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.