The Ocean

I love the ocean. I love the way it looks, sounds, smells, and feels. Today I decided that no matter where I end up in life, I will make a point to regularly visit the ocean. Preferably in California. 

Today I went to Crystal Cove State Park for the first time and it was a great experience. There are tide pools to explore and since it's a state park (or maybe since it was a Sunday) it was fairly empty. It was different from other beaches where the point is to soak up the sun, surf, swim, play volleyball, etc. Instead you were there to enjoy nature. 

I had two thoughts while there. The first was how good the ocean is for my soul. There's just something about it that is so calm and lulling. It lets me slow down, sit back, and just take it all in. I'm able to think and reflect.

 The second though I had was of God's great power and how incredible His creations are. In looking out at the ocean I was amazed by the fact that I couldn't see an end, and that I was only seeing a small part of it. I can't even comprehend the vastness of the ocean let alone the whole world, the universe, and all other worlds. 

The ocean, in all it's majesty...

 and beauty...

reminds me of both God's power and His love for us in creating such beautiful things for our enjoyment. And that is why I need to regularly visit the ocean. Because it cleanses my soul and brings me closer to my Heavenly Father.

Summer Reading List

Normally school and work take up so much of my time, that any free time I have is devoted to TV, or movies, or the internet. With only 2 finals to prepare for, no homework, and a super light work schedule, I have a lot more free time. And I've found that I'm bored with TV and the internet. So I decided to start on my summer reading list. Beginning with re-reading The Three Musketeers. I'd forgotten how witty it is. There are some really good lines that seem to come out of no where and surprise you. Anyway....for those of you looking for ideas for your own reading list, here's mine. I can't guarantee that they're good since I haven't read them, but I'll keep you posted!

• My Name Used to be Muhammad by Tito Momen and Jeff Benedict
• I am Number Four, Pittacus Lore
• Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
• Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Eat, Greet, and Tweet Your Way to Success, Barbara Pachter
• The Judgment of Paris, Ross King
• How to Be Interesting, Jessica Hagy
• Death Comes to Pemberley, P.D. James
• Entwined, Heather Dixon
• Stardust, Neil Gaiman
• A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
• The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton
• The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• Divergent, Veronica Roth
• Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer
• The Mortal Instruments series, Cassandra Clare

I'm trying to get a good mix of genres, as well as contemporaries and classics. I've also added a few non-fiction/self-help which I've never really been interested in before but thought I'd give them a shot. I've already read Twilight and Mortal Instruments, but I'm throwing them in because I love them. :)

Born to Stand Out

I'm pretty sure Theodor Seuss Geisel is Mormon now. I love his quote: 

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out."

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we are often told to be part of the world, but not of the world.  We are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and potential gods and goddesses. We are destined for greatness and need to let our light shine. That can not happen if we try to hide that light in order to become like everyone else. 

Marianne Williamson said:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us."

As I figure out what to do with my life, I have an opportunity to really discover myself and become who I was meant to be. I'm going to work on not caring what people think as long as I'm happy with myself. After all, why fit in when I was born to stand out?

On the Brink of Change

I've been meaning to start a blog for a few weeks now, but tonight I got the push to finally do it. 

This semester my roommate got me hooked on Gilmore Girls. I've grown to love the characters and I've often laughed and groaned and even wanted to cry. Tonight I watched the final episode where Rory has graduated college and is moving on with her life. It really hit home since I am in the last weeks of my last semester at BYU. Like her, I have decisions to make and I really don't know where my life is headed. Life has not turned out the way I thought it would, but it's still good. I had a similar experience on the brink of graduating high school. At that point too, I didn't know what was going to happen and life was heading in an unexpected direction. But in the end, my experiences here at BYU have been fantastic. Most importantly, I have made life long friends.  

In trying to make decisions and figure everything out, I've been relying on a scripture from the Book of Mormon: 

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shal send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." --Helaman 5:12  

This has helped me remember to read my scriptures and pray first and other things will fall into place. I'm trying to build a secure foundation because my legs are feeling pretty shaky right now. 

So now here, on the brink of change, I may be scared of what the future will bring, but I'm also hopeful. Life is always changing and in the words of Walt Disney, I need to "keep moving forward."