woah.

Things i've learned recently.


1. You hear it time and time again, but there really is a moment when you understand these cliches and idiomatic expressions, such as the following. You have to love yourself before you can love someone else. So do what it takes, sit in front of a mirror and compliment your reflection, go to therapy, listen to tapes, isolate yourself in the woods for 8 months, take a class, find a hobby, meditate, join a cult, I don't care-- just make it happen.

2. When you're tempted to just sit in your room and listen to Bob Dylan and survive off of instant oatmeal for the day by yourself, for the love of all that is holy, go spend time with your best friend. At least you can sit together and have beer and [digusting] nachos and spill your guts out. She knows you better than anyone and when words fail, it won't matter. Maybe you can just cry and know she understands.

3. Talk is cheap. People will let you down, and as great literature often reveals to us, people are not always what they seem to be. The meanings you attach to people can be quite different than how they are, what they really 'mean'.

4. We really hear it all the time. I will repeat it. It really doesn't and shouldn't matter what you look like. When you think you're not pretty, tall, little, skinny, tan, or sexy enough, you need to stop and think if these things even matter. Because they don't. At the end of the day, the people who matter are those who don't focus on superficial qualities like weight or hair color. And when someone causes you to feel inadequate, it's a reflection of their shortcomings, not your own.

I would also like to have a feminist moment.. so hold tight for a sec. I was reading a magazine last night (so I shouldn't be surprised, as mags are usually just manuals to nip/tuck/paint/dress/pluck/prod yourself), and there was a particular line I was completely annoyed by. A guy writes in, "Guys know that girls have all sorts of standards and pressure to look a certain way, we understand." REALLY?! Hah. I don't think even us women understand the depth and extent that society has twisted our perceptions of beauty.

5. You can hop around the globe all you want but your personal struggles will still follow you. Absolve them. Then travel some more.

6. College is not all that it's cracked up to be. I'm beginning to feel like a robot- another student taking classes to get a job to make money to... to what? Life has become so... constructed. The things we laugh at, cry for, why we get married, where we go, our entertainment, is all constructed by the mass. These frames control us, and it concerns me.

But life is grand too, of course. Just not today. Excuse my negativity.

7. You can't please everyone.

8. People really honestly believe that things happen for a reason-- and I couldn't disagree more. Life is an accumulation of experiences that of course influences the next, but there is no ultimate plan.. what the hell would the point of life be if that were the case?

9. Eye contact scares the shit out of people. It separates the boys from the men and the girls from the women. I judge people who wear their shades and listen to their ipods all day every day... I dare you all to go outside, in a populated area, without your ipods and sunglasses. It's a whole other world! Besides, there's nothing sexier than eye contact.

10. There is little choice in love. Don't kid yourselves, cowards. When you ignore feelings or compartmentalize, bottle up, etc., you're inhibiting yourself from obtaining truth. Sounds like BS but I swear there's some truth there.. ahaa. but really.

11. Fake school actually is real school.. apparently, I have a paper to write. Blogging is not conducive to productivity.


So, Chels and I are making a deal. We're giving up Facebook for Lent. No, I'm not religious, but I've found that just looking at people's albums and FB chatting are seriously distracting me from doing more important things in life. Like interacting with people, face-to-face. Or writing papers. Soooo... ciao Facebook. If you're a person I like or know, you probs have my e-mail or cell number. Use them if you so wish.

ciao, for now.