13 Happy Things

This seems a weekly affair. My weekends become insane and by the time I've calmed down from the weekend rush and gotten over the hump of the Monday/Tuesday blahs, it's time to blog again. I wish I could keep up with it more. I wish I were more dedicated. I wish I could paint a picture with my words so that you could read the mental photographs of my day-to-day life. I wish a lot of things. I wish I were smarter, more patient and more relationally outgoing. I wish I had gorgeous thick hair and toes that are always painted. I wish sometimes life wasn't so unknown. If I knew something was coming down the road, I could wait. But there is no promise. No guarantee. Especially being a Christian, the Lord promises eternal life and beyond that, no bed of roses. I wish I could lounge by the pool on a gorgeous July afternoon everyday and call that life. Life's actual definition is much more harsh, though. I'm not sad, just currently reflective. Sometimes I wish I was better than what my weaknesses allow. I get so frustrated with myself and sometimes wish I could whisk away and hide from my imperfections. Sometimes I'm overly lazy and downright rude. Sometimes the harsh New Yorker comes out in me and sometimes I don't stand up to bullies and debate. I wish I were graceful. I think I like delicate things because I want to be delicate, not because I am. Sometimes I wish I were more driven, but I am glad of my enjoyment of the here-and-now and the classified mundane. Sometimes I wonder if I was made for American life. It's so... effervescent and challenging. It's driven and motivated. I think sometimes I would prefer the quiet life of a village. If I could have constant water, food, shelter and friendship, I think I could be happy in a much simpler lifestyle. Sometimes this world is too gung-ho. Why do I have to have the highest paying job? Why does everything depend on its profitability? Why can't it just depend on if the individual is happy or challenged? Why do we need to put such pressures on ourselves?

I don't have answers. But I do have little things that make me happy. Things that take me to another place and tell me it's alright to be calm; to enjoy the company of others and be at peace. These are my 13 happy things:

1. Small propeller airplanes. They remind me of Saturday afternoons growing up.
2. The smell of a BBQ and the sound of the laughter that emanates from the players.
3. Live theater.
4. Caramel Macchiato in the Starbucks holiday cups around Christmastime.
5. Royal weddings. Weddings in general.
6. Afternoons at my Aunt Linda and Uncle Joe's with all 30+ cousins.
7. Sound Beach.
8. The cityscape of NYC from the Throggs Neck Bridge.
9. Traveling the world and finding new places that feel like you've always belonged.
10. Jumping on a trampoline and feeling that rush through your ears.
11. A bouquet of flowers - wild or staged.
12. The Golden hour - also known as the Magic hour.
13. Fresh snow and a day off from work with the fireplace lit.

What are some of your favorite things? This seems so Sound of Music... not surprised by myself at all!

Championships, trailers and poor planning

How 'bout them BRUINS?! This city was electric last night! One of my roommates was walking home from the T station (public transit/subway) and heard televisions streaming the game from every open window as she walked through our neighborhood. When the game was final, you could hear cheering, screaming, sirens and fireworks all throughout the city. My windows were even closed! It was an exciting night even if I'm not *really* a Bruins fan. When's the last time I went to a game? Never. Do I care about hockey? Rarely. But it is an exciting decade to be living in the city of Boston, I'll tell you that much. Since 2001, the city has won seven championships. Boston is now the first city to win all four major championships (football, basketball, baseball and hockey) in a seven-year span. Suddenly the New England Patriots are the slackers. They haven't won a title in six years. Must be a great feeling if you're in the Baby Boomer plus age range. All that waiting... all that patience... Like the article says, I feel bad for New England teenagers who have grown up expecting this, however. They're going to be thoroughly disappointed throughout the years I'm sure of it.

Celebrating... wish they were at the TD Garden...

