Eggs and Empathy

Imagine an eggshell with a little hole in it. All the yolk and whites have slowly drained out, and there's nothing left but air. Then you drop that eggshell into black tar. How long do you imagine the eggshell can stay empty? And if it does stay empty, will the weight of the tar just crush it?

Welcome to depression. 

Depression has left a small hole in your heart, and slowly everything that used to fill you up has slowly drained out until you feel absolutely empty. Then the black tar of the world starts to crush you, and you have to fight just to stay empty, let alone find yourself again. It feels like at any point the trials of this world can  crush you. 

"Just because a person with depression has a good day, doesn't mean they're better. It means it's still a gray sky, but today it's not raining." -Miley Cyrus         

Not to be dramatic, but that's really how it feels. So remember to be compassionate if you have a friend or loved one suffering with depression. You may not understand why they aren't motivated, or why they seem so lifeless or why they don't act interested in the things they used to love. But right now they're struggling just to keep themselves intact. Be compassionate, and just make sure you treat them well and let them know you love them. That's what they need most. 

                  

Thanks so much for reading. Have a great, compassionate day!

Courage

As cold weather settles in around me and I'm vaguely terrified of my future looming towards me, I think I could use a boost. Perhaps many of my peers do as well. So today I think I want to bring a reminder to take heart. 

Sometimes I hear quotes or articles on courage, and to my mind comes a scene of a battlefield, with knights in armor sitting atop horses and hefting lances. Sometimes I forget that courage  can be in the little things; even somebody like ME can be courageous!

Courage can be sending in an application to a school for a scholarship you will have to work hard to earn. Courage might be staying quiet when you have something hurtful to say, even if it was really funny. Courage can be asking for help even if you're scared to look weak. Courage can be backing out ahead of time if you know you won't be able to follow through.

"Most of us have more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed."

-Dale Carnegie 

I believe courage is sometimes jumbled up with stupid bravery.
They're different.

Bravery is in the eye of the beholder. Courage is in the heart of the courageous, and nobody else can count, measure, or judge it.
I think if you've managed to make it this far, you've got it in you to make it all the way.
Good luck! And have a great, courageous day. 

The Slut Rule

*Disclaimer:  I have never loved a person less because they dress immodestly. I do, however, worry that some people dress a certain way on Halloween because they don't know how else to get attention, and their dress tends to get them the wrong sort.

My friends, as Halloween approaches, I invite you to be cautious. It's fun to dress up. It's exciting to get creative. And it's always wonderful to feel sexy, attractive, desirable, or whatever else you may want to call it. However, there is a line, and people keep track of every time you cross it.
  Keep in mind that lowering your standards for one night lowers your standards in everybody else's mind all year long. 



You are all so beautiful, and you don't need to send those kinds of messages with your bodies! When you dress immodestly, you can give impressions that are contrary to the person you really are. I'll admit I'm not perfectly modest all the time. But I do try, and I think it's a worthwhile endeavor. How about this year, we give a sexy, modest Halloween a shot? 

Billy Shakespeare

First off, this is not news.
But I just found out about the controversy over the identity of the author of the works of "Shakespeare."
It's been ongoing since the 19th Century, but it keeps getting resurrected.

In the 1800's, scholars who were critical of William Shakespeare's work began to theorize that he was not actually the author of the plays and sonnets published under his name. 

The Evidence that he Didn't Write Them:

• William Shakespeare was a successful Real-Estate tycoon (maybe they used his name because he was the financial backer of the actual author)
• William Shakespeare had a good education, but nothing suggests that it was good enough to prepare him to reshape the English language and forever impact literature. He never went to University.
• William Shakespeare had never left England (he hardly ever even left London,) and many of his plays took place in Italy or France. 
• There was an English nobleman whose poetic style was very similar to that of the plays. His name was Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. He had a better education, and he had traveled through Europe. 

Why I DON'T CARE who wrote them: 

(I'm going to refer to the author just as Shakespeare, for sanity's sake.) 

• Almost 2,000 of the words we still use today were invented by Shakespeare.
• The dramatic structure of today's literature is based on Shakespeare's work.
• Modern theaters themselves are shaped after the architecture of Shakespeare's theater, The Globe.
• Shakespeare's works are the clearest surviving link between Old English (which does not even resemble what we speak and write today) and Middle English/moving into Modern English. Shakespeare's work helped bridge the gap.
• Disney's hidden innuendos (don't deny that they exist!) are patterned after Shakespeare's dirty jokes - many of which were clever enough that children or the pious viewers wouldn't catch them, but that anyone willing to hear a little dirty joke would catch them.
• The works of Shakespeare are timeless classics. Whoever wrote them, they wrote something that was good enough to last HUNDREDS OF YEARS.

I don't care who wrote the works of Shakespeare. Because, in the end, THEY GOT WRITTEN. And that's the most important thing.

Crashing

I went to the UMEA All-State Choir Festival in Salt Lake City this weekend. I roomed with three other girls from Fremont High School's chamber choir, "Legacy." In total, 18 of the choir's 24 came to this festival. We had an amazing three days- shopping, eating, playing, swimming, talking, joking, laughing, and sometimes even crying together. There really is no replacement for time if you want to get to know somebody. Most of all, we SANG TOGETHER. And ah, no big deal, but that singing thing went down in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. 

You cannot know the power of choral singing unless it has touched your life. When you are in a choir with somebody, you have to trust them COMPLETELY to do their part, and you have to be willing to work hard so that none of you let each other down. From such trust, one cannot help but grow closer; and from such trust, one cannot help but learn to love.

Now maybe you understand part of what the weekend was to me, and why it meant so much.
I came to a messy house in which everyone but me was asleep, and I found myself suddenly VERY lonely. Where were the beautiful souls I had spent my weekend with? Where were the inside jokes and random bursts of beautiful harmony? I stepped on a lego, went into my room, lay down in bed, and cried.
I awoke this morning to a phlegmy throat ( a natural consequence of hard singing for extended periods ) and a heavy heart. This was my last All-State, perhaps my last choir trip. Although it may seem a little cliche, I said goodbye to part of my heart when I left Salt Lake City and traveled home to little old Warren. 

 Choir has been my life, my joy, my solace. So that's why I crashed. The higher they stand, the harder they fall. And I was lucky enough to stand with giants last night.