Seeing Past The Excuses

Ever had an excuse so brilliant that you had to listen to it? An excuse that seemed to speak so much truth that it was impossible to ignore? I have.


My Favorite Excuses to be Wowed By:
1. You don't really have time for that.
2. If it's not perfect the first time, you should wait.
3. What kind of value does that even have in the world?
4. But he/she/they did it better than I ever could, so why try?


Let's Dissect This a Bit:

1. You don't really have time for that. Yeah, that could take like 30 minutes to 1 hour, but you have some emails to write so why not pop in a season of Friends and answer emails. You can turn off the season whenever you finish the emails and go do something else. The reality is that you will have answered those emails during the first episode and will still be watching when it's time to put in the second DVD. You had time. 

2. If it's not perfect the first time, you should wait. Where is the standard of perfection here? Perfect for who? Is your college professor going to look over this work? Will there ever be a perfect time, place, situation or what for you to complete this? If I wait forever, will it ever get done? Probably not.

3. What kind of value does that even have in the world? With so many idea people, storytellers, film makers, creators, bloggers, leaders, etc. etc. who am I to try to step into any of these roles? What can I contribute when others have contributed so much already? What area of expertise do I really have in the matter? I'm just a kid straight out of college still trying to figure out the world around me.

4. But he/she/they did it better than I ever could, so why try?  I follow some tremendous bloggers. I follow designers who I could only dream of designing something that great. I follow four filmmakers who made award winning movies while on summer vacation during college. I follow photographers who travel the world and have I am surrounded by people whose lives seem to be so much more, so much deeper, so much more impactful than mine. Maybe those people should do this, not me. 


You know what lives in these excuses and the questions that they back? Fear.


This Fear doesn't have to control you. You're the one that gets to decide if it does. For me, it's regarding my blog. I love to compare it to blogs when I know the stats in my mind aren't real. Maybe if I do this or that to make it better. In reality though, I just need to write. Writing takes more time than I always want to give it. I want my writing to be perfect and if I'm not feeling inspired, I just can't write. Writing could get me judged though. I judge my own writing against others who are more established and have written longer.


Why haven't I written in the past? I have accepted the excuses fear has given me.


It's time to write because I love writing. It's time to blog because I want to be a blogger. I want to punch my fear in the face and do the thing I love regardless of the excuses. That my friends is what I am going to do.

The Horizon

You know those times you are sitting on the beach overlooking the water and seeing all the way until the blue of the ocean meets the blue of the sky? What about those times when you're driving out in Texas and you finally 'get' the joke of being able to watch a dog run away for two days because you can see forever away? It's all about the horizon and it's so much fun to look at my personal horizon and see what's in the distance and what's in the not so far distance.

On the horizon:

- creative projects
- job changes
- location moves
- possibly a new blog site

There's so much swirling around my head right now. This week has been filled with tons of prayer in regard to what is on the horizon for my life. I'm at peace with where God is leading me, but I want things to be a little more in place before I give y'all a shout as to what the next adventure may be as it may be a huge adventure.

I can't wait to tell y'all everything. It's killing me holding it in, but I can't even bring myself to write about anything else. Once I spill the beans though, I've got some fun stories to tell!

Unpacking the Unpacked Adventure

If you've been reading here at my little corner of the internet for awhile, you'll see that things have changed stylistically (is that even a real word?) in the last 48 hours or so. I've decided to go undergo a new me, a new blog and become a new dream chasing girl - one that I've always wanted to be but what scared me so.

You see, it all started back in the days of xanga when I would read my high school friends blogs and posted one of my own. The problem with high school xangas is they are very high school. I say this in love though, I've volunteered with teenagers for over five years now and adore the age group no matter how awkward and confusing it is. As I moved up to blogger and wordpress though, I began to see true writers that posted hours and hours of content - funny, engaging, brilliant, thought provoking, life affirming stories and encouragement all surrounded by great designs and beautiful photography.

Well y'all, the comparison game is a thief of joy and I have been its' captive way too long. 

I'm at a definitive crossroads (I guess you really could say I have been at one since I graduated college) and it's time to step up and be the true me here. I don't know where it's going to take me. I know that there's a lot of adventures ahead. I'm currently on one now. Jon Acuff of Stuff Christians Like has been a writer of one of my favorite blogs for years now and he tweeted out the other day that he would like information sent to him about his followers. He wanted real information emailed to him to take us on an adventure that may include a machete and a passport. I don't usually respond, but I did.

He's invited me and 2000ish other friends to go on an adventure to punch fear in the face and start what we have wanted to start all along but have been too afraid of. He's named it the Start Experiment after his book I'm currently reading entitled, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters, which I highly recommend (along with his other books - I'm a bit of a fan). Here goes my START!

Unpacked Adventure. It's a weird name. How do you unpack an adventure? Don't you usually pack for an adventure? Unpacking isn't the fun part - it's the thrill of getting everything together before a journey, packing your necessities and heading off. I don't know what the adventure looks like. I know what I hope it involves: transparency, a deeper level of writing, a consistent blog, some encouragement, a less fearful me, a few crafts, some reviews of some great restaurants, books and digs along the way, a few fashionable moments, a few thoughts and adventures, creative projects and photography.

