Wednesday, December 15, 2010

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Things I like (to do).

With the stress of school, I realize that I'd kind of forgotten; So, thirty minutes before my calculus final I sat down at a computer in the Student Union building and made a list. I felt a lot better--I recommend it as a fast relief for panic/existential attacks:

  • Writing stories; writing essays; writing poems; writing hypothetical letters; writing in my journal;
  • Walking outside, near trees.
  • Making lists, goals and plans; Crossing things off lists, accomplishing goals, and feeling like my everyday mundane actions are part of a larger plan.
  • Cooking: cutting things up, the smell of fresh cut ginger, having good vegan food frozen in Tupperware containers in my refrigerator;
  • Talking—hearing the sound of my own voice; being able to talk about things that are interesting and important. Also, listening.
  • Spending time with my seven younger brothers; bossing my brothers around and finding ways to make them read books.
  • Reuniting with sisters from the mission, or with old friends. Also, new friends.
  • Watching Korean drama with other people.
  • Reading books that either have a large scope and/or are beautiful;
  • Poetry; opera; whale noises and manatees.
  • Music-- playing the piano, discovering a new song or artist, feeling the story line of the song inspire and inform the emotional backdrop of my own projects.
  • Going to concerts; dancing
  • Putting on make-up; watching other people put on make-up; especially the watching other people put on make-up part. It's fascinating.
  • Laughing—watching things that make me laugh. Being silly;
  • The occasional, Movie Theater Experience with popcorn, when the movie is worth it. Weird movies that make you feel like you just stepped on a thumbtack and make you live differently afterwards. ( My Dinner with Andre; Other People's Lives);
  • Daydreaming;
  • Running—distance; feeling the lightening in my veins hours afterwards.
  • Praying
  • Going to the temple; going to church;
  • Reading the Book of Mormon.
I realize I haven't been doing a lot of these since I came home from Korea. Maybe I'll start some of them up again and see if it makes a difference. . .