Waves

Hey Reader,

How's it going? I am once again procrastinating slightly, but I swear I will be productive tonight, then I get to hang out with little kids tomorrow morning.  I'm excited.  So, it is 6:02 and I'm kinda just waiting for people before dinner and then there's an event going on tonight.  It's work time after that, I swear.

Life is filled with all sorts of little epic coincidences.  Lately I've noticed that life seems to be composed of two separate waves, like sound waves kinda--there's the internal wave which consists of things like emotions, thoughts, personal goals etc.  It's pretty much everything internalized, and given the name, is subject to very frequent ups and downs, even within the span of a day.  Then there's the second wave consisting of everything external like events, weather, luck, etc.  It's everything external to ourselves and can get a little out of hand sometimes, though we can control it in little ways, such as putting ourselves in specific situations or controlling how we react.  As with the internal wave, this wave also has ups and downs.  Duh, it's a wave.

Now, what I find interesting is how the waves interact with each other.  I mean think of it.  If an external wave crest matches up with an internal wave trough, they cancel out, and vice versa.  This can be way cool if you're having a bad day and then something amazing happens--like seeing an incredible performance.  *cough* *cough* Preston Pugmire. (Look him up, he's great to watch.)  I mean, even if you're having a bad day and something good coincides, yet the waves don't exactly match up, the roughness is eased and life just becomes better.

Sure, these waves can cancel each other out and essentially, mellow you out, but they can also build each other up or rip each other down further.  Take the sun for example, say you are feeling great and then you walk outside and it's a beautiful day--you see an incredible sun reflecting off all the surfaces and BAM, your good mood is now amplified by the great weather.  Unfortunately this can also work in reverse.  Say you're feeling rotten and then you find out you bombed a test or something like that.  The bad mood is now amplified as well.

For the sake of optimism, let's focus on when internal positivity and general happiness coincides with external positivity and possibly good luck.  We cannot isolate the two waves to examine them separately, but I highly doubt our lives would be as intense--yes it can sometimes be intensely painful, but it can also be intensely wonderful, and those times when the wave crests coincide is when epicness occurs.

So, live for the epic times when the crests coincide, they'll get you through the times when the troughs do.  However, also be aware that the frequency is by no means static.  Don't think that life has a set pattern for you, chances are it doesn't.  Just enjoy the spontaneity of it all.

Be well, be excellent, be bloody brilliant!

-Megan

Spectra

Heyo Reader!  How're you?

I have about ten minutes before I head off to my philosophy class... what better to do with ten minutes than write a blog post right?  Yes.  So after class I am going to try to crank out an essay, breeze through the rest of my homework, maybe eat something, and then head off to see an acoustic show around 10.  Good day?  I think so, but that doesn't mean I don't need a weekend... right now preferably.

Seriously, since when did we make everything so black and white?  You know those color pallets with maybe 10 colors on them?  Then have you seen those full color spectra like the customize section of the Microsoft Paint program?  Life is a spectrum, not a dichotomy.  We dichotomize everything!  Why?  Well, it's easier to organize in our heads, but life offers so much more variety when we understand that almost every experience is taken from a spectrum of experiences.  Think about all the false dichotomies we encounter in life.  These are, but are not limited to: gender, sexuality, leadership, even race. I mean really, how much more colorful can life be if we accept the entire spectrum as reality instead of just a limited pallet of color?  False dichotomy is a logical fallacy for a reason.

I was thinking about how I've changed from more of a leader to more of a follower the other day.  Then I smacked myself in the head and told myself to stop being so ridiculous about the whole thing.  My leadership roles have shifted, turned a few degrees to the right or left maybe, but they have not completely reversed.  I am simply more comfortable taking control in different situations than I have been in the past, and I'm much more content to be led.

We can't just live life pigeon-holing ourselves into one set role, position, or anything else.  We are humans and we change.  Everything about ourselves, be it personality, preferences, interests, whatever you can think of, has the capacity to shift and shift fairly often.  It's okay to recognize in yourself the fact that you are a dynamic human being.  Just accept it and go with it.  Enjoy the dynamic ride. Who we are, and what we are is just a flexible point on a spectrum.  Spectra are epic--take rainbows for example.  Nothing is better than a good rainbow... except a double rainbow...

