On The Mothership

Yes, it has been a while, but so much has happened in the past month. Last month, my family and I took a weekend to redo my room. this included putting new paint on the walls and ceilings and buying some new things. We painted the room for hours. The longest part of the experience was waiting for paint to dry and yes, the expression "waiting for paint to dry" is accurate. We were painting those walls well past midnight. As it was, I ended up having to sleep on the couch. That was frustrating at times throughout the night when I was often woken up by cats (we have three). I did manage to make it through the night. I finished up the summer semester and only had two short weeks of break before I had to go back at it again for the fall semester (which started this Monday). This is going to be a (possibly) insane semester, and while I'm only a week into it, I don't feel the usual amount of stress that usually comes with the beginning of a semester. If anything, I'v...

Here we are again and yes, I missed last Friday. But that is not a problem. As what usually happens with creative people, I have reached a block with: 1) my writing 2) my art 3) keeping up with this here blog So there is only one thing little artistic me can do. Create pessimistic, existential comics. As well as spend hours online, trying to glean some inspiration from others. In all honesty, my time spent online probably is something like this: Which, with only two weeks left in the summer semester, isn't always the best thing. But some advice for my fellow creative people: -Even if you think what you are making is crap, it's not -Bad stuff = good stuff -You may discover a new interest in trying to work through your block -Your frustrations can actually come across as clever in any work you do -As an artist, you just might develop or pick up a new style, like I have with my little comics and illustrations, while still working through your block with ...

It is Friday, my dudes, and I have returned. I had planned to blog last Friday, but with it being the day before my birthday and all, I did not find the opportunity to do so, but now I am back. As just mentioned, it was my day of birth last Saturday. I have now lived my first week as 17 years old and to celebrate, these were some of the things that I did during my first week as a 17 year old: 1) bought my electric guitar (finally), after saving up money for months (and now I can check off one more goal for this year) 2) got my driver's license (after waiting in line for over an hour and a half) 3) bought many CDs the same day I got my license (Metallica, Def Leppard, and Jack White) That's about it, for new adventures, for the time being. My birthday was really great, but I was soon knocked back to reality that Sunday night when I had a ton of homework due that I had not yet started on (but that happens to me every Sunday, honestly). I only have four weeks left in...

Yes, I know this is the third Friday in June and the first time this month I've blogged, but I've been busy every Friday until now. Anyway. My summer classes have started and they're alright. I'm not particularly fond of my public speaking class though, but what can you do? Since both my classes are eight week courses, they move pretty fast, so my summer hasn't been much of a break. I haven't been working on my novel as much, unfortunately. I seem to have a bit of writer's block, but I know that there's really no such thing as writer's block. I know I just need to write, but when you're short on ideas, it's easier said than done. My part time job is going well. I'm learning a lot about ceramics and a couple other art forms, which is exciting. I'm still getting used to the job, but hopefully in a couple weeks, I'll be completely comfortable working there. I've been doing more reading lately than I did in the last mont...

I'm completely failing at the whole "blog each week" thing. There's not a reason for it other than my own procrastination. But whatever. I'm here to talk about stress and worry. Most of the people I know would likely say that I'm a pretty chill person. That's not to say that I don't get angry or worried or upset or excited or that I don't care about things, because I do all those things. However, rarely do I stress or worry excessively. Why? I've wondered this for a long time and asked myself the question often. I wasn't able to put it into words until just recently, while I was reading Jack Kerouac's book The Dharma Bums (a great book, by the way). One quote in particular caught my eye today as I was reading: "the earth is a fresh planet, why worry about anything?" Which, of course, got me thinking. In the context of eternity, out time spent on this planet is but a fraction of a second and yet, some people choose ...

After a brief and unnecessary hiatus, I have returned to the land of blogging. Quick update: -The semester ended yesterday -I have another part time job -I am taking summer classes, which start in June -Loads of other busy things The thing is, even though school has ended, things aren't calming down. They seem to only be speeding up and I wonder if I'll be able to keep up with everything. I thought that the semester ending would mean a lot of stresses ending, but honestly, I'm not feeling the stress lighten any. It feels like my brain is saying, "There are unidentifiable stresses so you should be anxious for no reason and feel moderately upset at nothing." Heck is this. Hopefully, within the next week or so, I'll fall into a semi-normal routine in which my brain accepts that school is now over. Sorry if this was short, but it's only an update. Peace and may the Force be with you, my dudes.

You might be thinking, "Gee, Emma, are we ever going to get back to that series you so enthusiastically introduced to us a few weeks back?" Yes, we'll get back to that eventually, but this is my blog and I'll post what I feel most like posting. It's taking me some time to put together the next post in the "A Matter of Perspective" series, so just bear with me. So today. Today has been rather chill. I did a ton of sociology homework, wrote a couple hundred words of my novel, and finally finished up a little project I had planned for a while. All through this, I had my radio playing in the background. Rock music, of course. Some of it I didn't really like, but there's been Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, etc. so I've been satisfied. I've been taking some time in the past few weeks to do some new wall decorations and that has greatly improved my mood. I made: 1) A paper crane mobile that now hangs fro...

