People Don't Always Suck

Saving kittens from being drowned in the flood. He actually swam out to get the stranded kittens.

2 young kids devise a plan to save a stray puppy
 that had fallen into the ravine.

   With everything going on in the world right now it can be hard to have a positive or optimistic out look on humanity. The other day I came across some pictures captioned “people don’t always suck,” and they had people being caught in random acts of kindness. In other words, I think they were trying to show that for all the horrible things that happen daily, there are also good things that people do. From the get go, the whole point of this blog was to be a reminder that inspirational and good things happen all around us daily, so today for my last blog post I hope to restore a little bit of your faith in humanity. 

I think these pictures truly show that anyone can be an inspiration; you don’t have to be superman, you just have to be willing to put yourself out there and care about someone or something! I recently read a quote by C.S Lewis that said,

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”



17-year-old Meghan Vogel was in last place in the 3,200-meter run when she caught up to competitor Arden McMath. Arden's body was begining to give out and instead of running past her (and avoiding a last place finish) Meghan helped her along for 30 meters and pushed her over the finish line before she crossed it herself.  

Thank-you readers for reading and responding to my blog! If anything, I hope it made you think about all the inspirational, fun, kind or just plain awesome things that happen in our lives and sometimes other peoples. I know for me having to think up 2 inspirational things every week has definitely made me more aware of how much good is in the world.  If you are interested in any more pictures, Here is the ULR for where I got most of them: http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/pictures-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity

 







THOSE friends....

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/the-six-different-friends-everyone-should-have/story-fnet0he2-1226505482113

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/relationships/5-types-friends-everyone-should-have

As our senior year draws to an end some of us are left wondering if we will still be friends with the people we have grown up with, after everyone goes off and does their own thing. Certainly some people will keep in touch and other will drift because a lot of friendship is about individual needs, and those are constantly changing. Most people though do have a couple people that they will be friends with for life, whether they have met them yet or not. I searched Google a came across two articles about “The Friends Everyone needs”. As I read these articles I found myself thinking of one of my friends for every title. Personally some of my dearest friends are people that I can go for long periods of time without seeing but it never feels awkward when we are reunited. I think with those types of friends you are just bounded together by your similarities and the things you have experienced together. Friendships are as unique as the pair of people in them though, and every friendship will have its own goods and bads.  

I decided to write about friendship as something that inspires me because I think we often take for granted how important community or socialization is to us. I heard that our generation is considered the most “lonely” because of our reduced need to actual socializations (We often use technology instead). When I heard this I thought, shouldn’t it be the opposite though, because we can constantly talk to people 24/7? Researcher’s show however that we feel more connected to other people when we talk to them in person or at least hear their voice. They are saying that loneliness can even be linked to depression and make you more prone to illness!

Humans like to belong to a community; it’s just how we are. For me personally I know that when I go out and talk with a friend it makes me feel more involved and happy than if I were to text them. Plan a dinner party with all your friends; go make your own little community, after all, everyone could use a friend.

Spoken Word

Okay, I have found a new obsession. Spoken Word. Pretty much spoken word is people who perform the poetry they write. It is like a mix of slam poetry and rap, it also sometimes has a beat or tune in the background. I was on a blogging site a couple weeks ago and I kept coming across these videos of people performing spoken word, and that is when my interest was sparked. It really is an art to be able to create and perform poetry the way these people do. I think what makes it so special is that you see the people who wrote the poetry

performing it, and because of that you get to see all the emotion behind the poem.

 I think it is inspiring because it shows people being vulnerable, raw and real in a lot of cases. Just like music it can be very relatable and can be very inspirational. I also like that because it is live, because often times you get to hear the audience interacting with the artist. Often times during these performances people will snap or shout a little "mhm" if they agree or like a phrase in the poem. While performing most artists rely on hand gestures and facial expressions to aid in the entertainment factor of the performance. I have however seen some artist actually act it out.

The spoken word artist in this video is named David Bowden. He performs his poetry live but this poem got a lot of attention and was turned into a music video. I absolutely love it. If you have the chance to search spoken word on YouTube, let me know what you think!

