So, I was reading Thought’s Appear‘s 30 Before 30 list, and I HAD to click the Operation Beautiful link. And now I’m inspired.
So, I’m posting here, and keeping it as a reminder to myself to do something like this. It’s a great movement, so please check it out!
I’ll post pictures when I start assaulting public places with post its! <3
Filed under Life
I’d like to share a post I read over at Sacred Mists, entitled Be Gentle With One Another. A list of affirmations.
1. Never jump to conclusions.
2. Always give the benefit of the doubt.
3. Make constructive criticism the only criticism you will give.
4. Always give a second chance.
5. Find forgiveness in your heart, no matter the issue.
6. Recognize that everyone makes mistakes, even yourself.
7. Always treat others how you wish to be treated.
8. Never forget to place yourself in the other person’s shoes, even if just for a moment.
9. Recognize that we all carry baggage. Don’t make yours someone else’s.
10. Recognize that we have all come to Mother Earth to learn our life lessons. You can choose to help those who are learning, or reject them when their lessons become hard to deal with.
11. Always give importance to yourself in every situation, but not so much that it removes compassion and understanding.
12. Open yourself to the love and harmony that is offered within your spiritual path.
13. Remove yourself from any place or person where you find yourself incapable of being loving and nurturing, but always recognize that it is your issue and not their own.
14. No one can do anything to you that you do not allow them to do, consciously or subconsciously.
15. We are all complete with perfection and faults that balance us into imperfect beings.
16. To dislike, hate, or otherwise reject one whom you feel wronged by is to reject your own ability to learn lessons that are being presented to you.
17. Be a positive influence.
18. The old adage, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” holds true in all group settings, at a minimum. Create a “safe haven” experience wherever you are. Be a part of holding that philosophy in every interaction.
19. Love. Simply love. Yourself, and others.
20. Be the change you want to see in the world.
This guy here makes me feel better about not having gone to college. And so I congratulate him on being Freshly Pressed.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying college is a bad thing, and I’m not putting anyone down for having gone to college, because seriously, if you got through it, or are currently getting through it, great job. I admire you. That’s a shit ton of work. (Mind you, I love studying when I want to, it’s when I have to or someone’s going to flush my money and my future down the toilet that makes me whine like a five year old.)
In any case, my point is that, fresh out of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to seriously pursue. I only knew that I felt like shit for having to stay home and get a job while I watched all my friends go off to further their educations.
Then… one by one they dropped out, flunked out, or spent an extra year (or two) because it was more struggle than they expected. That could have been me, and I’ll tell you right now that, if I had gone to college at 18, it definitely would have been. I didn’t have the drive. Hell, I was damn lucky I graduated high school in the middle of my class. I was lucky I graduated. I never went to school, and when I did I really didn’t do much. My teachers loved me. Which I exploited to the best of my ability.
I also flunked 10th grade gym. Not because I didn’t participate, but because I refused to write papers for it. That’s what health class was for, and I’d be damned if I was going to write a five to ten page paper for gym class.
I got a little off track there, but I think it illustrates the point of my high school attitude.
At 25, I think I’m more equipped to handle college, though because I was a high school douche, I didn’t bother taking my SAT test or my ACT… in fact, the only test I took was the ASVAB and did AMAZING. Not that it helped me, because my attempts at joining the Army were foiled. XD I’m also grateful for that at this point in my life. It was a “I have no direction, my friends are in college, what the fuck am I going to do with my life?” decision. Also, my JROTC sergeant wanted me to give it a go.
So, in short, I agree, and think that 18 is too young for most people to decide what they want long term… and to bet that much cash on it… yeah, I’m all set there.
Filed under Life
A writer writes.
It’s an affirmation that I’ve been using to spur myself on for quite a long time now. Sometimes it works, and gets me into a frenzy of fiction. Sometimes it’s as dead in my mind as I feel my characters are on the page. Regardless, it’s the one truth that’s given me quite a bit of motive to move on in my writing.
I want to be a writer.
I am a writer.
To continue being a writer, I need to write. Some days are harder than others. This is a difficult post for me to write (due to some serious insecurities about my writing, both quantity and quality) and so it’s a bit difficult for me to articulate, but let me stand back and take a breath… and try again.
Writing isn’t about getting paid to put your work into print. It helps boost morale, of course. It’s fun to think about. Fantasies abound about what it might be like to live as a paid writer, sustained off of writing alone. Terrifyingly unlikely for most of us.
Someone handing you a check because you wrote something doesn’t make you a writer. Putting your soul on a page, giving others a part of yourself through the pieces you work hard on, writing to make yourself happy makes you as much a writer as anyone with a contract. It isn’t about integrity or income. It’s about what you have it inside you to do.
A writer writes. I hope that affirmation will give other amateur writers the confidence it’s given me (periodically. I’m only human. =]).
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