List of Happiness

My roommate recently showed me her list of things that make her happy. She said she liked making the list because it made her happy to think of all the things that made her happy. I kind of liked the idea and after pondering all week I came up with a list of some of the things that make me happy. It's interesting though because our lists were very different. People are different, so I guess it's not surprising. The list isn't in any particular order.
+ Rain or melting snow slowly dripping down into my hair.
+ Getting a new book, children's or novel not a text book.
+ Picking up a new book to read that looks like it will be good, or is highly recommended by a friend.
+ Picking up an old book that's like an old friend. (ex. Witch of Blackbird Pond, Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever).
+ Stomping through snow when I don't have too.
+ A really good conversation where we talk about something intellectually stimulating or emotionally analytical.
+ Walking along a street and smelling fresh laundry.
+ Creating something out of nothing (like my Rustic Project, or my paintings, or even gingerbread houses).
+ Cuddling inside a warm sleeping bag or a warm bed with my nose just a tiny bit cold.
+ The Holy Ghost telling me I am loved or otherwise inspired.
+ Taking down chairs and tables after a church event.
+ A feeling of camaraderie that I get when I am learning, or studying, or serving with others.
+ Rearranging my books and movies on my shelves.

Live in the Moment

At church when we sing hymns I always keep my book open until the very end of the song. My brother and others have taught me that. I think it is a good habit because it makes you stay focused on what you are doing right now. And that is a hard thing to do sometimes, especially when the task at present is boring, or annoying, or the task to come is nerving, or exciting. However when I'm focused in the moment I usually get more out of it. When I was on my LDS mission they called it "sprinting to the finish." Which means to carry on and finish strong. Basically, even through the last couple minutes of class I would rather go eat my lunch, I should stick around and actually listen. The last couple weeks of winter I should go play in the snow. This last semester of college I should enjoy the friendships and the homework (do I have too?).
The problem is.... sometimes I think I am too good at this and never actually plan ahead. Which is not good either. How do you live in the moment while still being prepared for the future?

Here's a rainbow. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Charlie

My roommate asked me to do this painting for her. It is a picture of her horse Charlie. She gave me a picture of the horse and I copied it pretty closely except for the sky. I based the sky on a picture I took up in the Wind Rivers over the summer. At first I was afraid that I would be really bored painting this picture, it isn't very action packed by any means, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I think it probably helped that it was a pretty small painting. I think it's a 12 by 12 inches. I think it turned out decent.

Valentine's Day

This week we had Valentine's Day. Obviously. I don't know why but this year it seemed a bigger deal then normal. I know many people, especially single people do not like Valentine's Day even calling it Singles Awareness Day (SAD). And then others insist that it should be a day of Love AND friendship.  Now, granted I'm single, I understand why celebrating love when you don't really see it present in your own life can create emotions of longing, unhappiness, etc. The thing is, I think that ignoring the point of the holiday is unfair, or maybe just stupid. I didn't do any research on the origins of Valentines Day, but it doesn't matter because in our current culture the point is to celebrate romantic love, and why not? Why deny the fact. So what if you aren't in a relationship? So what if you are? Why can't Valentine's Day be about celebrating all the love filled relationships in your life. It's a good time to see the examples of others and to be grateful for that. So thanks Mom and Dad, for your good, stable, honest, close relationship. And for the examples of my siblings and their spouses, and for random couples I've met, and for my Bishop and his wife, and for Darcy and Elizabeth, and President and Sister Hinkley. I look forward to love in my own life.

Consuming and Creating: Part 3: Output Theory

When I first posted about Consuming and Creating I never thought it would grow into multiple posts, but I just keep returning to the idea. Last semester I took a linguistics class and we discussed different theories about learning language. One of the most interesting was developed by Merrill Swain called the Output Theory. Building on other theories before her, she distinguished between input and output in language acquisition. Input is reading and listening activities, where output activities are writing and speaking based. Her theory emphasizes that students that provide output learn much faster then those who only receive input. In other words people who are using their new skills to create and interact are far more productive then those who only consume. This is very apparent in other types of activities too, you can't learn to sing just only by listening, or paint, or play soccer, only by watching others. It just doesn't work like that. We have to participate in life to actually live.

Retold Fairytales

This week I've been reading some books from a genre I call Retold Fairytales. Basically they are a subgenre of fantasy, and true to their name they are expanded versions often with unexpected twists of fairy tales that were originally recorded by people like the Grimm Brothers or Hans Christian Andersen. This genre is certainly not limited to books, many movies are retold fairytales (thank you Disney) and with the explosion in the book market there is even a TV show that is bases on fairytale characters. I own quite a few of the books, and I've read and watched even more, and I've even written a short story that I've already posted here. Some of my favorite authors in this genre are Robin McKinley (Spindle's End), Cameron Dokey (Golden) and Gail Carson Levine (Ella Enchanted). This week as I was reading I was thinking about why I liked them. There are two reasons, one is the fairly superficial reason that they have a little romance (usually clean) and end happily... something to do with that happily ever after bit. The other reason is more interesting, and it has to do with my idea of the Imperfect Canvas. The point behind retold fairytales is that you can recognize which story it is but although you can predict and expect certain things to happen, good authors still make the  characters fully developed and the motives for doing things change, and are unexpected, and it is cool how they manipulate the "restraints" of the original tale and craft into something new, meaningful, and creative. This is a very imperfect canvas, but I find it highly entertaining.

PS. I started listing authors but then didn't want to stop, so here are few more authors and retold fairytales that I've enjoyed. Shannon Hale (The Goose Girl), Susan Fletcher (Shadow Spinner), and Juliet Mariller (Wildwood Dancing).

Black and White Firehydrant

This Firehydrant is a modified version of a photograph I took. I did it for an assignment in my art class last semester. I think it turned out pretty well, it's kind of simple. To be honest though it was a huge pain, and took me far longer than I thought it would.