That was a surprise to me, and welcome!

I love people. Being around friends is super invigorating for me and I feel rejuvenated after being with them. That said, I am not the most comfortable when I am with people I don't know well. Moving into new wards is therefore a bit difficult for me. Something unexpected that helped bond me with members of my ward were SNL skits. Watching and quoting these skits has provided ward inside jokes that are incorporated into everyday conversations, lesson plans, and even activities. Here is one of the more frequently quoted:

Isn't the bonding power of quotes in unexpected contexts interesting?! 

Gibberish

You know how families have weird things that they do together? And by weird I mean things you would never do with anyone outside the context of your family relationship? Well, I love those things! I think they are bonding :) For example, in my family, we are all really good at speaking gibberish with one another. If you have having trouble thinking of what gibberish sounds like, think of Donny from the Wild Thornberrys and you'll about have it.

Yes, it is complete nonsense, and no the "words" we "speak" are not intelligible, but surprisingly enough, we do understand one another! Perhaps it is because we know one another so well, but we have a lot of hilarious conversations together. I always know I am good friends with someone when I am comfortable enough to speak gibberish around them. So, if you ever hear it, feel privileged :)

FHE Home-Video

So in honor of the Academy Awards a few weeks back/just for fun, my ward is throwing together an Academy Awards night. Part of this event includes submissions by each FHE group of some video or another that the group created. The movies are due tomorrow night, so like any group of college students, my FHE group procrastinated filming until today.

I will be honest, our one-minute-and-seven-seconds "home-video" may or may not have a viable plot, theme, or purpose. It may or may not be entertaining to anyone outside of those of us who participated in making it. But, making that movie together was so much fun, however cheesy or senseless it may turn out to be.

The purpose of media is to convey some message or another from one source to another. In the case of this home-video we created, I think the message is most salient in it's creation. It's about the bonding and fun we all had, the memories we formed, and the endless laughter that kept us from filming half the time. Whether or not anyone gets anything out of this film, our group is closer for having had making it, which, in the end is the purpose of the ward activity.

Chasing sunbeams

With all the sunshine we have been enjoying lately, I have been doing a lot more outdoor work-outs, namely running. I don't like running alone, however, and will literally go door-to-door to see if anyone in my ward wants to go run with me. I don't care if my running partner is male, female, fast, slow, or even a "runner," I just want company. One of the girls I ran with last week played music from a speaker on her iPod as we ran.

I grew up running in high school on the track and cross country teams and always with teammates. We would chat as we run (unless our work-out was particularly strenuous), stretched, and generally worked-out and I love the camaraderie we developed. Because of this social aspect of running, listening to music has never been a thing for me as I work-out. 

However, I have to say, that my friend playing background music on her iPod as we ran was a great way to set a pace for us. We still talked as we ran, so I didn't miss out on the social camaraderie that I so enjoy and the music was an enjoyable new element to my run. 

Is there anyone else out there who has an opinion on the perks of working out with or without music?

"Have courage and be kind"

I saw the new Cinderella film yesterday. I. LOVE. IT. It is so sweet and gives a beautiful message of kindness, love, and bravery that I find really uplifting. Because it is a Disney princess movie, lots of kids are going to see it and (hopefully) pick up on the messages this movie sends.

Cinderella's mom tells her to always "have courage and be kind." Throughout the movie I found it interesting and empowering to note how kindness and bravery seemed to be intertwined. In some circumstances, being kind is the brave thing.

This reminds me of a few verses in 1 John 4:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear has torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us," (v. 17-19).

Evidence of perfect love is the fact that we are willing to express it. This can be scary and requires vulnerability, hence the necessity for boldness (or courage), especially in situations where we may struggle to love someone (Cinderella with her step-family). Also, in the day of judgment, how is the Savior going to treat those He mediates for (aka all of us)? With SO much love, which is why He sacrificed His life to become our Savior and Mediator to begin with. Our goal is to become like Him, so how better than to love with equal boldness?