Have the most excellent of days.

-Megan

Fragile

Okay Reader,

Since when do I procrastinate this much, huh?  Seriously, I need to stop letting myself put off so much work for so long.  You know what?  It will get done, and it will be good.  I'm sitting in my dorm at 12:30 am, just writing this.  T'was a very low key day, and I even got a nap in.  It's a shame I have to put off naps until the weekend... a cryin' shame. Anyways, this is what I've been thinking about lately:

I'm not super religious or anything, but I do have a spiritual side, and for lack of a better word, we are miracles.  There.  I said it. The human race and the human experience is incredibly and profoundly miraculous.  Why?  Because we survive as individuals, as groups, as cultures, as a race.  Not only do we survive, but given the right conditions, we downright thrive!--all while inhabiting very fragile bodies in a very dangerous world.  Life is extremely fragile, do you know this?

We have five incredible senses and an even more powerful mind.  Now, the reason I say that life is fragile is because everything we are, our personality, our soul, ourselves, are stored in our brains, and if anything happens to that brain, we lose whatever processes and systems happened to be on that part of a very fragile cortical layer of gray matter.  Every sensation you experience, every smell, every sound, every taste, every image, and every touch, only exists because some part of your brain tells you you're experiencing it.  If this is damaged... you simply don't experience that particular sensation. Fragile.

We live a miraculous existence because our lives are filled with rich, but raw sensations that our mind weaves together to form the tapestry that is the world we know.  Simple wavelengths come together in the systems of the eye to produce the beautiful image of a sunset, pressure waves are transformed into electrical signals that are interpreted to be the sounds of a friend playing guitar... and the subtle changes in pressure on our skin cause sensory neurons to fire more rapidly, resulting in us detecting the comforting squeeze of a friend's hand in a moment of distress.

We lead dangerous, perilous, fragile lives, and yet it's a beautiful existence made stable by our interactions with the places and people we choose to be and be with.  We live lives rich with experiences, even if that's just waking up to the smell of vanilla.  Life is a miracle because somehow, all this randomness and chaos makes sense once filtered through biological systems in our brain.  The science behind our senses allows us the wonder of the human experience--to experience humanity.  I think that's pretty epic, don't you?

So, Reader.  I want you to use your senses.  Breathe deep.  Look around.  Savor that meal.  Listen to that music. Feel something.  Don't take your senses for granted--just take a moment to soak it all up like the sensory sponge you are.

That's it for now.  I hope for you the courage to be brave, be bold, and be beautiful.

-Megan

Winter, Soup, and Quiet

Hello lovely Reader!

I am Nicole, one of Megan's friends at college. She writes on my blog every Wednesday and in turn, she asked me to write on her blog every once in a while. So here goes nothing.

The weather right now is -3 degrees, but with windchill it feels like -20. Heck, there is even an extreme cold warning in effect until noon (which is about right now). I had a doctor appointment at about nine this morning and my car barely started. After my appointment, I headed back to campus and had to run around, dropping off applications, scholarship money, and letters. I am now chilling in my room, about to eat a hot bowl of soup. I still can't really feel my feet and I'm sure my face still has some redness to it.

I love summer - the warmth, the time off, the being able to be barefoot, the whole nine-yards. Typically I hate winter. It's fun for about two days then it just becomes annoying. But something about this winter is different; maybe it's because the snow didn't come until after January 1st but whatever it is, I am enjoying it more.

When I was running around campus this morning, it was quiet. No one was out and even if someone was walking, it was too cold to talk. Sometimes life gets too busy and too loud. Even though I adore summer, I also enjoy the quietness of winter.

As I come to the bottom of my bowl of soup, I am quite sad. Although winter is bitter and cold, it also gives you a perfect reason to eat a hot bowl of soup, drink a cup of cocoa, curl up with a heated blanket, and cuddle up next to someone and just enjoy the quietness of the season. And I think that's pretty epic.