Completely random, but I thought I'd share this with you as well. It's the Blue Like Jazz official trailer. Thoughts? Have you read the book? Do you appreciate Don Miller? Is it what you were expecting? For me, I think I'm going to have to get used to it. BLJ is a phenomenal book that didn't seem to be able to translate to screen. However, after viewing the trailer, I take back that statement and leave an open mind. I'm still nervous, though... The book is one of thoughts and ideas, something hard to translate to larger than life images on a flat screen. Let me know what you think!

Finally, to keep this post completely random, I need ideas. I am running a raffle at the golf tournament I am coordinating and have a hard time coming up with a unique and fun way to present the raffle winners. That's where you come in! In the past, we had Powerpoint up on a screen and typed the numbers out. This was a nightmare seeing that 1. there were too many prizes and the font size was too small 2. we couldn't get the slides to change on their own so I stood there hitting the next key every few seconds and 3. it wasn't something everyone was paying attention to because it just rolled through without anyone saying "hey! check out the screen to win your prizes!" so many people came up to me at the end of the dinner and asked if they had won anything. Poor planning on my part. The second idea is to read the numbers aloud for each winning item, but then again that takes forever with the amount of prizes we receive and the Golf Chair does not like the idea. So, there is the dilemma. Does anyone have a creative way of announcing the winners without it dragging on for an hour or being hounded by winners when you're trying to pack up? I'm all ears.

Dot Day

Let's follow the serious post with an awesomely random post, shall we? Welcome to Dorchester. The neighborhood of Boston I live in. Many people shy away from here because of it's reputation, but there are good people here. Families that want to make this place a better community. Churches that reach out to the local youth. Neighbors that watch out for each other and help them pick up their groceries when their bag got soaked from the rain and all the items fell through the bottom and crashed onto the cement sidewalk just 100 yards from your house (yep, personal experience). So what better way to celebrate the people and place that you live than to have a whole day dedicated to it?! To be honest, there really is no better way. Welcome to Dorchester. Welcome to the Dot Day Parade.

The kids are getting excited...

...and so is Ollie. He's actually mesmerized by the bubbles.

Can you live in Boston without bagpipes? Nope.

We met Senator Scott Brown!

Hot Navy men.

My boys. They so ganstah.

A carriage... in Dorchester.

Clydesdales!

Vietnamese dragon.

Blow-up AK47 with the American flag design. I love the city, ha.

Luke received a bouncy ball from one of the politicians. He was excited. And apparently super hot because he's shirtless here... oh my.

Selling goodies.

 Just thought I'd share some of my urban experiences. I haven't lived in the city that long and all of this is exciting and new to me. A parade right down my street?! Yes please! Until next time...

Delicious Ambiguity

I read quite a few blogs. I get behind sometimes and read a couple entries at a time per blogger, and comment along the way. Yes, I'm one of those people that comment. No, I'm not one of those people who gets into arguments and heated debates via comments. I promise you that's not sarcasm; I'm really not one of those people. But I do like to leave comments here and there, especially if it's a personal friend's blog. I think we all need the kuddos every once in awhile (*ahem*).

As I was strolling through my typical list (Don Miller, Jon Acuff, Alden Blair Events, to name a few) I happened upon a blog post by Jon Acuff entitled "Pretending You Didn't See The Hangover Part 2 Last Weekend". If you want a laugh, read his blog. He makes me laugh out loud every post... EVERY POST! Anyway, the blog itself doesn't quite matter in this equation, it's a comment I found referencing Don Miller's post about The Hangover Part Deuce. And if you can believe it, what I'm getting at is yet another comment left this time on Miller's blog about ANOTHER blog by Michael Hyatt. Michael had a guest blogger (are you keeping up?) by the name of Mary DeMuth who wrote a post about finding your passion in three steps. I've recently been on a personal journey about finding out who I really am; the real me, no barriers, no fears, no justifications or excuses. Figuring out what makes me tick, what makes me fall, what am I good at and what are my true temptations. Where do I consistently error and where does my heart beat? This culminates with the big question everyone seems to ask themselves: what am I passionate about? Mary has three ways to figure this out.