Here's to dreaming!
Here's to hoping!
& Here's to STARTing!

'Pretty Good.'

You ever wake up one day and have a vague idea of what a day holds and then it ends in a completely unexpected way? That's what happened to me about two months ago now.

I went up to help my old roommate move all of her stuff to a different city. I picked up one of my best guy friends on the way to help us with the move. We helped her pack along with a team of our friends. Sunday night, everyone left except my guy friend and I as we were going to get the last leg of the journey done on Monday. It was a normal day of moving, eating and spending long hours in the car listening to the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack.

About 30 minutes before I dropped him off, he asked me what the chance of us becoming more than friends is. My reply was 'pretty good'. With those two words, things changed. Two months later, we are still dating and trying to figure out our futures, both individually and together. It's incredible. I never expected things to change so quickly.

That's a brief update on one of the many changes on my life. More life updates are coming! In the mean time, enjoy this picture of me and my Prince Charming.

What if money was no object?

 

Here's a little inspiration from lecturer Alan Watts to enlighten your Thursday morning.

12 for 12 December Round Up

Need a flashback to the 12 for 12 November Update?

Twelve for Twelve 

1. Books.

Remember that To Read List? I finished Eric and Leslie Ludy's book When God Writes Your Love Story on the last day of December. Other than that, that's all I got for December so I guess that list is final. Heading into 2013, I'm going to keep working on this list and adding more into it. You can find me on Good Reads to see what I'm reading and how good I'm doing on that.

2. 5K.

You know that wonderful cookie eating 5K I signed up for? I was sick for it. I didn't go, especially since it was a few days before Christmas. It was no help though because I was definitely still sick for Christmas. 5K goals are just going to linger above my head I guess forever.

3. Quotes.

I still didn't know where the Quote Book was during December. I found it this January and can't wait to add to it this next year and see the old quotes for it.

4. Blog.

My 2012 was going to be done on December 31st. I even sat down to write it. NCIS was on though and that was distracting so here I am in 2013 writing my last 12 for 12 Update and providing closure to this chapter in my life. I do want to continue blogging into this next year and I have high hopes for being more consistent, but we'll see how that goes...

5. Create.

My creations were all handmade gifts.

6. Learn.

Sometimes, you just have to adjust. You also can never stop learning.

7. Minimize.

Yea-yuh! This one is going pretty well. Thing are moving on out of my life as I go through everything, which is a good feeling. I hate the whole thing of not wearing a clothing item for 5 years but still having that sentimental attachment when it's time to get rid of it. I'm really working on clothing for January though. It's going to go well. I've been pretty good about going through stuff this last month and first stint of January though.

8. Gratefulness.

The friends that I truly cherish and that truly cherish me are a dime a dozen and I am eternally grateful for that. - Amen.

9. Handmade.

Whose idea was it to do about 20 homemade gifts for Christmas? I'm still working on gifts, but everyone has their I.O.U's and they will get them as they are made this next year. I have really enjoyed this one though. It's a whole different perspective trying to decide what someone would like and then taking the time to make it.

10. Intentionality.

'Long distance friendships are hard. I also feel like most of my friends are long distance now. Real world, I'm not your biggest fan.' - Still ringing true, but I have hope for 2013 being a bit different. The real world has caused me to get in touch with some old friends which I have definitely enjoyed.

11. No.

I think I finally have conquered this one more than I thought that I would have by now. I'm counting that as a success.

12. Word.

Difficult.


Now that 2012 is over what's in store for 2013? Nothing y'all. I am making absolutely zero resolutions. I think I'm going to be a lot better at that than trying to conquer 12. 

Thank you 2012 and here's to a great 2013!

12 for 12 November Update

Need a flashback to the 12 for 12 October Update?

Twelve for Twelve 

1. Books.

Remember that To Read List? I finished Quitting Church so they're still getting crossed off. I've got less than a month left and a ton of books to still read. We'll see...

2. 5K.

I signed up for the 5K! Running it may not be a possibility with zero training since I am in no way a runner, but I'm going to try my best and eat cookies! I mean... run.

3. Quotes.

'I can't say that I'm even 100% positive that I know where my quote notebook is.' Sadly, this statement is still true months later.

4. Blog.

I think this one got better until my 12 for 12 was late.

5. Create.

I feel like I've made stuff but I can't remember. That's got to be a bad thing unless they're Christmas presents.

6. Learn.

Transition is hard... even months afterwards.

7. Minimize.

It's going.

8. Gratefulness.

The friends that I truly cherish and that truly cherish me are a dime a dozen and I am eternally grateful for that.

9. Handmade.

Hehe. I have decided that I won't be doing this again next year.

10. Intentionality.

'Long distance friendships are hard. I also feel like most of my friends are long distance now. Real world, I'm not your biggest fan.' - Still ringing true.

11. No.

Not applicable.

12. Word.

Difficult.