Then there's that part about perfect love casting out all fear. Cinderella was confronted throughout the film with many cruel and disparaging remarks and treatments from her stepmother and stepsisters. She felt alone and beat-down, however, despite her treatment, she still put forth constant effort to love. Her kindness was unfailing and because of that her spirit was unfailing, they couldn't keep her down aka her spirit wasn't tormented and her fear dissipated. I feel the same is true for all of us, if we truly strive to love and be kind without discrimination or reservation, we will be unfailingly happy. It will become inherent to our very being.

Another thing I love about this film, is that just towards the end, before Cinderella tries on the glass slipper, she asks the Prince an important question. She asks if he will still love and accept her for who she is as an independent-thinking, country/servant-girl. The prince, of course, says yes and he and Cinderella end up together, just as we all knew all along.

I love that for Cinderella what was most important was that she was loved for all of her, and not just her pretty face. In fact, throughout the film, others comment on how she is has lovely physical characteristics, but never does it ever drive what Cinderella or the Prince do. Her stepmother and stepsisters, however, are portrayed as vain women who seek after nothing but beauty and wealth and there is a distinct message sent that those things are frivolous, ridiculous, and unrewarding.

Attached to the message of kindness  and love is also that of forgiveness. Sometimes those who are unkind to us are also unkind to themselves. I think it is important to let them know that we don't hold it against them and hopefully that will lead to them not holding it against themselves either.

A few mini messages within Cinderella include:
1. With time pain eventually becomes a memory; grief and pain are a part of our lives but don't always have to be sad remembrances.
2. "Just because it's what's done, doesn't mean it should be done."
3. Sacrificing for others is an act of love
4. Cinderella is not a damsel in distress, she isn't a push-over, she (kindly) sticks up for herself

And lastly, that final bit of 1 John I quoted above, "we love him, because he first love us," is a principle embedded into the Cinderella story. She loves everyone, no matter who they are: haggard old ladies, mice, geese, cruel family members, royalty, servants, her parents, etc. And, generally, they all love her in return. However, even when those who should love her most are mean and cruel, because she continues to be kind nonetheless, she is rewarded with a love she never expected (the prince).

There are probably a ton of other wonderful messages I missed, but needless to say, I am a fan of this film. Beautiful message, script, and filming.

Life is hard, but why not alleviate some of that with goodness? Let's all be a bit more courageous in our commitment to kindness and thereby spread some cheer and love to those who cross our paths.

Facebook Bash

So about a week ago my brother and I got into a bit of a social media spat...I actually find this super immature of me and am embarrassed, especially considering that I am six years older than him....And I don't know that it can really qualify as a "spat" because, he is apparently the more mature one and DIDN'T respond to my posts....but to defend (?) myself, some back-story:

So my little brother is really sweet and great and has the best intentions of any eighteen year old man child I've ever met. However, he is always posting these ultra-opinionated, single-minded memes about religion and politics and they drive me crazy! Normally, I ignore them in the hopes that this is just a phase he is going through and he will find a different direction to apply his passion at some later time, but the other night I just couldn't let it go.

I had just returned home from taking my last mid-term in the testing center and felt like some form of zombie. 

In this numbed state of mind I went on to Facebook and the first thing I saw was this meme my brother posted comparing Hillary Clinton to Adolf Hitler:

I was immediately infuriated. 

Now, I am by no means a Hillary Clinton fan, but I am not a hater either. Honestly, I don't know enough about her political stance to have any sort of opinion about her. But, I also don't think she deserves to have her ideals compared to those of a man who committed heinous acts against humanity. It is also helpful to know that the midterm I had studied my brains out for was moral development, I had been sick most of the week, and I felt completely drained so my judgement was perhaps impaired? Here was my commentary: 

This is an unfair comparison. According to Kohlberg's theory of moral development they are both operating at a Level 2, Stage 4 moral reasoning which is actually where most of the world operates. Including you. It is called "Conventional, Social System Morality." Very few people reason above this level and even less act higher. Facts of life. It's the application of reasoning that is different. Please don't compare someone who is trying to do what she honestly feels is best for her country (aka her society) to a man who acted out of hatred and pride. I am in a moral development class this semester and find finger pointing like this quite disparaging. Who are you to judge someone else's moral standing? At least she is trying to do something to change the world on a grand scale. That's more than most. Whether or not you agree with her political stance, it isn't fair to compare her character to that of Hitler's.