Music to my Ears

     I was trying to think of what I could write about for my next post while I was walking to school this morning. In my half zombie state I couldn’t complete my thought because one of my favorite songs came on my iPod. Then it occurred to me, that I haven’t written a post on MUSIC, one of the most inspirational and influential things in our world. Everyone has their own preference and own taste in music but I think what it comes down to is what is easiest for you to relate to. That is why there is such thing as main stream music, because most people can easily relate to it.

     I think music is inspiring because it is something that has been a factor in human life throughout most of history. It can mean so many different things; war calls, lullabies, warnings, mourning and praises. I think music also has this way of evoking emotion from people and making them feel like other people feel the way that they do. I have always thought it was interesting that we don’t realise how prominent music is in our society. I know for me I never leave the house without my ear buds, and I can’t imagine going on a walk or a run without my music.

   People even get protective of the gender of music or the bands they listen to. You know what I’m talking about, like when your friend shows you a new song or band they like and you just don’t really like it or relate to it but they want so badly for you to “get it” the way they do.  I am not very musical so lyrics are important in the music I listen to. I love when songs have “smart” lyrics, or new phrases that you have never heard before. I am a huge fan of acoustic artist’s, I like hearing the raw instruments and the natural voices (with voice cracks, and not always perfected tunes). Acoustic music reminds me of singing around a campfire, or listening to someone sing without them knowing and that is why I like it. What type of music do you listen to? Why do you relate with it?   

Just a speck

         The first time I got to touch the ocean was last summer, when I was in Panama. Half of my time there was spent living, among a tribe of Kuna people on their island Aquadup. While helping with daily chores one day, my friend turned to me and said, “What’s your favorite thing about nature?” You can image that living on a tropical island; there were thousands of things around me that I could have chosen. While I was looking at my surroundings trying to come up with an answer,

       I remembered that the nature on the island that I thought was so beautiful in that moment, is the same nature that terrified us at night. Forks of lightning that crack and lung towards the island, thunder that rattles the hut and rain that pounds though the roof.  After thinking about this I told her, “I like things that remind me how small I am”. For instance the ocean can be so beautiful, fun to explore and enjoy. It also though has a reputation for being destructive though, and being home to animals such as sharks and whales. Looking out at ocean reminds me that even though it is beautiful it also has the power to destroy, and that demands a certain kind of respect.

       Living in the city sometimes it is easy to forget that there are things that people cannot control. In the city everything is built for people by people, and people control and manage what they have created. We are reminded of how small we are though, when a storm hits and wipes out all that we have created in a matter of minutes. I don’t mean small in a bad way though, I just mean it is easy for us to get arrogant and think we are invinsible,  we forget that there is SO much we don’t know.

    When you look at our galaxy we aren’t even a speck in the Milky Way. We don’t even know close to everything about our planet or even ourselves, none the less our galaxy! I embrace the small feeling. It’s a humbling experience to be reminded that no one knows everything and the big problems we worry about and have in our lives may not be a big as we think.  

 

Awesome!!!

The first time I was introduces to the “Book of Awesome” was when I was at camp. At campfire we would always read a couple ‘awesomes’. For those of you who don’t know what the book is all about let me fill you in; the book of awesome is pretty much a huge list of awesome things in life. For instance, turning over your pillow to the cold side… Awesome! This brilliant idea of a book was thought up by Neil Pasricha. Neil describes himself as an average American guy who started a blog about life’s free little joys that happen in our daily lives. Neil’s blog became extremely popular, so he turned the concept into a book; he now is the author of 4 awesome books. When I was reading the book sometimes I would come across things he wrote about and be like, “other people like that too!?”, so it was cool to see that other people notice these little things too.  After reading it, I am much more aware of the awesome little things that go on around me every day.