1. Where does your need and joy collide?
Yes, this comes from the (in)famous quote: "Vocation is where our greatest passion meets the world's greatest need." If you attended a Christian college, raise your hand if you've heard that quote over 500 times. *Raises hand* But yet, it's still poignant, isn't it? But how do you determine that passion? That deep-seeded heavy-gutted reaction of satisfaction? Simple, ask yourself, "what do I believe is the world's greatest need?" My unbridled answer: comfort and care in the form of physical and emotional touch. There's not much to that answer. It's a "soft" answer, if you will. What I mean by that is it's unmarketable, it's not a tangible talent, it's a soft skill. I'm not a doctor and I can't cure cancer; I don't know how. I don't have that skill. I don't have the passion to sit through year's of medical exams and classes that would bore me to tears. I don't have the mastery of words. I"m not a great orator or a dentist or a businessman or a superstar. I can't sing well and I sure as hell can't play an instrument as beautifully as my roommate Jasmine. My skill and passion are not marketable to the 21st century. My passion lies in spending time with people, whether we're talking or reminiscing or playing a board game. And people need that. People need people who will just be with them. Lend an ear and maybe a terribly unwise voice (I say that because sometimes we need to hear other people's struggles and bad thoughts, not more "positive" reinforcement; sometimes we just need to hear that other people have made the same mistakes and feel the same god-awful way).

2. Do the three-movie exercise.
My favorite idea ever. I love movies. Maybe a little too much. I see the Indie movies, I see the blockbusters, I see the small gorgeously crafted movies that no one hears about. I watch them at home, in the theater, at friends' houses and on my laptop in my room by myself. I have Netflix and it is one of the most God-given things this world has seen. This step is simple: what are your three favorite movies? Go.

               1. The Sound of Music
               2. Return to Me
               3. Sense and Sensibility

Now, what do they have in common? (Note: I did not think this through beforehand. I just listed the first three movies I knew I loved. Let's see if this really works...) Let's see, the first is about a family that overcomes tremendous historic odds together, with a love story. Sweet. Second movie: what remains of a family (a grandfather and granddaughter), their "extended" family, her love story and them overcoming a huge emotional (and physical) blow. Check. Third movie: a family (I think I sense a theme here) reeling from the death of their father and how their lives become what they ought to have been ("Do you compare your conduct with his? / No. I compare it with what it ought to have been; I compare it to yours"). Now here's the big question: what is the common thread in one sentence? Groups of people - mostly families - that are just normal who end up being where they're supposed to be (love, location, etc) by going through trials they never saw coming. I think that sums it up, do you? Looks like my passion is family, love and being where I was meant to be. But is that a passion? Do you see further? Do you see more in there? If you know me, do you see something that I've missed, being able to see me from an objective viewpoint?

3. Ask others about "the thing".
This goes along with my last sentence in the previous point: objective viewpoints. I love what Mary's says in her blog: "When I struggled to find my passion, I knew I was too close to myself to identify it." She wrote on her Facebook status "What is my one thing?" and had her friends and family answer the question for her. What is Alli's one thing? What is Karen's one thing? What is Joy's one thing? What is Greg's one thing? What is John's one thing? What is your one thing?

This is just a rather long tangent to say that I'm still figuring it out. I (hopefully) have a lot of life to live to keep figuring it out. Being in my mid-20s, there are always the questions of "what do you want to do?", "what do you love?", "what do you want to do with your life?" They are overwhelming and can't be answered in a brief conversation. Hell, they can't be answered in a week, or even a few years. It takes time. Give it time. Let your passion overcome you until you can't but live your life by doing your one thing. One of the comments left on Mary's blog will finish my post nicely:

"For me, passion isn't one thing or action specifically. I guess it's bringing life (Jn 10:10) to people in any form I can deliver it."