Now, I stand by the content of my post, I just think a better thing to do would have been to call my brother up and explained my feelings to him rather than making it a public thing. My brother never responded to my posts, however, my sweet mother did in an attempt to smooth my "attack" over: 

Oh, politics! I made a Hitler comparison today to someone else. We are all imperfect in our views even when we are compassionate about our feelings and feel we have all the facts. I love that my kids are trying to educate themselves and form opinions. Luckily our views change and develop until the day we die. Then, we learn the real facts and know for sure how right and wrong we were in our judgements and views. Keep growing kids!

Isn't she great? :) 

Has anyone else ever been in a similar situation where you used the ambiguity of a screen or website/a lapse in judgment as an excuse or justification to post something out of character on social media? Like I said above, I stand by what I posted, just not that I posted it over social media allowing a difference in familial opinion to become public...but then again, if he wasn't my little brother, I don't know that I would feel so bad about posting it. I am actually really glad if as a result of my post or my sweet mother's someone else's world view or perspective was slightly expanded. 

C'est la vie!

Stake Conference

This weekend I had stake conference and probably because I am in this media class this semester, but I was surprised by how much media was used! At the Saturday evening session they played a clip about how to work more efficiently as councils from the LDS church website. It was super effective because instead of listening to someone talk at us about the council system, we got to see it in action.  In addition to this video clip, there were several musical numbers spread between the different sessions which I loved because, as one elder remarked on my mission, 

"Music creates a Celestial atmosphere."

And, for those of us who had seats in the overflow/gym area, there were screens lowered with a projection of the stand playing so we could see what was going on in front. This would have been so helpful as a kid to stay engaged in stake conference, but what cool that it is used now! I love church media and how effectively it can be used in conferences.I am grateful for the progressive ways in which media is used to enhance church conferences, it is a reminder that all things can be used to direct us back to Christ. 

Miranda Sings

Last weekend a friend introduced me to a YouTube channel that he follows called Miranda Sings. He played a few of her YouTube videos and I found her super annoying. However, this week I was watching a link to "Kids React to Scott Sterling" that a fellow media class blogger posted on her webpage and on the side bar was a link to "Kids React to Miranda Sings" which was followed by a link to "Miranda Reacts to Kids Reacting to Miranda Sings". This video was followed by links to more videos and as I clicked on one after another/before I realized what was happening, I was sucked in. Now, I don't like every video she posts and yes a lot of it is quite absurd, but I find her generally hilarious and I am all about laughing.

Side-note, watching some of her videos introduced me to a whole world/industry I have heard of but never really paid much attention to, the world/industry of YouTube stars. How bizarre is it that people will post vlogs (video blogs) about their life on the internet and others not only watch them, but follow them! And then, suddenly, posting vlogs about your life becomes your career! It's insane! But, hey, good for them I guess.

Have any of you heard of Miranda Sings? What do you think of her? Also, am I the only who finds herself easily sucked in my funny media...? Ellen does this to me too...

The End of an Era

One of my friends has never seen the last Harry Potter film. She doesn't want a finale to what she considers her childhood. However, this last weekend she decided she needed closure; therefore, yesterday a group of us gathered together to watch "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." When it finished, we asked her how she felt. She was feeling good, it had been a positive experience.

What I find fascinating though is how influential the Harry Potter saga has been in the lives of many of my generation. Granted, we all have grown up with him, but still how is it that one story has been linked to an entire generation's childhood association? I think it's fantastic, but curious none the less.

I think this just speaks to the "magic" of words...forgive the pun. But really, words are powerful!! They have the capacity to uplift, tear down, create, etc. Just look what J.K. Rowling has done with words, she has created childhoods, new worlds, magic, love, the list goes on!

One of my favorite scriptures comes from Alma 31:5:

"And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just--yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them--therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God."

And there you have it, Alma verifying that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. Seriously though, words have a great potential and we can all become masters of them.