Quote of the Day 10/7/12

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. The longer I live the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and the wonder of the world."

[John Burroughs]

Quote of the Day 10/6/12

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”                                               [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

What the Italy?!?! #1

In honor of my study abroad voyage, separate from my more philosophical, analytical posts, I have decided to start sharing short and sweet life tips that Italy will teach me. Here is one as I start my weekend…

In Italy, they thoughtfully produce and sell wine juice boxes. No worries, the straw is included! So next time you're packing your kid a nice brown bag lunch, don't forget to include their juice for the day. Don't want them getting dehydrated or anything….

La Bella Vita

I call this one "pondering my Italian future"

     They say theres a first time for everything… Well, this is my time first time blogging…in Italy! I have been away from the states for 3 weeks now. Seems like just yesterday I was lugging my luggage through 6 different airports to make it to Italy. Yeah, 6 different airports: Santa Barbara to LAX to Denver to Chicago to North Carolina to London Heathrow to London Gatwick to Florence. If you've never trailed to so many airports you should, you get a cross country tour within 48 hours. Super exciting, you should really try it. 

     This semester I am very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to spend a semester in beautiful, one of a kind, splendid Rome, Italia. The first two weeks of my program were spent in Florence. There we did an extensive, 4.5 hour a day Italian language immersion program. During the day we learned the language and during the night we attempted to tie together bits and pieces of any Italian we knew. Try asking a old little lady in a tiny market in a village for a few slices of prosciutto and she hands you a kilo of it. Atleast the prosciutto here is amazing so 3 pounds of it is the smallest of concerns. 

Quote of the Day 8/08/12

“What is the quality of your intent?

Certain people have a way of saying things that shake us at the core. Even when the words do not seem harsh or offensive, the impact is shattering. What we could be experiencing is the intent behind the words. When we intend to do good, we do. When we intend to do harm, it happens. What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent.

My intent will be evident in the results.”           [Thurgood Marshall]

Quote of the Day 7/8/12

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”            [John Lennon]

Quote of the Day 7/5/12

"Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change."        [Jim Rohn]

Quote of the Day 7/1/12

"Storms make trees take deeper roots."                        [Dolly Parton]

Cheat a little...

     So at my job (which btw I will have to devote a full post to one of these days because it is absolutely the best job I've had in my life thus far), my manager has us carry around a 8.5 by 11 "cheat" page of the activities going on at the property on a weekly basis. Unless we have completely memorized every event, this cheat sheet needs to be glued to our body at all times. That way, if anyone were to stop and ask questions about events, we could actually answer questions and seem informed. Plus, nothing looks worse then mumbling out a meesly "uhhhhh.. I don't know..." to a guest of a luxury, 5 star, world renowed resort.
     Because it is summer, there is no reason that I should not be posting on here more. I am so humbly honored by all the positive feedback I received for my last post and have been thinking about what to write next. This cheat sheet from work gave me an idea to perhaps write a small cheat sheet about myself. Now, the things I am about to share may or may not be the most important, pervailing life facts or secrets. Plus, I always suck at filling out those applications or question sheets that say "describe yourself in 250 words or less."
    And on a side note, if some of you stumbled across this post hopeing to find some justification to cheat on your significant other, your next math test, tax report or diet, sorry, keep looking...

Rat Race

     As I sit on my plushy queen size bed, stretch my legs and begin the oh so glamourous process of overnight teeth bleaching , I cannot help but reflect back on the conversations that took place 24 hours ago. My friend Christy had made a surprise appearance in Santa Barbara and it was only fitting and proper (for us former Southern Belles) to get together over tea and biscuits (okay... Coffee Bean and loud bar noises of downtown) and catch up on life. Christy and I were once just debate team acquaintances but after roughing the life of Knoxville, Tennessee, super sized Walmart, and fried chicken... well simply put, we were pretty much friends for life. 

     Our 5 hour long conversation started with the usual- the "how are you doing?", "aren't you glad its summer?,"how is he doing?" and "I can't believe he said that!", but 24 hours later, I kept reflecting on one simple phrase. So simple, but so, completely and utterly honest: "it's like a rat race."

     After getting through the surface issues of life: not enough sleep, not enough money and not enough sane men, we got to the nitty gritty. What is life and when does it actually start? Christy's words could not have hit the nail on the head more perfectly, for me, for her and probably most of the rest of the world. By dictionary terms, a rat race is a term used for an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit and in visual terms, its like a rat in a lab cage, who tries to escape by furiously running around in its wheel, but realistically for little purpose. 

     I know especially, that being a student, and a part of the rising work force, you really do get thrown into a rat race. In school you are pressured by yourself, or someone close to yourself ,to do more, to do better, to get internships which will get you better connections and jobs in the future. You have to take 19+ units and do 5 extracurriculars and be the homecoming queen and be ASB president and the fasted runner on the track team and volunteer for the animal shelter and raise 25,000 dollars a month for cancer research and score in the top percentile on the MKATs or LSATS and triple major and get at least a 3.8 gpa all while somehow maintaing your health, sanity, credit card bills and personal relationships. Somehow even writing that all out made me exhausted, let know trying to figure out how to fit that all into a 24 hour day.