I'm taking a break from the series to break up some of the monotony. After all, that's what this post is about, anyway. Over the past few weeks, my life has been completely dictated by school. To the point that I rarely have a moment where I'm not stressing out about it. There's always homework to do and every time the new week begins, I'm technically behind already. So what to do about it? I realized earlier today that I'm not forced to do what I do. If I miss an assignment or don't get the grade I want, the world will spin on. If I don't do an assignment or miss one, I simply have to accept that it will effect my grade. And move on. You see, because I now realize that I am not forced to do this. I have a choice. Do it or don't do it. Of course, I'm going to do the assignments because I actually care about my future and will someday transfer to a university and I must keep my grades up for that to happen. However, it's th...

Yes hello and welcome back to the Matter of Perspective series. This week, I'll be reviewing a second cause of conflict: Judging vs. Perceiving. Now, if you're unfamiliar with the Myers Briggs Personality Indicators, feel free to explore this link and discover all there is to know about the personality types: http://www.myersbriggs.org/ So first off, why would this one thing make such a difference? Well, the judging and perceiving traits indicate how different personality types like to live their lives. Let's start with the judging trait. These are the ones who like things in order and exact. The devil's in the details and work must be done before play and done way ahead of the deadline, to avoid any unnecessary stress. Judging types like things to be decided and set in stone. Now, for the perceiving trait (which I'm going to be more fond of, in general, since I am an INTP). We are the ones who are open to new ideas, more loosely organized, and we work w...

Hello friends and welcome to April.  I first thought that I wouldn't be able to do a blog post today, but look at me. So school has basically been taking over my life and there's not been much time for anything else. Not even reading, which I value greatly. Because of this, my schedule's been a bit wild and most of my time is dedicated to my schoolwork, so there's not a lot of worrying about what I need to do and what I want to do. Aside from this, I have finally decided on what I want my major to be when I transfer to university. I'll be doing studio art, with a minor in piano performance. Fun times, right? So I've been doing more art lately because I must practice it if it's going to be my career. As for music I've been listening to, it's been a lot of the same stuff. Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, etc. Mostly Pink Floyd, though. Actually, probably too much Pink Floyd that I probably will go spiraling into the Void, never to be seen again....

Finally, we're actually getting started on this series. So first up is conformism vs. anti-conformism. I actually had a bit of a debate with one of my peers this week on the difference between anti-conformism and nonconformism. First, let's set up some definitions. According to my dictionary, this is the definition of conform: 1 to make similar   2 to bring into agreement   3 to act in accordance with accepted rules, customs, etc. Thus, conformism is the belief in conforming to these accepted rules, customs, etc. This is the definition of anti-conformism: 1 denoting behaviors and actions undertaken by a human being for the purpose of inducing shock or spiting society   2 rejecting adherence to the societal status quo Then, an anti-conformist is someone who doesn't conform to the accepted rules, customs, etc. of society. They are often considered to be individualists. More often than not, they're considered rebels. Often, the term "anti-conformist...

Webster's dictionary defines the word "perspective" as: -the ability to understand what's important and what isn't -point of view -a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something You're probably thinking "why do I need to know this?" Over the past few weeks, I've payed close attention to different conflicts and I began to notice a pattern. It seems that most conflict stems from different points of view, not with ill feelings towards the other person, as you might expect. Of course, there are going to be times when conflict arises from ill feelings, but the everyday conflicts that we experience are surely caused by a misunderstanding or different perspective. During the next few weeks, I will be publishing in-depth reviews of these listed causes of conflict to, hopefully, help you think critically about differences in perspective. What causes this conflict of perspective? There are multiple causes, but for the sake of length,...

This week, my usual inspiration for blogging seems to be lacking in quantity and quality, so I've decided to compile a list of things that are pleasing and important to me (though some might not see them in the same way I do). Though perhaps, this will provide some insight into my personality. -Spending the morning in bed, doing nothing, even though you woke early -Going through racks of clothes at a retail clothes store, by yourself -Long walks in the evening when the sun is setting -The feeling of being lost in the woods -The sound marbles make when they roll across a wood floor -Having a positive mindset, but a slightly dry and negative sense of humor -Sitting in silence with friends and not speaking for hours, just enjoying each others' presence -Sketches done at coffee houses -Rays of sunlight creeping into your room in the early moments of morning -The feeling you get when you walk out of a movie theatre -Dancing around fires -Hastily done watercol...

I expect this update will be rather short, since not much has changed since February. It was a short month last month and I was mostly focused on my schoolwork, though I still tried to keep up with my resolutions. So let's get those out of the way, first. 1. Utilize my time This one has been harder to keep lately, since my biology class has absorbed most of my spare time. So when I have time when I'm not doing biology, it's spent mostly relaxing, and not doing the most productive things in the world. 2. Organize my life This resolution has been easier to keep. I will admit, however, that I fell behind with using my bullet journal for about two weeks. I've gotten back on it, though, since it is truly useful for keeping track of all my daily tasks. 3. Find balance between what I want to do and what I need to do I will admit that I have been struggling a bit with this lately. When you've got a load of homework to do, what better way to use your t...

