Snow & Life are a lot Alike.

I woke up this morning to the sight of another beautiful snowfall out my window. The view of the the world under a blanket of powder never ceases to take my breath away. I have always loved snow. LOVED it. I was the one of those little kids that heard a weatherman reporting even a mere 5% chance of snow, & then stayed up all night with my nose pressed up against the window in my bedroom, just praying that a few flakes would fall & school would be cancelled the next day so I could go explore in the winter wonderland (a.k.a. my backyard).

Until this morning, I had never put much thought into why I find snow so incredibly beautiful. Why am I still intrigued this much after witnessing 19 years worth of snowfall? While trudging through the snow with a friend this morning, & commenting on the different prints left by different kinds of shoes, I think I realized for the first time that I am fascinated by the way that snow molds to whatever shape you want it to. It’s so interesting to me that when you walk through snow you can look back and see exactly the path you took to get from one place to another, or that you can take something so fragile, that fell from the sky, & use it to build something that is completely unique to you. No one will ever make the same footprints, & no one will build the same snowman. And this led me to ponder another thought…

Snow is proof that you are an individual. It is proof that you were on this earth. Snow allows you to leave your mark on the world (literally), in a spot that no one else has. It allows you to clearly see that you are the only one to have tread where your feet are about to land on this particular day. You are a pioneer. Even on a busy sidewalk, where 100′s of people walk each day, if you are the first to put your footprint on that walk during that particular snowfall, it shows that you were the first one to conquer that path. And I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this, just as I never really did until today, but it is rare to see snowy footprints far apart from each other in an open space. Almost always, after someone has laid the first pathway with their own steps, the footprints that follow are from people stepping in or near those first prints; in hopes that if the first person to walk that way made it just fine, then they must be able to follow without running into hardship as well. Maybe they’re afraid of getting their socks wet, or slipping on ice, or stepping in some kind of muck, or even getting lost. Whatever the reason, it seems true that most people are more comfortable following the first set of prints, than taking the risk necessary to make their own.

Sure you can see footprints in mud as well, but walking in snow is always a little more adventurous. Snow covers the ground beneath it, making the spot that you are stepping on next a complete mystery. You never know if your next step will lead you to slip a little on ice, or get stuck in the muck, or roll your ankle in a patch of uneven ground. With mud or sand, while you may leave a unique footprint, it is often without risk. You know exactly what the ground you’re trodding on looks like. You can see where there are puddles, or where you might find a rocky patch, & you know how to avoid it. The same cannot be said in snow. You may be walking into a complete unknown, & sometimes you may not even know how deep that unknown it. So in a sense, when walking on snow, you are an innovator. You, the leader for all these prints on the sidewalk behind you, have people literally “following in your footsteps”. It doesn’t matter  if you may just be crossing the street, or cutting corners to get to a class or meeting on time…

If there are footprints beside or behind yours, that means someone values the path you chose to take; therefore, you are a leader.

Life is so interesting.

Oh & while we’re on the subject of snow, I just wanted to share that I actually attend school at Narnia :)

A Seuss-like Thought on Beautiful; (for National Eating Disorder Awareness week)

Which one looks healthy to you?

Since when was beautiful defined by size?
Always? Maybe. But why the hell why?
Marilyn Monroe (The sexiest woman ever alive)
Wore her dresses size 12; full hips, thick thighs.
A size 12 in this day, is “fat”(some would say);
& yet Marilyn’s body made every mans day.

So when did a measuring tape start to decide,
Whether or not you could be desired?
Back in the day a full woman was a prize,
She symbolized wealth (& health) for her guy.
But apparently now, skeletons are most pretty,
Although last time I checked real men like healthy, not skinny.

This isn’t to say though to judge the other extreme,
Skinny is beautiful when by healthy means.
If someone is ridiculed for being too large,
We should know that not everyone’s small ’cause they starve.
Hard work can obtain you a healthy small figure,
When addressing true beauty, look at the whole picture.

So instead of thinking in terms of size,
And judging one’s health by the looks of their thighs,
Why don’t we check out the contents of her heart?
Instead of her stomach, at least that’s a start…
For a woman who loves with everything in her,
Doesn’t need to be judged by what she ate (or didn’t eat) for dinner.

Revolution.

Before there is religion, before there is politics, before there are stereotypes,
and before there is “I’m right, you’re wrong”;

there is love.

To my sisters (& my brothers).

