Evolve or remain.

A little bit less than a year ago on The Odyssey, a content creator from Delta State University wrote a piece entitled, "I'm Spoiled: Stop Shaming Me." Now there have been more than a handful of articles posted here that have made me upset, but when I read this one I was so angry I felt sick to my stomach. I suppose what made me angry was that the author seemed to be demanding empathy, and as an average middle-class college student, I found myself feeling incapable of being able to empathize. To the author of the original piece, first off I'd just like to make it abundantly clear that while you might think people are looking down on you or shaming you for being spoiled, it's not against you personally. It's against the idea of a college kid being handed everything they want/need while the majority of college students struggle. Yes, I fully acknowledge that some people may be straight up rude to you or negative to you about being spoiled. I don't doubt...

I honestly didn't know what peer pressure really was until my first semester of college, when I told someone I don't drink alcohol at all. "You're kidding, right?" she said while laughing, as if my choosing to not pour poison into my own body just for the hell of it was something I'd casually joke about. Where's the fun side of you?" Now if you know me, you know that in general, I'm a pretty even-tempered person. That being said, I'm prone to fits of sudden anger and/or I slip into episodes of deep depression when things bother me on a highly personal level.  This is one of those things.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Where's the fun side of me? That's your question? Of all the things you could ask me, that's the one you choose? Why? I'm fun. Maybe not to you, but I'm fun. I enjoy my life. Where's the fun side of me? I don't know to tell you the t...

I write a lot about love, and a lot of the reason for that is that I feel like love is by far the strangest, prettiest, scariest, most confusing, complex, ambiguous idea that exists in this world. And because I write so much about it, I get asked about it on a pretty frequent basis. I get asked for relationship advice a lot too, which I've always found interesting considering the number of relationships I've managed to maintain is at a grand total of exactly zero. I also get asked a lot of things such as whether or not I believe in soulmates, or in love at first sight, and those questions set fire to my heart and shivers through my entire body- all because I have absolutely no idea. I'm pretty firm in my beliefs for the most part, but these are the things I can't answer with a yes or a no. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To give you a little bit of a backstory here, I've always been skeptical of fairy tales. I never a...

For the longest time, I used to tell myself to just be happy. When things would get scary or difficult, I used to tell myself to just keep smiling through it.  And things haven't changed too much, considering I'm still an optimist and typically a very happy/hopeful person, but I'm very glad that I got to a point where I was able to realize how badly "just being happy" was hurting me. I know it sounds crazy. You're probably reading this right now thinking- girl. What the hell? Why would you want to stop just being happy? How the hell is being happy hurting you?  So I'll tell you. Right here, right now, I will tell you why.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Happy" has always been, at least in my eyes, the most ambiguous and generic word. I mean really. The same goes for all emotions, I think, but happiness seems to be the most complex.  I talk a lot on here about what it was like to go ...

I came home from my first day of college and did exactly what I'm doing now- blogged about it. I told you about how the traffic lights had alternated red and green one by one my entire drive to campus and back that day, and how symbolic I thought that was. I told you that I thought that was a sign of how my first year of college would go- sometimes I'd speed right through and other times I'd be stuck for a while. I told you about how I spilled my coffee on my shirt, lost my car in the parking lot, and tripped up the stairs on my way to class not once but twice- and more than anything I told you I was excited to see what the year would hold. By the end of tomorrow, and after my final this weekend, my freshman year of college will be over. And damn, this year saw an awful lot of life.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So many coffee-stained t-shirts and trips to the library for book after book. Paper after paper was ...

I call myself a creationist because with 100% of my being I undoubtedly believe that that is why I was brought to life. That is the purpose behind my existence. If I am not bringing something more to this world, I am not happy- nor do I feel truly alive.  If you know me at all, you know that for almost five years now I've poured my heart and soul into blogging, and for almost 20 years into everything else I've done. More than anything though, I've forced myself into simply.. well.. being. Just being.  When I was eight years old, standing in front of a crowd presenting my first published piece of poetry, that was when it really hit me. That was when I first saw the looks on faces of readers and believers. That was when they nodded at me and laughed and I instantly felt at peace. That was also when I made the promise to myself to always. keep. creating. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maybe it has to do with the fact t...