 Here are some things I think are awesome; unexpected apologies, so when you get in a fight with like a sibling and you’re so mad at them. There you are sitting there stewing about how angry you are and then out of nowhere they come apologize. Fight over, Awesome. Making a new friend, like that moment when someone goes from being an acquaintance to a friend. For instance, you go to a new camp and you don’t know anyone so you have to actually work at getting to know people. Then the end of you time together, when you have to say goodbye to these people that just a week ago were strangers now are friends, Awesome. OK my last ones are kind of similar but getting your head massaged or you back drawn on. I remember in grade school, when we would have story time on the carpet me and all my friends would sit in a line and draw on each other’s backs. Awesome, haha.  What are some of yours?

Ps, you can check out Neil’s blog at:        http://1000awesomethings.com/

‘World's Ugliest Woman’: Stop staring Start Learning

When searching for something the write about online I came across the story of Lizzie Velasquez. Lizzie was born with a rare medical condition (so rare only 2 other people in the world might have it) where she does not have any adipose tissue or fat cells. This means she cannot store or build muscle or gain weight. Lizzie was born at 2 pounds 10 ounces and was expected not to survive. Her parent explained that Lizzie had to wear doll clothes for the first couple months of her life because newborn baby clothes were too big. The doctors did not think Lizzie would ever be able to walk, talk or live a normal life but now at 23 Lizzie is beating the odds. She cannot store nutrients so she has to eat about every 20 minutes to have enough energy to get through the day. She is a mere 60 pounds with zero percent body fat. Lizzie is far more prone to injury because she has no muscle, even things such as walking can cause stress fractures in her feet. When Lizzie was in high school, which is a very insecure time for most adolescence especially if you are ‘different’, her classmates made a YouTube video nominating her the ‘Ugliest Woman in the world.’ I can’t imagine how horrible and humiliating that must have felt. The comments left of the video were just as malicious. Lizzie took revenge in the form of success. She became a motivational talking to people about embracing uniqueness, dealing with bullies and overcoming obstacles. She has written two books titled, “Beautiful Lizzie” and “Be Beautiful, Be You”. She is also a senior at Texas State University. Lizzie explained that her life has not always been easy but she would not have it any other way because she has learned so much and helped so many people through her pain. I think this is so inspiring because Lizzie is showing people that beauty is more than just looks and that people don’t need to feel bad because they don’t look like the photo shopped models in the magazines.   I think it is courageous of Lizzie to take her negative experiences and turn them into ways to help and uplift other people.

I do...forever?

Okay ,so this semester I am taking a class about family units in a diverse society. I just finished the portion on relationships, mainly marriages. I think growing up everyone has their own imaginary idea of what marriage is like, and what theirs will be like.

I think my idea of what marriage is came from a lot of different sources to create this collage of an ideal partnership that will be wonderful and perfect. I took parts of my parent’s relationship, their friend’s relationship and what the media and Disney told me marriage was like and pieced it together into my own dream of how it will be. Obviously though, now that I am older, I realize that my dream idea of marriage isn’t the reality of it. Not to say that marriages can’t be wonderful, I’m sure they can! All I’m saying is, I never saw any of the princesses divorce Prince Charming, and according to reality nearly half of them would be. Anyways the course has helped me I would say to get a better understanding of what makes a marriage so hard, why half of them doomed to fail.

After reading through all the course content I literally felt like I had sat through multiple marriage counselling sessions haha. I think after seeing everything that can go wrong in a marriage I gained a whole new appreciation for life-long marriages. For me it is inspiring to see that it can be done, but not only that, that it can also be done happily. I love seeing couples that have been together for the majority of their lives and still love and respect each other; it’s quite a feat I would say to share your life with a person. I just think it it’s cool to not only see a couple that has stayed together so long because they are married, but because they genuinely like the other person and enjoy sharing their life experiences with one another.   

