The holiday season has officially arrived, which is crazy. I've been neglecting the blogging, and I apologize. Blame midterms, the encroachment of finals week, and the craziness of school that is senior year. Don't get me wrong, I find time to relax-- but lately that's been in the form of making collages, not blogging. Don't ask where the collaging came from. I think it was the fact that I couldn't justify my accumulation and saving of hundreds of magazines any other way. So now instead of a pile of hundreds of random magazines, I have a pile of hundreds of cut-up magazines... and a few collages which will be showing up under Christmas trees this year. (Sorry yall, I'm a poor college student... but they're personalized and good wall-art!)
On to the holidays: in the spirit of not neglecting Thanksgiving in lieu of Christmas, here's a preview of my obligatory "I'm thankful for..." list, the entirety of which should be appearing tomorrow or Black Friday...but no promises, as I'll be with my family if the weather cooperates, and hopefully all my time will be occupied by all the cousins I've not seen in months it feels like.
Things I'm thankful for (in no particular order):
With the advent of Thanksgiving and well... advent/Christmas quickly arriving, I can't help but think of all the things that have changed from last winter break to this one. And the scary thing is that not as much has changed this year. My best friend's birthday is in December, and last Christmas was the first time in years that I didn't get to celebrate it with her, and the hardest part of that was that I'll never get to celebrate it with her again. She's going on year 2 in the nunnery now. I've accepted that fact, but it won't stop my heart from twingeing a little on December 27th. But it makes me step back a little bit and try and gain some perspective on life: it's constantly changing and people are constantly flitting in and out of it, and we can only hope that at some point, someone touches us--and hopefully we can touch someone else.
I've had the opportunity to have so many amazing people in my life. Even the people that I don't talk to anymore or that I've had falling-outs with have left imprints on me--have changed me for better, and I hope they know that. I've also been blessed to have so many different types of people in my life. From Catholic school in Kansas to the sorority girls and ultra liberal sometimes hippie :) friends I've made here at Drake to my laid-back, down-home family in Iowa to my Polish grandparents in California to my work family to my crazy and inspiring professors, I've been so incredibly blessed--so exposed to the millions of ways we can love other people. And I just hope I can touch someone else and let those people that have so touched ME know that I have been thusly touched, inspired, and that I've felt the love. That's my mission this holiday season: validation.
And that's my challenge to you too. Validate someone this season. Do it with love and genuine intent: let others know they've impacted you and affected you. I think one of the best gifts you can give someone is to let them know how much the love they've shown you has been felt. It's not necessary to have your actions "validated," but... it's nice.
So I leave you with this fantastic video that my boss showed me on the first day of work.
Much love and happy thanksgiving!
On to the holidays: in the spirit of not neglecting Thanksgiving in lieu of Christmas, here's a preview of my obligatory "I'm thankful for..." list, the entirety of which should be appearing tomorrow or Black Friday...but no promises, as I'll be with my family if the weather cooperates, and hopefully all my time will be occupied by all the cousins I've not seen in months it feels like.
Things I'm thankful for (in no particular order):
- The Starbucks barista today who chatted with me for 5 minutes and made my day
- My boss: so nice and sweet--cares about EVERYONE-- a rare find sometimes
- Old college people that graduated: you inspire me to keep going--and everytime we chat you remind me of amazing times
- My oldest 2nd cousin: you inspire me in general. You rock and you don't get enough credit for it.
- My aunt: you're SUCH a trooper.
With the advent of Thanksgiving and well... advent/Christmas quickly arriving, I can't help but think of all the things that have changed from last winter break to this one. And the scary thing is that not as much has changed this year. My best friend's birthday is in December, and last Christmas was the first time in years that I didn't get to celebrate it with her, and the hardest part of that was that I'll never get to celebrate it with her again. She's going on year 2 in the nunnery now. I've accepted that fact, but it won't stop my heart from twingeing a little on December 27th. But it makes me step back a little bit and try and gain some perspective on life: it's constantly changing and people are constantly flitting in and out of it, and we can only hope that at some point, someone touches us--and hopefully we can touch someone else.
I've had the opportunity to have so many amazing people in my life. Even the people that I don't talk to anymore or that I've had falling-outs with have left imprints on me--have changed me for better, and I hope they know that. I've also been blessed to have so many different types of people in my life. From Catholic school in Kansas to the sorority girls and ultra liberal sometimes hippie :) friends I've made here at Drake to my laid-back, down-home family in Iowa to my Polish grandparents in California to my work family to my crazy and inspiring professors, I've been so incredibly blessed--so exposed to the millions of ways we can love other people. And I just hope I can touch someone else and let those people that have so touched ME know that I have been thusly touched, inspired, and that I've felt the love. That's my mission this holiday season: validation.
And that's my challenge to you too. Validate someone this season. Do it with love and genuine intent: let others know they've impacted you and affected you. I think one of the best gifts you can give someone is to let them know how much the love they've shown you has been felt. It's not necessary to have your actions "validated," but... it's nice.
So I leave you with this fantastic video that my boss showed me on the first day of work.
Much love and happy thanksgiving!
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