We all long to belong to someone. In the beginning God created man & woman… Together. From the same dust, the same bone & flesh, we were created; and we continue to exist. So it only seems natural that we long for love & relationship from one another. In fact, we need relationship. Studies have found that infants are less prone to illness when they are nurtured through physical touch, & are in a loving environment. And someone told me once that the simplest key to a strong marriage is 5 healthy touches per day; even those as simple as is the brush of a hand against the other’s, or a kiss on the cheek. It is vital that we live in relation with other human beings. We have an innate want to be valued, & needed, and affirmed in even the smallest way.

This need though, has become so distorted in our world. Our society seems to have raised a generation of young men and women that have dangerously confused the need for emotional connection with one another as either a weakness or simply sexuality. Let me explain what I mean by both…

Media & stereotypes have screamed to young men in our society that possessing emotion is a sign of weakness. Crying is a sin, chivalry isn’t cool, and asking for support or encouragement during a struggle is basically pronouncing your woman-hood. The status-quo expects that boys will reject every emotion except bravery and lust, because both of these things are “manly”. Stand up for yourself using anything but your words. Look at a woman’s body, not her heart. Of course not every man in our society is like this. There are so many wonderful men in this world who have been raised, or have chosen, to live above this stereotype; I am blessed to say that I was fathered by one, I am friends with many, & I am very lucky to be dating one. So please don’t misunderstand my statements. It’s just that I have seen, too many times, the hurt caused by this twisted concept (in both guys & girls that I care about deeply). And although we all need to be responsible for our choices, I don’t necessarily blame these boys for their actions or words. What else do they know, if they have grown up in a world that teaches them these things? Not only does this raise up men who are confused, because of the lack of healthy outlet for the emotions they have been forced to repress their whole lives, but what does this say to our girls?

If little girls grow up watching their fathers, brothers, & friends being ridiculed for their healthy displays of affection & emotion, & praised for their aggressive power & their lack of emotional depth, what does that tell these girls to become? When a little girl grows older she will seek out men who are like her father, or her brothers, or any other male role model in her life. If those role models did not invest in her creativity, in her feelings, or in her interests, she will learn that her brain & her heart are simply not important. No one really cares what she accomplishes anyways, right? If she is not told that she is beautiful inside & out, using positive language, she will think that it is necessary for her to fight for attention, often using her body to show that she is in fact beautiful physically, instead of displaying talent, personality, & intelligence. Young women see that men do not value their brains or their heart, (even if this is just false projection of society) & so they use what they have left, their body, to beg for the love & affirmation that every one of us needs to survive. This then, creates a vicious cycle.

We live in hyper-sexual world. Society tells men to prove their manhood as early as possible, & even though this used to mean succeeding in school, or taking over the family business & starting to provide for a family of your own, “manhood” is often now just attributed with sex. And young women, too, feel the pressure to prove that they are worthy of love, & it seems that society has forced upon us this idea that the only way to do that is using your body. We have lost the sacredness of relationship with one another. What happened to the days where courting was a thing? That was pretty cool back in the day, right? What a more awesome way to ensure that your relationship with someone is truly built on the right foundation than to have your parents go everywhere with you… actually, yuck, that sounds awful. But seriously though, marriage & dating used to be so lasting… & how could it not be when you have no other choice but to put the physical part of your relationship last in priorities? I’m not saying that courting is the only answer to breaking this cycle for the next generation, & it definitely isn’t the most realistic thing to ask for this day in age. But what if people actually applied the values of a courting relationship to their present or future relationships. To look at someone & say, “You seem like someone I could like a lot. Let’s hang out for a while, & I’ll keep my pants on, & we’ll share in this awesome friendship fer dayz, before we share everything else”… that seems like a pretty sweet set-up to me.

“My sister, act always as though you belong to your husband,
whether present or some day soon.
And demand from the man you choose to love, that he belongs only to you.
Never settle for less than perfect respect; but show the utmost regard for him too.
Honor yourself and the one you’ll call ‘Love’,
don’t give what is his to another young fool.”

I guess all of this is mostly to my sisters. Really, I just wanted to say that I’ve been so discouraged lately watching one friend after another crumble in self-esteem, or relationships & marriages around me fall apart because of this problem alone. A physical relationship is supposed to be sacred. Let’s treat it that way. And it shouldn’t belong to anyone besides the person you decide to marry.

Well… That was much longer than it was intended to be. Bravo for getting through that all. I think I’m done venting.

…WAIT NO. I’m not. —–> ALSO, leggings are not pants.

Okay now I’m done. Just cherish yourself, & those around you, friends.