Nostalgia

The other night I had the weirdest dream, I was stuck in a world that was made out of candy (Kind of like candy land, but darker). Usually I only remember my dreams briefly for a couple minutes in the morning but for some reason I could recall every detail of this dream. It wasn’t until a couple days later I realized that it wasn’t so much a dream as it was déjà vu. When I was younger computer games would come in cereal boxes if you bought the sugary kind. I finally realized that this candy land I was picturing was from a computer game I used to be obsessed with when I was a kid. The game was called Pyjama Sam and you got to be a super hero, solving problems (probably educational now that I think of it…) and exploring a junk food world that he got sucked into AKA the kitchen cupboard.  I remember sitting at our really old family computer and being amazed by the graphics of this game haha. Anyway this random case of nostalgia caused me to go my own adventure trying to find where my once prized possessions had gotten off to. I will admit to you readers, that yes, when I found my Pyjama Sam game I tried it out, just to see if it still worked of course….. hahaha. The game reminded me of all my other treasures that have become old “stuff” over the years; I remember playing for hours with Polly Pockets that I bought with my birthday money.  I got a little bit of “Toy Storyitis” after finding all this stuff.  I think nostalgia is a more powerful tool than people give it credit for. I think it can inspire people because it often reminds people of who they were before they were submerged into the ‘real world’. Showing how far we have come and changed yet how some things never change. Nostalgia is just awesome. Go find you old toys.

Toy storyitis: When I look at all my old toys, sometimes I imagine/wonder if they miss me like Buzz and Woody missed Andy when he grew up…HAHA!

Extreme Home Makeover!

Extreme Home Makeover, has the best part of the shows at the very beginning or at the end. The beginning is when the show introduces the family that is going to get a new house and why. It also shows the current conditions in which they are living. Needless to say the ending is when the big reveal happens, and everyone cries because they are so happy. Haha. The middle for me was always just kind of extra; I just watched it so I could see the ending. People are sort of funny that way; I will watch a whole show just to see certain parts and to make sure I don’t miss them. I think it’s because I am a sucker for happy endings, I love when everything ends nicely in a cute little package, probably that is an unrealistic thing to happen. It’s the before and after affect I think that inspires us with shows like this one. The affect works by showing you something sad, bad, ugly, mean and turning it into happy good, beautiful and nice. It’s that optimistic attitude they’re portraying, that ‘anything can get better’. I think that is why shows like this can be so inspiring. This show I think is unique though because they don’t just give somebody a new house. They custom make it for each unique family and the community volunteers to make it. They have taken something that could be a simple act of generosity and made so that it can help bring together a community in the process.  

Watch the beginging and the end of an episode, you'll see what I'm saying.

http://abc.go.com/shows/extreme-makeover-home-edition

Bravery at it's Best

Razia Jan is an Afghani woman who was nominated for the CNN everyday heroes’ award. Razia lived in the United States for the majority of her life but after 9/11 she felt she needed to return to her home country and try to make a positive impact. In Afghanistan women’s rights are often oppressed and Razia wanted to empower Afghanistan’s future generations, primarily the girls. Razia opened an all-girls school in 2008 that offers a free education to young girls that would otherwise not get the opportunity of one. Razia mentioned that when most of the girls first began attending the school, most of them could not even write their own names. There are now over 350 girls that are receiving a free educating from Razia’s school. Razia has faced many obstacles in trying to promote this positive change, mostly from certain men in the community that hold power and do not think women should be educated. Even up to the very night before the school opened, men came and threatened Razia to turn her school into a boy’s school, she refused. The school has faced lots of threats and even a grenade bombing that was the cause of many fatalities. Razia doesn’t let that stop her though; she believes educating these girls with help to make Afghanistan’s future more positive. Change is always met with adversity in the beginning but little by little Razia is seeing people’s perspective on female education change. She said a lot of the father’s go from being angry about their daughter’s being in school to being proud. Razia is no doubt a very brave woman to stand up for what is right even when the danger risk is high. She is inspiring people to embrace change and changing the lives of so many people in the process.