Note: This essay is not written based on any studies made by social researchers or statistics. These are purely thoughts and observations of my own personal experience. Pt. 1: Commercialization First things first, I do like knowledge and learning. I think it's great. What I don't think is great is how over-commercialized and unnecessary a large part of higher education is. College is expensive. You're paying for tuition, books, dorms (if you stay on campus), and various other fees. Then there's the money spent on gas to get to campus, food, and the general cost of living. All for a piece of paper that essentially says, "You done it! Now go out with this diploma and struggle to find a job in the field that you spent 8 years of your life studying for." I see commercials advertising for different colleges and the image that they put forth is nothing like the reality that students face. Stress, test anxiety, buckets of tears, and loss of sleep from staying u...

These days, there's a lot of pressure put on young girls. Advertisements blare from televisions and their phone screens, telling them to have an attractive face and body. In general, expecting them to meet society's expectations. However, this is unrealistic and unacceptable. Sure, we want to be perceived as beautiful, but what's the point in becoming obsessed with how we look that we forget to be happy and just live? Fact: Life is short. Shorter than you think and someday, you'll die. If life is so short, shouldn't we be spending it doing things that we love and spending time with those we love? Perhaps it's a bit of a cliché thing to say, but it's true. True beauty is measured not in symmetrical facial features or a perfect body, but in our dispositions and our soul. If our hearts show beauty, then it will shine through our faces. Which, reminds me of a quote by Audrey Hepburn. Throughout history, beauty standards have changed so frequently...

The whole point of minimalism is to only have the things that you need, right? Of course, as humans, we need food, water, clothes, and shelter. However, minimalism shouldn't be seen as trying to survive life on the fewest items possible. Rather, it should be seen as enjoying life by only having the things that we only use and enjoy having. Throughout the past two weeks, I've been removing the extraneous, in order to make room for what I find to be truly valuable. I even went through my dear books and got rid of several that I had been meaning to read for the past three years. After all, if I had really wanted to read them, I would have already read them, wouldn't I? Now, I've removed my clothes dresser and put my desk in its place. I now have a useful workplace to do my homework and writing and sketching. I've been through all my old documents and notebooks. Space has been made on my bookshelf for my collection of Volkswagen Beetle models. My desk is always clea...

First things first: Resolutions 1. Utilize my time In January, I was still getting used to this idea of constant productivity, so it didn't always work out as well as I would like. Things are starting to get better in the way of productivity though, so it's just a matter of seeing how well I can keep this up. 2. Organize my life I am thoroughly using my Bullet Journal, as mentioned in my post "On The New Year", every day. It helps keep track of my tasks for the day and months, as well as notes I make or thoughts I may have on things. On the topic of cleaning out unwanted items, I have been doing my research on minimalism and it seems like my answer to doing a major clean-out of my room. I will be blogging on my experience with a minimalistic lifestyle in the future. 3. Find balance between what I want to do and what I need to do This, by far, has actually been one of my easier resolutions to keep. Because I have constructed my daily schedule to make room f...

Fun Fact no. 1: I am a writer. No, this doesn't necessarily mean that I spend all my days in a tortured, Edgar Allan Poe type mindset, locked away for weeks, pounding out words on the page (though I have had days where all I did was this). This simple fact just means that I like to think of myself as the literary type. Things aren't usually this simple, though. First, let me get one thing straight. I'm not here to complain about the struggles of writing or the self pity that some writers have. There are legitimate things that make writing a hard thing to do. So often, I'll catch myself thinking about being bogged down in my writing that I can forget why I do it. When this happens, I have to reorient myself, in a sense. It's comparable to when you spend a while in the woods and have to stop to take in your surroundings and figure out where you are. One of the troubles that I seem to face consistently is thinking or reading about writing and not actually doing t...

I've been doing some thinking recently on the different types of attention seekers, so I thought I'd share these thoughts with you. Note: This is not a rant. This is just an observation First, you have those who like attention and are actively looking for it. These are the ones who generally seek out the real-life attention of others to spend time with them. They're usually not too demanding, and they're more flexible when it comes to others' availability. I've noticed that these people are typically more extroverted and are looking to develop strong friendships with people. However, introverts are often just as eager to make friends, even if they don't outwardly show it. Next, you have the attention seekers. I classify these people as those who want to be noticed in real-life and online. These are the ones who are highly demanding for attention. Often, they'll post selfie after selfie on Instagram without a caption. More often, too, they'll po...

So, as a rule, I don't make New Year's resolutions often. However, this year I thought "why not?" and made a few for myself to follow. First and foremost, I made a resolution to stop wasting my time. Last semester was mostly spent sitting around and listening to music and in general, not doing much of anything. As a result, I was usually in a rushed panic trying to get my homework turned in on time. Part of this could be due to the fact that I had yet to learn the value of spending my time wisely, but now that I understand that, I can move on. There are many smaller items on my list of resolutions, but I think most of them will be byproducts of being a productive human being. Second, I decided to make my life more organized. This goes hand in hand with my first resolution, but it doesn't just involve my schedule. Which, has been improved, thanks to a system of journaling known as "Bullet Journaling". All information on this can be found on   http://b...