Enjoy the quietness of the weather and the warmth that will come after the cold. If you need a moment to relax and be quiet, check this website out.

Be epic and keep on being lovely.

-Nicole

Talents, Awe, and Art.

Heyo Reader,

How you doin'? I'm sitting around, procrastinating on a few papers due Wednesday. No worries though, I have all my work done for tomorrow. I'm actually just sitting on my bed, listening to Yellowcard. Life is good right? Or... at least it will be until those papers kick in. The good news is I have my philosophy class tomorrow, which I adore. Tomorrow's looking to be a good day--busy, but good.

Okay, so you know what's really great? Having friends who are willing to share their talents with you. I guess I'm thinking of artistic things, be they musical, literary, or visual. It's any kind of talent really, but the arts just seem to be on my mind lately. I cannot even begin to describe how blessed I am to know all sorts of incredible people with talents I only wish I myself possessed. I know painters, artists, writers, dancers, guitarists, drummers, pianists, poets, orators, philosophers, actors, potters, photographers, singers, and a number of other incredible things that escape my immediate consciousness.

Everyone you know has talents that you might not know about or might not have been allowed to see, and that's incredible when you stop to think about it. One of my friends is an incredible sketch artist and I remember her just sitting down for a couple minutes, getting into a weird zone, and cranking out incredible drawings. I don't even think I could draw a decent straight line in the time she would work. The art of your peers will enrich your life, just as it should.

The beautiful art and general talents of your peers are the kinds of things that make life bearable when it seems unbearable. They are capable of bringing to light the beautiful, and sometimes painful realities of life, and they are also capable of letting you casually slip into the softest, most comforting daydreams.

Appreciate your friends and talents, and encourage them to pursue whatever those may be. Sometimes we take the skills of others for granted, barely glancing at a friend's painting or missing someone's dance recital. I'm no artist by any means but it feels excellent to hear genuine compliments and praise from friends for anything artistic I do, and I can only assume they feel the same. It just feels good to be noticed.

Art makes life epic. It's a fact... 'cause I said so.

Be well Reader, and be excellent.

-Megan

BIG Decisions

Well Reader,

I am currently creating the illusion of being productive by doing this to kill some time before I have my psych class. Ugh. But, today has been better than expected. I am sitting in my peaceful dorm room, possibly making myself a cup of tea, and contemplating how the rest of this Friday the 13th will play out. Rest assured I have tons and tons of work to get done over the weekend... but it's Friday, and we are going to have a good time dang it!

So, today's topic is this: Life changing decisions. In my Sociology class today, we touched on the topic of reciprocity between the individual and their context, in other words, how an individual is incredibly impacted by their society and environment, but also how society and environment can be incredibly influenced by an individual.

Applying this to my own life, I realize that I am in the presence of some people making incredibly epic life changing decisions. I am talking BIG decisions here. These decisions not only affect those making them, but those in contact with them. I mean, life decisions can have both positive and negative outcomes, and sometimes we can't avoid the negative, but we can always choose to see the bright side in adverse circumstances, and there will always always always be a bright side. Have you ever been in close contact with a lot of pessimists? a lot of optimists? Their energy may be annoying at times, but it also spreads. As humans, we tend to assimilate into groups even without trying, and so my point is this:

Optimists tend to have more positive life outcomes, and while they cannot control whether every life changing decision has a positive outcome, they'll probably handle the ones that don't just a little bit better, and so if you surround yourself with optimists, or at the very least, actively see the bright side of things, the ripple effects of other people's decisions will affect you in more positive, or less negative ways respectively.

I am in contact with incredibly epic people making incredibly epic decisions, and we always hear things like "You can't control the cards you're dealt, but you can control how you play them." Well, the people I know are dealt some weird, difficult hands, and yet they are playing them out beautifully. They are taking control and refusing to let society dictate how life ought to be lived, but instead opting to change and influence the circumstances of their own existence. My current existence is pretty standard, but I am in the company of greatness, and I can honestly say I am inspired to take the reigns of my own destiny, even if that's as trivial as deciding what time to set my alarm for.

That's all I got folks. Be excellent. Be epic.