You can watch a short video about what Razia is doing by clicking on the link below:
       
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/08/02/hero-razia-jan.cnn

March Break Madness

Happy Friday! It’s the day before March break begins so today I’m going to be doing a bit of a special post. I found three videos that are sure to make you smile, and remind you that inspiration doesn’t always have to come from something deep or profound. I hope these make you laugh really hard, which is something we all need to do a little more often. I came across the first video and just couldn't resist, does it not just radiate joy? You can see that Lily is so excited she doesn’t know what to do with herself and just starts crying. The parents were shocked at her reaction which makes it even funnier. There is no way that someone could watch this and not laugh or at least smile. The second video is from Ellen who never fails to make me laugh. I think my favourite part is when the little boy puts actions to the words. I think it also helps that the little boy is so darn adorable and is trying so hard to get all the words out. The last video is a blast from the past, you see when I was younger I was a huge fan of the show America's Funniest Home Videos, it was impossible for me to watch that show and stay sad or angry. These videos may not be inspirational in the traditional sense, however for me watching things like this never fail to make my day a little brighter. They bring me back to my six year old self who still believed in fairytales. Growing older has meant dealing with reality and a lot of times that is not fun, but watching this stuff, I think, reminds us all that our 6 year old-selves are still a part of us. We don't have to forget the fearlessness and innocence that we possessed as children and we shouldn't let the world and reality steal it away.

Kisses From Katie

I first heard about a girl named Katie Davis when I was on a volunteer trip last summer. All I knew was that she wrote a book called Kisses From Katie and a lot of the people I was with there were really into it. A couple months later I came across Amazima Ministries Promotional video and half way through watching it I realized they were talking about the same Katie Davis girl! Katie Davis was a regular high school student with big dreams and goals, she was the honor role, student president, prom queen type of student. In her last years of high school, before she decided what she was going to do the year after she went on a short term mission trip to Uganda. Many people would say after trips like that "it changed my life," but for Katie Davis it actually did. Katie decided that after high school she would take a year off and go teach kindergarten at the school and home Amazima Ministries provides for orphaned children. That year long commitment drastically changed her life, as she decided to permanently stay in Uganda, and become a mother to 14 little girls. I think this story is so inspiring because Katie saw people that needed help and decided that she would be the person willing to give it. Everything and everyone in society gave Katie a million excuses as to why she couldn't do this; she was too young to be a mother, she couldn't handle the responsibility, she needed to go to university, she should return to her "real" life but Katie ignored all of it a just followed what she believed to be right. I’m sure the 14 little girls who call her mom are glad that Katie defied the "norms" and chose to stay. Katie might not be able to give her daughters all the material stuff the we often mistake for being part of a "good parent," however she has given these girls the oppertuinity to feel cared for, loved and part of a family.  She could've gone back to her comfortable life in the states, gone to university and settled down, which is what everyone around her was telling her to do but Katie did not let the unknown hold her back. Katie may have gone with the intentions changing this village for the better however I think she would agree that these children and people have completely changed her in the proccess. Katie Davis's book is called Kisses From Katie and she talks about her life and experiences as a mom, missionary and director. Of course there are always critics when it comes to stories like this, but the way I see it is, she is just trying to help these kids and make a positive change, no matter what your view is on anything else, I think it is evident that she really loves what she does.

Spying on Mother Nature

The other night I was having a really hard time falling asleep, because I read long past the time I should and then I can never fall asleep afterwards. I finally got sick of lying in bed and got up to get a drink of water. As I stood at the sink, I looked out the bathroom window onto the street. It was 3 in the morning and no one was out. All I could see was the dim glow of the street light and millions of small snowflakes falling from the sky. I sat there memorized the beauty that was right outside my door. Everything was coated in a thick layer of snow and there was absolutely no movement except for the snow fall. The moon was clouded over but still visible in the navy blue sky. I sat there feeling so peaceful to be able watch what nature does when we are asleep. Here’s this street that I grew up on for my whole life, thinking I knew every nook and cranny it had, taking my breath away because of some snow? I thought maybe I was just over tired, and technically I was, but watching nature work before we wake up and disturb it, is really an amazing experience. This reminded me of how beautiful our world is and often times we don’t slow down enough to see it. In the morning people woke up grumbling because of the snow they would have to shovel or plow, and the salt they would have to put down so they wouldn't slip. I did not hear anyone wake up and say, “Wow that is beautiful.” I guess what I am trying to say is as humans it is almost our second nature to look at something through the spectrum of “what’s wrong with it” but I dare you to wake up at 3in the morning and watch the world around seeking out what’s good about it, you won’t be disappointed.

