I am so excited to share my second podcast! It was so much fun talking with my best friend, Lydia, about the little things in life and how you can find happiness by living in the moment. There might be a chance that you're looking too far for happiness and it is actually right in front of you! You can check it out through Spotify or through the podcast website. If you missed the last one just click "Podcast" at the top!
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After getting a little nudge from a book I recently read, I decided to take some time for myself and make a vision board. A vision board is a collage of photos from a magazine or printed from the internet that shows your goals or visions. I honestly can’t tell you the last time I sat down and made something for myself – but this was 100% worth it.
As I did my vision board this past week, I couldn’t help but think back to when I was in elementary school when we did this in art class. I remember having so many different kinds of magazines to choose from and we were able to pick what we thought were the “best pictures” to add. The only rule the teacher gave us was that we could only cut out what we needed (and not the entire page) to make sure there were enough pictures for everyone. However, we could have any dream or vision we wanted as long as no one got the pictures before us. When I created my vision board last week I was able to take more time to reflect, but other than the fact that my dreams and visions were a little more realistic, it was essentially the same vision board – because I am the same person. This recent one, however, had more intent. In school, sure it had its goals, but it also just had a picture of a cat just because I thought it was cute (and yes I vividly remember this cat that took up the entire page but felt it needed to go on my board because “I liked it”) This time around I noticed how this vision board was a close metaphor to life. I no longer had 50 different magazines to choose from, but only three (including The Wall Street and Dr. Oz). This time though, as I went through the magazines, I also looked through them and read the words rather than just looked at the pictures. I learned from it (similar to life) as I went. I read about the most powerful women of the year, how to lose weight and “live your best life” and saw what was considered the most fashionable thing to wear these days. But really, I didn’t find my vision in any single page. I found it from multiple pages and multiple pieces. I used words that were big in font size, but also tiny and not emphasized as much. I used pictures that have different interpretations depending on who is looking at it. I made my own vision from the options I had (in other words, the circumstances that were given to me in life). I found myself and my goals scattered through all of those pages because I personally didn’t fit into just one category. I was still able to create my own vision compiled from magazines that told me how I am “supposed” to live my life. As we grow older, our vision boards change. They change because our choice of magazines get smaller and we only have three magazines to choose from rather than 50 as when we were younger. Our options and life choices narrow as we grow older as well. We may start to see our lack of privilege and there are not as many opportunities as we thought. Goals become out of reach. We learn more about our own limitations, but the vision board is more meaningful, more thoughtful and more detailed. We can learn to be happy in our circumstances. We can still create a vision board just like we did before at the exact same size, but this time even when we discover more about the world, it can have more details and be more meaningful. After having this experience for myself, I encourage you to take a moment for yourself and reflect on your goals (especially with how the year is ending and a new one is beginning). Not just the easy goals, but also the tough and specific ones. Look through some magazines while you’re at it and see yourself scatter through all of the pages – but notice you are more than just a single page because you are unique and made up of all kinds of experiences and circumstances. Also, use this as a reminder that there are plenty of things offered to make you supposedly happy and give you help on how to do life but remember that there is no easy checklist for happiness. It comes in pieces (in little things) and they’re created within you. If we look at the small things in life and put them together, we can find out who we really are and discover more happiness. As a bonus maybe you can create a whole vision board– and learn more about yourself too! I just finished that time of the semester where you get over stressed and have to take multiple exams in the same week for every class in your schedule.
I had a ton of added extra stress this semester with exams being online, especially the ones that are still closed note (meaning we can’t use any of our class materials while taking the exam). Some exams stressed me out so much this semester that I ended it in tears – not because of the exam but because of struggling to get all my devices to work to actually submit it on time. One class had us take our exam on paper – yes even with a virtual class. But this doesn’t sound as simple as you might think. This means I had to log in to Zoom on my laptop so the professor can see me, I had to log in to Zoom on my phone so my professor can see my laptop screen and then I had to run downstairs and hope the printer worked 5 minutes before the exam time started (because she opened it early to print) and come back up and sit to get started. That’s not even half of it though! During my test, my classmates like to ask lots of questions so it’s not a “quiet” exam and once you finally finish (if you finish) you have to scan every page with a scanner app on your phone (my app is free so I have to wait for the ads)- all 10 or so pages of the exam, email it to yourself, download it, and then submit it to another platform and mark off where each of parts of the test are before the time it is due. So now, I no longer had time to check my work or make sure I had the right answers because I spend at least 10 minutes praying every device works together to get it submitted on time. I will say – the first time I did this, I cried because of how overwhelming it was and it wasn’t even the actual test that stressed me out – it was just taking it. So my other class is my closed note class, this one thankfully isn’t as overwhelming but its still stressful. For this one we have a camera on us the entire time – but it’s not like the last one where our professor is watching us. It’s a computer that can tell when you check your phone, try to navigate off the page, or look over at your possible notes. This leads me to have to stare at the screen the entire 120 minutes of the exam with fear that I look to the left it will track me for cheating. But if you really think about it, when you take a test in a classroom you look around; you look up or down to stretch your neck. That’s a normal thing to do. But now… you don’t have that option and it’s a screen, not a piece of paper. My other classes though are much better. We had a week or all day and a few questions to choose from and we wrote a response. Much less stressful. So why share this crazy stuff. Well I wanted to share how whether you realize it or not with COVID in today’s world life has just gotten more stressful. Taking a test is no longer just taking a test – it is so much more and we are completely dependent on our technology. Will my professor believe me when I say I clicked on an answer and the technology didn’t acknowledge it or it deleted the essay I worked an hour on? Maybe or maybe not. But how do we remember to breathe if we don’t know where the next paycheck is coming because you lost your job, or you’re a recent college grad and can’t even seem to get an interview. With all this added stress on top of what is already stressful people are reaching their breaking points. I wanted to share what I started to do (obviously on a small scale)that helped me to remember to breathe. These past few months I have started to take a ‘spa’ time. I forget about everything I need to do and grab a face mask (the kind you put on your face to relax – not the one you wear outside) and take time for me. When I start to get stressed, I look forward to that. I get ready again and restart so I can come back clean minded but also feeling clean as well. The idea of a “clean sweep” helps me get back to it when I can step away for a 20-minute break and do something that will make me happy and it’s a choice. Sometimes I add to this by going for a run first and then having my ‘spa’ after because the outdoors always puts a smile on face. I’ve started to recognize if I do something before I hit breaking point, I won’t feel like I’m going to break down. Now in some cases you can’t do this right away… such as during an exam or while you’re talking to someone, but that’s when you can start to look forward to it. I started to begin my day with yoga, have a run in between and end it with the Bible and when I do those things I normally feel like it’s a good day – not based on how the exam went or how productive I was. Usually yoga and running are what leads me to be so productive so it has its reasons. BUT I do want to say… I don’t always do those three things… in fact this past week I didn’t do it once because of how overwhelmed I was – but it showed. Taking a moment to do something for you – just 20 minutes is really all you need. Half the time my yoga in the morning is only 10 minutes! Its there to remind you that even in this stress on top of stress you can step away from it and can calm down to remember that YOU are capable to do anything you set your mind to. This week, if you find yourself feeling stressed on top of the added stress, take a moment for yourself and do something that brings you peace or if you can’t at that second, look forward to the moment when you can later that day. Remember that you are capable of it all but sometimes you can’t be until you take a quick break for you. |
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August 2022
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