The other day in Religion class we watched a movie called "Invictus". I'm sure many of you have heard of it/seen it. Either way it's a movie about Nelson Mandela and how amazing he is, oh and rugby. There is a poem that is read during the movie also entitled "Invictus" (invictus is Latin for unconquered or undefeated, who knew?), it's written by William Earnest Henley. The last two lines really stuck with me the first time I watched it in theatres and they had the same effect on me when I heard them again, just last week. They are:
I am the master of my fate.
I am the captain of my soul.
I thought these words were important to share with everyone at this point in time. Many of us are making incredible decisions this year. We are no longer allowed to be comforted by the fact that we know where we are going and that as long as you do your homework, everything will be okay. We are moving on, not just to the next grade, but out into the world. Some of us to university, some back to high school and some into the work force. Either way I truly hope everyone made these decisions for themselves and were not influenced by outside sources. We truly are the masters of our fate, not our parents, not our friends, and not our significant others. Of course people will always try and tell you they know what's best for you but only you know you. The things you want in life may not always be easy to achieve, but they would not be your greatest accomplishments if you did not have to work for them.
I have never been one to take the easy way out in life and I couldn't be happier with my decisions. It's always scary going to a new school or running for school president or trying out for a musical, but these things shape who you are. You need to go for what you want in life and live with no regrets. Every decision you make should be one that will help you in life, and if you screw up, which we all do, well, there's the saying "never a failure, always a lesson".
When it comes to university and collage and all that good stuff - the same approach should be taken. For me, it is important to be in charge of where I go and what I do. Doctors and lawyers are not the only successful people in the world! Outside factors in your life may think they know what's best, because they're older or wiser and so on and so forth, but they are not the ones who are going to be living your life! I'm so proud to be the child of my parents (even though I complain... a lot), they have always given me the freedom to grow into the person I want to be and have always supported me in my dreams. My mom always tells me that if you love what you do, you will be successful.
So I know how cheesy and unrealistic this sounds, but it's true. Success can be measured in many different ways, according to many different people. There are some people who are truly content doing what they love and living modestly. But there are also people who don't want to live modestly and want all of those commercial luxuries in life. If you were to think of someone doing what they love and calling it success, you would most likely visualize a modestly living person, but that's not the case. How I interpret my mothers wise words are, if you love what you do, you will find a way to make it work for you. A person could put the same amount of time and effort into learning how to run a business as they would into becoming a doctor and potentially start an incredibly popular business selling vintage bottle caps. Everyone who is famous or rich or an incredible role model you have, started somewhere and I'm sure did not have an easy time getting where they are. Of course I'm not bashing doctors or lawyers, I'm simply stating that they're not the only way to become successful. So choose what you want, be the person who you've always wanted to be.
I know many people who are staying back or going out into the work force who are a little ashamed of telling people they aren't going to university or collage right away, but who says we have to?! So many people have learned the hard way that maybe they weren't ready to go away just quite yet or they didn't know what they wanted to do or they just wanted to take some time off! Society can not tell you what is right and what is wrong. Next year I am returning back to my high school for another semester and I know it is the right decision for me. I know that I am not sure of my career path yet and that I want to travel and work before I go to university. Everyone who made the decision not to go to collage or university next year has a reason!
For everyone who is unsure, or scared about next year, the reality is so is everyone else. As long as you made the right decisions for you, and you alone, there should be no reason why you won't be successful next year and throughout your life.
I am the master of my fate.
I am the captain of my soul.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Her dreams were seen all over the world
After a long day of laughing, a small girl climbed into satellite dish to take a nap.Her dreams were seen all over the world. They were fearless and inspiring. Her mother turned on the television and saw her face, it was stunning and glowing - her daughter was dreaming of her. The mother had never seen this radiant face when she looked in the mirror. A young man was taking a break from his three hour lab preparation - wondering if this was all worth it. He turned on the television and saw a little girl dressed in a lab coat tending to an elderly woman. He was reminded of himself as a child, dreaming of the day he would walk around in a lab coat of his own. How often we forget how the world looks to children - beautiful, endless, full of possibilities. How often we forget how much we inspire children and how much they inspire us.
This past March break I was lucky enough to work as a staff for march break camps at my work. We are a different kind of camp because we service children of all needs and abilities. Although the work can be extremely challenging some days, I would not want to work anywhere else. People always tell me how good and patient I must be for working with children who have special needs and how much I must teach them by being with them so much. I do hope I teach them something during my time with them, but in all actuality they teach me so much more and inspire me to see life through their eyes - an adventure.