Soul Pancake

While scrolling through my Facebook news feed a video popped up with the caption "This Will Make You Happy," curious as to what this video could be about, I clicked it and was pleasantly surprised. Essentially what happened was the Soul Pancake team set up a ball pit in the middle of a busy side walk. They hung a sign above it that said “Sit Down, Make a Friend”. When the two strangers sit into the ball pit they are have to pick up the conversation balls and read off the question to the other person. This was so that the two people could start a conversation easily. The conversation balls had stuff on them like, “Find a common interest,” letting the two strangers find something to bond over. I thought this video was inspirational because for one it made me happy, just like the caption said it would, to see people being nice to one another and laughing. The other reason this video struck me is because it gave people the opportunity to slow down for a minute and connect with someone they might have never met before. All these people were just out completing their daily routine, maybe on their way to work or out running errands. It’s so easy for people to get caught up with all the stuff on their to-do list, and never slow down to enjoy everything life has to offer. We share the planet with 6.5 million other people, yet people are still lonely, and I think that’s because sometimes we get way too caught up with ourselves and forget to look around. That is what I took away from this video, look around, you never know how you could impact someone else’s life.

Shameless

Hello fellow readers, today I'm going talk about a fictionalTV Series. A couple weekends ago while I was babysitting I was looking for anew TV show series to start watching. I'm one of those people who gets reallyinto the shows I watch, like more so than just enjoying an episode here andthere. I'm a “I just watched 12 episodes in a row” type of person, so becauseof this unfortunate trait, I am very picky about the shows I choose to watch. Anyway, I came across a show called Shamelessand briefly remembered being told really good reviews about it. It turnedout to be about a family with an alcoholic father and an absentee mother. The 6children of this couple live together, with the eldest sister, Fiona caring forthem. At first I was positive that this would be a depressing and sad storyline for a TV series, and wasn't sure if I would like it, but then I watchedthe first episode. The show takes a very realistic view of the situation but has a lot of humorous moments to balance everything out. I felt inspiredby this show because it highlights how strong a families bond can be.  TheShameless family is the epitome of dysfunctional however they also showwhat a real loving family can look like. Fiona dropped out of high school inorder to care for her 5 younger siblings and although it may not be ideal, shebecame the mother that those children needed, even though she didn't have to. Asmuch as they may fight with their siblings whenever one of them needs help, therest are always there to help. The father is definitely no “father of the year”and even though the children feel some hate towards him and how he acts theystill love him and help him when he needs it. When it comes down to it familyis something that many of us take for granted, even though we know when worstcomes to worst; family is what matters most. This show shatters the idea of thewhite picket fence family, and gives a good depiction of how real families preserverand love through dysfunction.

Welcome!

I was very conflicted when choosing the topic for this blog, wondering what I could possibly write about that people might actually want to continue reading. At first I thought I should choose a topic that would have meaning and depth, wanting to inform people of things in the world they may be unaware of. As I thought this over my initial thought was to choose something along the lines of world issues or society’s injustices. Sitting down that night and watching some of the news I realised that there is no shortage of the negative news being spewed out into the world. I didn’t want to write as blog constantly reminding my readers of the horrible happenings of the world considering they live it and experience its affects as well. I began to think about the books and blogs I like to read and came to the conclusion, the best of what I've ever read has either made me cry, laugh or re-think. One of those three things is usually my reaction when I feel inspired. The definition of inspire when searched on Google is to "Fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something", and that is what I am hoping to accomplish with this blog. I want to share with you the things or people that inspire me in hopes that they will inspire you to. My goal is discover things that may not always be viewed as “inspiring” and try to learn how to take inspiration out of any situation. There is no question that the world can seem hopeless at times and life can just plain suck, I want to remind you and myself of all the beautiful things that happen in the world, moments when life is a wonderful thing to be a part of.