Baby, I'm Coming Home

The New Year is rolling around and despite my resistance to make a resolution for the past few years, I'm trying to decide on a few for 2013. Currently those weighing most on my mind are drawing in my sketchbook more (maybe a 365 challenge) and creating a more organized plan for my posting.

2013 is a big year for me! I'm graduating from The University of Findlay with my first degree. I am applying to MFA programs at The University of Texas, KingstonUniversity, The University of Oregon, Washington State University, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The University of Colorado, and East Tennessee State University. There are a few more locations I am looking at but am up in the air about applying to a total of 9 masters programs.

There are so many ifs and buts floating around my head right now. What can I do but tackle each day that comes one at a time? I could be bogged down about the shear amount of work I have before me, but I'm excited about what all of that work means for me: new experiences!

In light of all this newness … here are some wonderful tracks to listen to as a reminder of the year on its way as you scroll through my roundup of Crafts I want to try from my Pinterest account.

White Winter Hymnal

Fleet Foxes

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve

EllaFitzgerald

Soon or Never

PunchBrothers

The New Year

DeathCab for Cutie

Here We Go Again

RayCharles featuring Norah Jones

Auld Lang Syne

TheCast

Travel Corkboard, found on Life Blessons

Sequin Wall, found on Oh Happy Day

Sesil Coasters, by The Space Between

Wine Cork rug from Crafty Nest

Organic Art by Paul Schick on Greige

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leafing Through {Happiness}

We read to know that we are not alone. ― William Nicholson

It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it. ― Oscar Wilde

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. ― Dr. Seuss

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one. ― George R.R. Martin

What is it about reading a book that gets people so excited? Many recent series seem to have reignited America's passion for reading. But to many the joy of picking up a book for personal pleasure is still lost. The most popular reasoning I have heard for not reading is that the person gets the same fulfillment out of watching a television series, or that they will wait for the movie to come out and then they will be in the loop.

Well just like our discussion yesterday about why learning and new experiences feel good to your brain, reading falls into the same category. When watching television or a movie you are accepting the images given to you and are not actively using cogitative skills to decode, as you would while reading (as discussed in ReadingVersus Television: Which Is Better?). Reading is more engaging for your brain and therefore is more pleasurable for you. I know you think being lazy feels good, but it has zero benefits to your health and happiness.

However, these scientific reasonings don't even come close to eclipsing my main reason for reading: it's the cheapest escape you can buy. Not only can you experience countries, views, and information you have never known, but you can see yourself through new eyes and reevaluate your life direction stress-free. So, it's also the cheapest form of therapy a person can buy.

Pick up a book. Your brain will thank you.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein

Looking for a good author? Check out this related post: Favorite Author: Ayn Rand

Experience {Happiness}

Why does it feel great to learn? Dopamine. Check out this article, Learn something new - your brain willthank you, where Dr Gary Marcus discusses why it feels good for your brain to learn a new skill.

However, you don’t need to pick up a new musical instrument or learn any knew skill to experience the dopamine rush that learning will give you. Get out and experience the world! It has become quite apparent to you, I’m sure, through reading my posts that I have a lot of interests: lots of DIY projects (haircoloring, making over my bedroom, earrings, and crafts), traveling, and I guess it’s inherent that I love writing also (poetry included).

Steps to make getting new experiences easier:

Make a List

I know I harp on this idea a lot, but list-making . . .  well, it makes life easier. Make a list of places you would like to go and things you would like to see. For example, on my list I would include bands I want to see, like Florence + the Machine, Punch Brothers, Neko Case . . . , cities I have never visited, such as New York and Chicago, as well as National Parks I want to see yet.

Set a Date

Decide exactly when you will do the things you want. Get your planner out now, load a new tab and do a Google search, make the necessary texts to invite friends. Go on. Do it.

Execute

Actually follow through with your plans. Your friends dropped out on you? Go anyway, make new friends while you’re there. An event got cancelled? Find a new one. Go through with your plan. Execution is key.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

Running From Star to Star Until I Drop

I did some writing while I was in Colorado and Utah. Obviously, there is a lot of time for reflection when you go on a 6 day driving excursion. So, here is the first thing I put down. I was still very excited to be having the experience 3 and 4 days in and was well aware that I was loving every moment of the drive and stops. I'm not editing or changing any of this … :

I used to think I was unsatisfied and that was the reason I wanted so much change all the time. I told myself that the real reason I wanted to travel was that I had a restless heart... but I'm starting to realize something else about myself... I really love life and this world. A thought occurred to me in Yellowstone: with a place so beautiful, how could I not want to see it all? With a population so diverse how could I not want to live all over the place? With a mind so dynamic, how could I not want more education? I want to experience, know, and be as much as possible.

Bison and the Road in Yellowstone National Park

I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. ― Jack Kerouac