FaceTime

I absolutely love Face Time. In reality, I don't love looking at my own face or having to hold a camera so close to it, but I do love the faces on the other side of the screen. Every Sunday it is tradition in my family to FaceTime. I love FaceTime so much because while I talk to these family members more than just once a week through calling or texting, I always love at least one time to see them. I feel that it really makes a difference to be able to see peoples faces and be able to connect with them even when you are far apart from them. While being at school, I always feel closer to my parents after our FaceTime calls because I feel that I have a more honest and intimate conversation with them. Also, I feel like FaceTime allows us to be more vulnerable or more open to conversations and I feel that whether I am actually venting or just talking to them, I always feel better after these calls. How amazing is technology that we are now able to do this on a device that we can carry around with us at all times. It is amazing how much the cell phone has changed in my lifetime and to be honest, I don't feel that I am as appreciative as I should be. So, I just wanted to say how appreciative I am for this technology and how much it really has made a difference in my life.

My Background Noise

This week was a crazy busy week. With midterms starting and papers being due what feels like every other day, I feel bombarded and overwhelmed with all that I have to get done. This past week I feel like I have done nothing but go to class and do homework- it has been quite a week. Amongst all my studying, I'm the kind of person who likes background noise (except for when I'm reading) when I'm doing work. Like I've mentioned before, I'm not the biggest fan when it comes to silence when I could have music or the TV on. This week ,TV has been my background noise and primarily they have been reality shows or one other show: The Office. There are a couple shows that I watch at night with my husband but when I need some background noise- The Office is where it is at. Now I have watched this show so many times but I just never get tired of it! It still makes me laugh and I still get the same happy feeling when Jim and Pam finally get together and cringe whenever Michael says something that is just hard to hear. But I love it. This has made me reflect on how TV shows can really impact our lives. My first memories of The Office are when I was younger and actually watched it with my family as the episodes came out on TV. Another memory is when I watched the whole thing on Netflix during the summertime. Another is when I watched it with my cousins for their first time. And now I'm watching it again as a senior in college. I feel like I have grown up with The Office and it is amazing how much media, especially TV shows can go with us through life. This is an amazing realization I had this week that sometimes it is in the things we watch that can trace back to wonderful memories. There are so many positives to media and I'm grateful for The Office and how I've been able to have it with me as I've grown up.

Being More Aware

After our music discussion this past week, I was struck with how much music affects our lives. I'm known to listen to music all the time whether it be getting ready in the morning, walking to school, or doing homework. Music is so important to me. There is just something about a good story and a good beat that really speaks to my soul. As I walked out of lecture Tuesday, I decided to make it my mission to be an active consumer of my music media and see how much of my music is good and uplifting and how it makes me feel. I came to realize how some of my music didn't really have the best message but I loved the beat to it and that is what struck my interest. After learning how important lyrics are and how they can affect us, I decided to make a change. I started actively looking for music that had a positive message. I have noticed subtle changes in my attitude and the way I'm feeling. I don't think I ever listened to bad or really inappropriate music but I definitely feel a change in myself after I've listened to more positive songs. After listening to Soldier in class, I immediately downloaded the song and have now listened to it so many times!  This song now holds a special place in my heart and has really inspired me this week to be a more active and aware consumer of positive and uplifting music.

A Picture To Remember

This past week was hard! On Tuesday, I had to say "see ya later" to my best friend and cousin as she left on her mission to Ecuador. The night was fun and I chose to ignore the reality of how this would be last time I saw her in person for a year and a half. We went to the creamery, out to dinner, and the night was filled with craziness, laughs and fun.  We took pictures before the crying started then the time had come. With tears flowing down our faces and a last hug we both said, "See you soon" and went our separate ways. With so many conflicting and overwhelming emotions, I found myself looking at the pictures we had taken and found myself so grateful that I could always have those with me. Not only these but all the other pictures that I have with her and so many other important people to me. It struck me that this experience, while hard, was one I wanted to remember. While looking at the picture still makes me emotional, this picture is so important to me. How grateful I am for a phone that can take pictures so easily and quickly and hold so much behind each of them- so many memories and moments can be captured so simply! I love pictures because they can hold so much meaning to us in one simple frame. I never realized how much of a blessing it is to be able to use this type of media so easily and almost whenever I want. I'm especially grateful for this technology because it gets to capture moments, big and small, and keep them forever. I'm grateful for the advancement of media and all the blessings it allows us to have. While I feel like media is looked at negatively, I think it is so important to realize the positives of media and truly how lucky we are to have this technology. This has been my focus this week- how blessed I am for something that may seem small but is truly one of the best things that I have.

The Unexpected

This past week, one of the worst things happened after my final class of the day - my headphones broke. I mean I plugged them in to my phone and the metal part clipped off leaving me with no way to listen to my always reliable music on my trek home. At first, I was shook and couldn't quite comprehend what happened (I realize now how silly and absurd it is that I got that annoyed, but those headphones have been through a lot with me!) There is nothing worse to me than not being able to listen to music and I found myself wondering what I would do on my long walk home. With my headphones now gone, may they rest in peace, I was stuck without my media and I found it so quiet, maybe a little too quiet. I found myself taking in more of the settings around me. As I tuned in to other sounds around me, I noticed things such as scuffing of feet as they walk, or the crackling of a wrapper being crumpled up, and my favorite, a dog barking. I also found myself looking at other people more and seeing if they had headphones in or not.  My thoughts also seemed to be more focused and now that I think of it, it was peaceful. While I love my walks home filled with music, I came to realize how much I rely on this media and really how much it can prevent using times for clear, focused thoughts.  While I can't say that I won't walk home with my new headphones in my ears, I will say that I will take them out on walks home at least once every week to take a break from my media and to really take in what it is around me. This reminded me how media can be so consuming in our lives that it really is best to just take a break- even if it is hard at times!