I worked periodically throughout the week with a child who is a non-verbal child who has fragile X. He loved when I read to him and would grab my face if, god forbid, I stopped. Instead, we worked out the sign language for "read more". It was one of those moments in your life that really effect you, that make you feel like you really can do anything. When I saw him use the sign language with another staff who was reading to him, my heart almost burst into 1000 pieces. It just goes along with my whole "changing the world, one person at a time" thing. These kids always remind me if I'm having a bad day just how much I am capable of doing and that I can change the world.
I was also reminded how fearless children are in their endeavours to conquer the world. They know what they want and are brutally honest about it. At the same time I envy their ability to get lost in a make-believe world they can create in less than 30 seconds and stay suspended there for a ridiculously long amount of time.
How often we forget that we were kids once. We should really follow in their footsteps for many reasons. They can be incredibly upset one moment and completely leave their previous worries behind and move on to being happy again - while most of us have lost our ability to let anything go and let it weight us down constantly in our lives. Also, kids believe in themselves more than anyone in the world. They dream about their future and idolize the adults in their life. A child can change what they want to be every day but say that it is their passion with the same conviction over and over. Everyone should feel the same drive and passion children have for their dreams.
So let children's sincere intentions and actions touch your heart and be inspired, not frustrated!
This past March break I was lucky enough to work as a staff for march break camps at my work. We are a different kind of camp because we service children of all needs and abilities. Although the work can be extremely challenging some days, I would not want to work anywhere else. People always tell me how good and patient I must be for working with children who have special needs and how much I must teach them by being with them so much. I do hope I teach them something during my time with them, but in all actuality they teach me so much more and inspire me to see life through their eyes - an adventure.
I worked periodically throughout the week with a child who is a non-verbal child who has fragile X. He loved when I read to him and would grab my face if, god forbid, I stopped. Instead, we worked out the sign language for "read more". It was one of those moments in your life that really effect you, that make you feel like you really can do anything. When I saw him use the sign language with another staff who was reading to him, my heart almost burst into 1000 pieces. It just goes along with my whole "changing the world, one person at a time" thing. These kids always remind me if I'm having a bad day just how much I am capable of doing and that I can change the world.
I was also reminded how fearless children are in their endeavours to conquer the world. They know what they want and are brutally honest about it. At the same time I envy their ability to get lost in a make-believe world they can create in less than 30 seconds and stay suspended there for a ridiculously long amount of time.
How often we forget that we were kids once. We should really follow in their footsteps for many reasons. They can be incredibly upset one moment and completely leave their previous worries behind and move on to being happy again - while most of us have lost our ability to let anything go and let it weight us down constantly in our lives. Also, kids believe in themselves more than anyone in the world. They dream about their future and idolize the adults in their life. A child can change what they want to be every day but say that it is their passion with the same conviction over and over. Everyone should feel the same drive and passion children have for their dreams.
So let children's sincere intentions and actions touch your heart and be inspired, not frustrated!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Basics
Getting up this morning was absolutely dreadful. I haven't been sleeping lately and of course the consequence of lack of sleep is exhaustion. On top of being exhausted, having religion first doesn't help motivate me to hop out of bed and yell good morning world!! I've been in my classes for about a month now. For the first couple weeks my religion teacher thought I was a genius. But then some "poor decisions" were made and all of a sudden my friends and I are bad people. I'm sorry but being a religion teacher, isn't it a bright idea to teach your students, be ethically sound and forgive us?! All we did was make a group with more than 5 people, relax. Needless to say, you can tell when a teacher loses my respect because my attendance seriously declines. In the words of this particular teacher it's a good thing I'm an independent learner or I would be in trouble.
My writers craft teacher on the other hand I don't I think will ever lose respect for. I already knew he was annoying. The man can talk for an hour and fifteen minutes about nothing!! In his own way though he's a genius and very encouraging when he reads something he thinks is brilliant. Today we had a writer come into our class, who is going to be with us every Friday. I haven't gathered my impression of her yet, seems cool enough. We did a "free fall writing" activity with her. It is where you just write for a period of time with no reservations, no editing in your head, which we so often do. To add some structure she added the title, "Inside the Fridge". This is what I came up with:
Almost as cold as the winter wind that screams across my face.
Like looking aimlessly a million times for something that isn't there.
Love can be empty and in stock less often than milk.
It can hide behind jars of sweet, sticky jam.
Hopefully you find it, especially after a long day.
If possible share it, after it was warmed up.
Because warm it has a completely different taste,
Kind but not artificially sweet,
Hopeful but not ripe.
Inside the fridge you look for satisfaction.
So yeah. That's where I got in my ten minutes. Poetry is something I've always wanted to be good at so hopefully having this class will help me develop all my crazy ideas into something beautiful.
