Pray. Release. Go.

Ah, the end of break. What an inevitable thing to face. It has a joyous and apprehensive feeling with a little bit of stress mixed into it. It's the time to remember where I put every item I brought home, which is not so easy since I rearranged. It's also the time to squeeze in those last minute coffee dates that keep getting pushed back. But it is also the time to buy books (insert many mixed feelings here).

Thus far my iCal has declared life to be a busy state once my feel hit the Alabama soil. So what have I spent the last few days doing: reading for fun and praying. 

This semester is full of promise and challenges. I have been given the incredible opportunity to serve as president of the Panhellenic Council for Samford University. I have also been given the opportunity to intern in Los Angeles, CA this summer (decision pending...). But with every opportunity comes another prayer. 

We have so many opportunities in our lives and blessings but the worry and stress that comes with them doesn't change anything. I have quite a journey ahead but for now all I can do is pray, release and go. 

Current Listen:

Gasoline Rainbows 

Observe. Cherish. Remember.

Today my best friend and I decided to go for a walk on the beach. Surprising, it wasn't cold. It was beautiful and not windy. But most important it was an adventure. 

I think life is full of little adventures. On ours we found a jellyfish. We spent a good 20 minutes playing chicken with the rising tide trying to maneuver it so we could actually get a good look at it. Granted, we could have gone on with life and been okay not taking a second look at the creature but that wasn't the point. It was a small adventure in our day full of laughs. It's something we can look back on fondly and remember. It is a happy moment in between all the ones that seems so bad in the world. 

I see my friends and all the troubles they seem to be facing lately; deep, emotional pains that words can never reach to heal. But I can give them these moments. Moments when we fight the waves with fits of laughter and verbal banter or moments in the car screaming lyrics to ridiculous songs at the top of our lungs. 

There are so many days where I wish I could talk the pain away. As a writer, I wish that I knew the words that would chase the shadows away. But I'm only human. So I do what I can. I find the ways to put a smile on their face and I listen when they need to talk. You may not have the words to fix it but some day they'll look back and remember. They will cherish that moment of laughter and to me that is so much more than words can ever do.

Current listen:

(my tastes in music are vast)

A little insomnia...

Ah, the joys of Christmas break and the sleep thief known as insomnia. I always seem to mess up my sleeping schedule during break. So tonight I thought I might share a few random things. Or rather plug a few random items of current into your thoughts...

Top Played Album:

Gasoline Rainbows 

This charitable indie album has been a nice change in my car stereo. Created by Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols to raise money after the horrid oil spills this past summer, it is well worth the money. I've loved every moment of it.

Current Read:

I'm not quite sure what I expected to find with this novel but I'm loving it. You come to respect people more when you learn the things they over come. I must say it has been mind-opening.

In my DVD player:

Well, it will be after this post at least. To say I love this movie would be an understatement. I could probably quote most of it to you. Reese Witherspoon does an amazing job capturing your heart in the southern romantic-comedy. It's light-hearted enough that you don't feel like you've just tried to solve the world's problems after watching it. However, it isn't so shallow you feel as though you've lost IQ points in the time it took you to watch it. If you haven't seen this movie it is my recommendation that you get some popcorn, curl up in a chair and lose yourself in another world. Where else have you got to be? This snow has everyone in PANIC. =)

That Moment

One of my favorite scenes in One Tree Hill comes early in the shows history. It's a rather scandalous scene featuring Lucas, Brooke and an obvious lack of clothing but the conversation surprising stands out strongly. Brooke wants to know if Lucas is aware this is the moment he can look back at and know that was when it all changed. He will be able to pinpoint that moment. 

Being able to find that one moment, that choice or thought that changed it all, is great. But what happens when we stop trying to find the reason to learn from it and become obsessed with it. The new year tends to bring about a time of reflection. We want to know what we liked about it all and what we should have done different. Both tactics are great for learning. But dwelling on them doesn't make it better either.

We have this thirst for knowledge as humans. I will most certainly attest to it. I'm reading the biography of two princes out of my own curiosity. But sometimes I think we get so caught up in the mess of it all that we miss out on the life part. We want to analyze or learn so much that we forget to live.

You can spend the rest of your life trying to figure out "that moment" for yourself but is it worth it if you miss out of the rest of your life. Some times the best thing to do with that moment is be glad it's gone. Life has many more accidental discoveries ahead.

Current Listen:

A little rearranging

For the past six years my room has look exactly the same. Every piece of furniture has held it's same position. In my boredom and desire for change I decided to rearrange the entire thing last night. It turned out to be a hilarious family affair but it provoked some thinking. What do things look like when you take a moment to view a different perspective?

I've been sifting through ideas for graduate school and it has got my mind stirring. I think so often we limited ourselves and our minds only to what we think is achievable. We won't risk anything so that we don't have to worry about losing anything. But how can we ever gain anything if we don't risk something. We spend so long looking at the world in our narrow mindedness that we miss out on what could be incredible.  

So what happens when we rearrange things? There is a potential far beyond our ability to comprehend for our lives. But you have to be willing to have faith in what God can do and not what you can do. I don't want to be someone who has a list longer of what could have been verses what did happen. If that means taking some risks, well I guess it's time to rearrange.

Sweet Beginnings

 Here we are again. It's the start of a new year. Resolutions have been made, and hopefully kept. We've evaluated and are ready to reevaluate things. It's what my calendar calls "sweet beginnings".

Mine this year, well they start with this blog. I spent the day, on and off, revamping my thought bank with a friend trying to create a space that felt more like home. We went through more colors, backgrounds and titles than I think we did when I originally created this. Eventually, we came to what you see before you: Miss Serendipity.

I can tell you I spent a good deal of time today using the thesaurus website trying to find that word that sums it all up for me. In the end, serendipity seemed to be it. I never knew the definition until today: accidental discovery. It only seemed appropriate to me that this be my title. I've learned a small bit in my short time here on this earth but I can admit most of it was the hard way and accidentally.

So, tonight we start new. We go from this place. All my old posts will be here but I have a new focus now. I'm expanding as a person, it only seems right that the place in which I publicly display my thoughts do the same. Life right now is all about the serendipitous moments and sweet beginnings.

Current Listen: