funerals, don’t dress in black!! Take out flirty colorful outfit that hangs in the back of the closet and is just begging for you to put it on, and rock it.  P.S. putting on some jammin’ music to lighten the mood always helps me. 🙂

In the end no one can take away your style… It’s like an art that only you can authenticate. So stand in front of your closet more and open up the channels of inner style. Take that extra time to appreciate you. 🙂

Beginnings 🌱

I’ve always had a thought in the back of my mind that a blog or a way to express ideas with the world would be an interesting endeavor. Finally I have been given the ability to do just what I thought in my mind I may do. Different ideas of what I may write about have always flown carelessly around in my head but this page will now hold the dreams I have… 🌱