-Megan

Rain, Thought, and Country Music

Reader, I am sitting in my room now at 8:33 am, getting ready to head off to breakfast, and eventually, my sociology class at 10:30. I am surprised I was able to wake up so easily this morning--the excitement of the first day of class perhaps. My goodness is it nice to have routine again!

I don't like country music. I just don't. I don't know if it's the overwhelming twanginess or the fact that it's too idealistic, but it's not my thing. However, for all the flaws I attribute to country music, I gotta say I appreciate its general optimism and acceptance of emotion. You rarely hear a country song in which the singer tries to manipulate their own emotion into something else. The impression I've gotten is that emotions are generally accepted as being what they are and that's it.

Ever notice how thought wrecks everything? Overthinking keeps us awake at night, turns molehills into mountains, and freaks us out in general. Never underestimate the power of the mind. Fortunately, thinking can also bring us out of the chaos it leads us into. What a double-edged sword thought is.

So, you know what's epic? When something you don't generally like goes and does something wonderful. Like thought, tons of things are double-edged swords, but with certain things, it seems as though the sharper side is always prominent. Take rain for example, I'm not a huge fan of rain, but I absolutely LOVE it when it's beautiful, like night time in a city when everything turns into a mirror and every light source is amplified a thousand times over, and the world feels glassy... stunning. It's not just rain, but water (It's snowing right now for your information) but have you ever gone outside right after an ice storm? It's beauty mixed with pain mixed with peace. Poetic in a way.

Sure ice sucks to drive on, but we're the ones who put ourselves in positions to drive. It's not ice's fault it's slippery. My point was, sometimes things you don't like end up surprising you with wonderful little epic moments. I can practically hear the Overture of 1812 being played above the sounds of traffic.

Be well, be excellent, and be epic!

-Megan

The Art of Communication

Dear Reader,

I am sitting here in my dorm room, sipping a cup of English Breakfast tea that I have now reheated for the third time. I woke up at approximately 5:30, unable to sleep any longer, took a delightful shower, and am now feeling human enough to challenge the day, and what a good one it will be. You see, I just got back to school yesterday and am settling back in, possibly to live a life solitary. I miss my roommate, but alas, life has called her elsewhere.

Let's be honest, we're all communications majors. If not majoring in it, we're minoring in it. I don't care if your transcript says you're pre-med, or Biology, or Engineering, or Psychology, or even Enigmatology, the study of puzzles. (I was recently told that Will Shortz, creator of the New York Times crossword puzzle, majored in this. According to Wikipedia, it's true.) No matter what your declared major, communication is and will be an important part of your life.

Now, let's be honest. As humans, we sometimes suck at communication. Things get misinterpreted or lost in translation, or sometimes we just refuse to put effort into it or ignore the fact that a problem stems from our poor, lacking communication skills. BUT, we still have this incredible ability to transpose feeling into thought and spin thought into written and verbal language. We can write volumes in a photograph, and speak not only sentences, but recite entire epics using only our eyes. We communicate through words, body language, touch, sound, we do all of this communicating, and why? Well, 1. It allows us to survive and 2. We crave it.

When you get down to the nuts, bolts, statistics, and logistics of living in society, it is based on the ability to communicate, to be able to proclaim our existence to others and have them recognize and interpret the implications of that existence.

Now, let's jump back to the present. Us as communication majors. We're all studying and learning the art of communication, be it at age 9 or 90. We learn, we laugh, we love, and we somehow figure out what is okay to say and do around certain people. I have learned to not make lawyer jokes to my cousin who will soon graduate law school. YAY learning! As we go through life learning to better present thoughts, opinions, and facts, we are also learning how to better interpret those same items. In this information age, we are becoming able to more quickly comprehend information as well as with more accuracy. Good thing too, because these days we're dealing with loads of information on a daily basis.

So, what are you waiting for? Go communicate! By itself, communication is not good nor bad, it is only the vehicle with which information is transferred. But, if you can better transfer that information, I can almost guarantee you'll see some positive results, even if that's just time saved from not having to dance around a subject. I'm just thankful we're able to connect with each other on so many levels.

Go be epic and excellent!

-Megan