The rest of the day went by quickly, thank goodness. It was soooo nice out today. The sun makes me dream of the summer and everything it means this year. Graduation, working at my favourite place in the world (hopefully), and all of the basic things summer brings. It is like the epitome of freedom and I love it.
I would have to say Thursdays are one of my favourite days. After a long day of school it's just great to go to my dance studio and be around people I love. Dance is probably the biggest inspiration in my life. This is my 5th year dancing at my studio and my first year on the senior competitive team. I never realized I could love something so much. Watching all the seniors before me, I worked so hard to be part of this team, they were so amazing. But being on it is a whole different experience. Our dances this year are incredible. I don't get tired of doing them, ever. Overall my favourite part of dancing is our improv sessions. Our coach puts on a song and we just dance. It's the most crazy, exposing, intimate experience. You are exposing everything you feel, but at the same time being so inside your head and your emotions that it's such a personal thing. At first it was a truly terrifying thing. Not having a strong dance vocabulary and being super self conscious makes dancing in front of people hard. But watching other people and taking class all year has really helped me start to develop my own style. I'm still no where near where I want to be, but everything takes time.
Tomorrow is Friday!!!! I'm overly excited for another great weekend. I get to spend some chill time with some of my closest friends this weekend. My friends from my middle school are some of the funniest people I've ever met. We don't even need to say anything to each other to get a crazy reaction. On the other side of that you know you're close with someone when silence isn't awkward and that's what we have. I love them so much and I am so grateful to still have them in my life!
Truly, all I can do is be grateful for everything I have in my life. I try to show my gratitude every day to the world by smiling at everyone, strangers and friends alike, other little things like that, because people don't realize how much the small things count. Realistically though, I get moody and wear my heart on my sleeve so often that you wouldn't even know how much I truly love life. Oh well, just another thing I'll have to work on I guess!
My writers craft teacher on the other hand I don't I think will ever lose respect for. I already knew he was annoying. The man can talk for an hour and fifteen minutes about nothing!! In his own way though he's a genius and very encouraging when he reads something he thinks is brilliant. Today we had a writer come into our class, who is going to be with us every Friday. I haven't gathered my impression of her yet, seems cool enough. We did a "free fall writing" activity with her. It is where you just write for a period of time with no reservations, no editing in your head, which we so often do. To add some structure she added the title, "Inside the Fridge". This is what I came up with:
Almost as cold as the winter wind that screams across my face.
Like looking aimlessly a million times for something that isn't there.
Love can be empty and in stock less often than milk.
It can hide behind jars of sweet, sticky jam.
Hopefully you find it, especially after a long day.
If possible share it, after it was warmed up.
Because warm it has a completely different taste,
Kind but not artificially sweet,
Hopeful but not ripe.
Inside the fridge you look for satisfaction.
So yeah. That's where I got in my ten minutes. Poetry is something I've always wanted to be good at so hopefully having this class will help me develop all my crazy ideas into something beautiful.
The rest of the day went by quickly, thank goodness. It was soooo nice out today. The sun makes me dream of the summer and everything it means this year. Graduation, working at my favourite place in the world (hopefully), and all of the basic things summer brings. It is like the epitome of freedom and I love it.
I would have to say Thursdays are one of my favourite days. After a long day of school it's just great to go to my dance studio and be around people I love. Dance is probably the biggest inspiration in my life. This is my 5th year dancing at my studio and my first year on the senior competitive team. I never realized I could love something so much. Watching all the seniors before me, I worked so hard to be part of this team, they were so amazing. But being on it is a whole different experience. Our dances this year are incredible. I don't get tired of doing them, ever. Overall my favourite part of dancing is our improv sessions. Our coach puts on a song and we just dance. It's the most crazy, exposing, intimate experience. You are exposing everything you feel, but at the same time being so inside your head and your emotions that it's such a personal thing. At first it was a truly terrifying thing. Not having a strong dance vocabulary and being super self conscious makes dancing in front of people hard. But watching other people and taking class all year has really helped me start to develop my own style. I'm still no where near where I want to be, but everything takes time.
Tomorrow is Friday!!!! I'm overly excited for another great weekend. I get to spend some chill time with some of my closest friends this weekend. My friends from my middle school are some of the funniest people I've ever met. We don't even need to say anything to each other to get a crazy reaction. On the other side of that you know you're close with someone when silence isn't awkward and that's what we have. I love them so much and I am so grateful to still have them in my life!
Truly, all I can do is be grateful for everything I have in my life. I try to show my gratitude every day to the world by smiling at everyone, strangers and friends alike, other little things like that, because people don't realize how much the small things count. Realistically though, I get moody and wear my heart on my sleeve so often that you wouldn't even know how much I truly love life. Oh well, just another thing I'll have to work on I guess!
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