Me And My Shadow

Have you ever stopped to think about your shadow? Does it ever get lonely?
While on a run one night as part of my ritualistic workout, consumed in thought and getting my energy boost from the psychological motivation in every beat of music I was listening to as my feet pounded on the ground and my heart speedily thumped against my chest; amazed at the city that was already half asleep and progressively shutting down for the night, my senses revved to full alert to any sound or movement going on around me. As my eyes flickered to and from the ground back to the street, to the sky etc., I caught view of a forgotten friend. This friend of mine had divided into three, showing me that I was indeed not running alone. I felt an odd sense of protection as I ran in the dark cold night with the company of my shadow. With every step I took, she did the same. With every movement of my arms, she was in sync. Any time I stopped, so did she. I felt watched over, cared for...running with my shadow. This is a feeling so difficult for me to fully describe, but is one of the more significant feelings one could ever experience. It was really good to see this forgotten friend. I wondered where she had been, if it had ever been lonely, if she felt neglected or unwanted or nonessential. She seemed to be doing well in spite of my past ignorance to her. Though she ran with me all the way home, she left without warning the moment I went inside. The company was very nice to have and I missed it. Where does she go when she goes home? How often does she come to see me without my notice? For her to surround me in such a protecting manner was and is greatly appreciated. I hope to see her again soon. And yet, I know that she is always with me though I may not always see her, a constant, watching over me even when I run in the pureness of light, she is there. And so we run. Me and my Shadow.

Nature's Wonders

One Sunday morning as I was driving back to my apartment from a much needed escape to my parent's house where I was warmly welcomed by the two kind faces I've known since birth, and the loving cuddles of my dogs and their smothering kisses, Mother Nature gave me a wonderful show, bringing all of her vast beauties to my mind. We all get caught up in the daily hustle and bustle of this journey called life, and seldom do we truly realise how blessed we are to have such graceful beauty surrounding us. All we see are hard buildings, endless pavement, dull scenes that we pass by every day. Same old song and dance time after time. But this was an eyeopening experience and was exactly what I needed - a reassurance that there is beauty and majesty even in the more drab parts of life. There was a seemingly impervious fog that filled the air, eventually making it so I couldn't see more than ten feet from my car in any direction. As I drove at a slow pace not knowing what to expect as the road kept disappearing, I began to think of what it must be like to be perpetually caught in the fog. No beacon to guide you, no lighthouse with the man to shine that light that will help you make your way through to safety. My heart sunk as I thought of those who are still in the fog and lack the motivation to keep going til they reach a clearing. After a while, everything that was hidden by the fog began to reappear and I started to feel safe and notice details more than usual. This next scene was especially breathtaking and further endorsed the previous enlightenment in the first part of this excursion; as the fog continued to let up there was a magnificent naturalistic painting laid out for my wonderment, trees covered in a brilliantly thick frost and the surrounding picturesque land and quaint little houses. After passing these visions of soul freeing beauty, everything I saw from that point on was more vibrant and detailed and lively. The bleakness that was there before had vanished completely. One well known saying was prominently playing in my mind, "...stop and smell the roses..." and my entire being was flooded with bliss.

Rapid Inactivity

Like sand through a sieve, time can fall at an ever increasing pace while it leaves all of the crude elements behind to be rinsed off and examined for profit. That is, if there is anything in that particular barrel of sand large enough not to flow through and be scrambled once more in the unwanted gritty specks. And then there are periods where time often drudges along like molasis blatantly placed in your hands, yet still slipping through your fingers inevitably and indefinitely. It seems that both scenarios can either be an annoyance and a hinderance, or a euphoric promotion of sorts. The thing about time is that it can escape you so easily, even if you are intently doing all you can to be aware of its every move, and before you know it you're five, ten or more years down the line in life trying to solve the mystery of this rapid inactivity that has us all in a perplexing trance.

How do you manage your time?

Fireside 'Spark Notes'

Sunday, January 11th 2009. The President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Thomas S. Monson, came to the Provo Marriott Center to speak to the young adults of the church. After clamoring for our seats all the way at the top, we sat and talked amongst ourselves while anxiously awaiting President Monson's arrival. After a while the program announcer let the audience know that the Prophet would be entering shortly. The momentary pause of the crowd escalated back to its effervescent buzz once more. In the midst of all the hype, an instantaneous hush fell over the crowd as a rippling stance of respect and admiration took place throughout the stadium. A feeling of humbling awe and peace came over me as I saw this dear man enter a room of hundreds, even thousands of people, that without needing to be asked or told saw fit to stand in reverence for this disciple of our Heavenly Father. He seemed to have this majestic flow about him with a love that radiated to every one of us in attendance. It amazes me that someone so human and imperfect, though often viewed as perfect and already immortal, can be called of God to Prophecy and guide us through this tumultuous world, when they themselves still need guidance from our Father on a daily basis though we seldom recognise it for it's full value. I love this man so dearly and I am so grateful to have him as a faithful guardian in this life.

Banana?

This is just a silly rambling about something random that stuck out to me and made me laugh quite a bit. I have no idea why, but a couple weeks ago for some odd reason I saw a Banana peel on the sidewalk while walking from my car to my apartment after a normal day of work. It seemed rather comical to me that this peel was just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk positioned in such a way that it almost looked like it was done on purpose. I instantly thought of somebody walking along not paying attention to their surroundings and slipping on it just like in the cartoons, feet going up over their head and landing flat on the ground with a *THUD* while anything they may have been holding in their hands goes flying into the air and scattering all over the place. Being careful not to live through my cartoon-like daydream I stepped over the peel and continued to my home. For some reason it seemed that from that point on Bananas were the universe's subject of the week to be brought to my attention. My roommate had Banana in her cereal one morning, then someone made Banana pancakes or muffins or something one day. Once I had stopped noticing anything Banana related, it seemed that I was in the clear and I forgot about the whole situation...until one day after work there was a Banana peel on the pavement next to my car. Now is this an omen of some sort or just a coincidence or something entirely different...? All I know is that it made that week much more interesting than it probably normally would have been. So for what it's worth, thank goodness for Bananas and the comical relief they bring to life.

All I want for Christmas

So this holiday season has been absolutely amazing and full of miracles and tender mercies. All I wanted for Christmas this year was to just be with friends and family and to know that I am loved unconditionally by these people. I got what I wanted for Christmas, and more. I got all of the aforementioned list as well as a white Christmas, wonderful friends and of course a couple cool presents. :) Having my entire family together for Christmas this year all happy and loving was so important and made a huge difference in what was my previous BSLA (borderline Scrooge-like attitude) that had been creeping it's way into my spirit this year.
Now here's something that has always been a tradition since we were super little and I've always loved it dearly - Christmas morning the family gets a box of TRIX cereal. But for the past 5 years or so since we've all gotten older and most have been out of the house and married for a while, this tradition went out the window. But this year, when I opened that wonderful pantry door at my parent's house on that lovely morning, I saw a big box that had a familiar color and text to it...it was TRIX! I poured my cereal, watching as it's rainbow-sweet pebbles cascaded down into the bowl, engulfed the crunchy deliciousness in milk, took a bite...and became infinitely happy as my senses awoke with fond past Christmas memories of comforting smells, tastes, and soothing sounds and emotions. It's a simple yet significantly important tradition to me, and I'm going to pass it on to my own family, among other traditions.
Aside from the more 'touching' part, this entire thing is meant to be about my excitement for Christmas TRIX. :D
Now I'm on to write other ramblings. ;p