Tag Archives: inspiration

This is the beginning of the rest of your life

02 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by in College, Family, Life, Music, student, Uncategorized

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Title courtesy of my favorite RuPaul song, “The Beginning.”

I’ve been very vocal about my belief in equal rights and last week I was filled with an extreme feeling of relief and victory.

I knew months ago the United States Supreme Court had heard the verbal arguments of Obergefell vs. Hodges which covered whether states are allowed to ban same-sex marriage. I also knew that given the controversy and magnitude of this case, we wouldn’t hear the ruling until the end of June.

I said I would toast the ruling on Twitter and I did later that night on Instagram.

I said I would toast the ruling on Twitter and I did later that night on Instagram.

But that didn’t keep me from looking nearly every day at the progress of the case.

I would check the top stories on Google News and read what this presidential candidate or that attorney general had said about the possible outcome of the ruling. If I was paid for my eye rolls, I’d be able to purchase a third-world country and turn it into paradise.

I’m not ashamed to say I’ve already decided whom in the presidential race I will not vote for and I’m shocked at some of the comments I read from different public appearances and interviews.

The closer we got to the end of June, the amount of news checking and the amount fisting clenching increased. I was getting nervous. No news is always good news but when you play the waiting game you find yourself second-guessing what you feel will be an obvious outcome.

I had heard that there was supposed to be a ruling announced on Monday, June 22 and was disappointed when it was just some of the less controversial cases. I had hope when I heard the next round would be Thursday, June 25 and set my alarm accordingly.

Unfortunately, being a student on summer break means I sleep through alarms.

I was supposed to be up at 9:30am but jolted awake around 10:25 a.m. and immediately grabbed my phone to check Twitter. I saw Tweets flowing in about the Supreme Court upholding Obamacare. I jumped out of bed as if there was a fire and ran to my MacBook to start seeking updates.

It was a big day but not the one I had been hoping for.

I set my alarm again and stumbled downstairs the nest morning in hopes I wouldn’t have to wait until Monday to hear about the same-sex marriage ruling. Follow my logic; Obamacare hit the air around 10:20-ish a.m. the morning before so me taking a few minutes around 10 a.m. to make some toast and caffeinate should be fine and I won’t miss anything, right?

Wrong.

Through my iPod’s headphones I heard my mom shouting for me and when I looked into the living room from the kitchen she was pointing at the television. On the screen, ABC had below the correspondent “Supreme Court rules states are required to allow same-sex marriage.”

As one could guess, I immediately jumped to my Macbook and began tweeting, first ABC’s headline then the 5-4 ruling as soon as I heard what it was. Through the live feed from in front of the Supreme Court building I could hear the car horns blaring and the crowds cheering. I was so glad I was up early enough to watch it all unfold and wish I could have been in the center of it all.

After inhaling my cold toast and lukewarm coffee, I spent the next hour watching Twitter explode with Tweets of joy, happiness and celebration. One of my favorites came in the form of a map titled “States where same-sex marriage is now legal. About time” and the entire map was the same color. I never thought such uniformity would look so beautiful.

When United States President Barack Obama spoke in the Rose Garden on the ruling, he opened with one of the more profound statements that I feel many of those in the opposition forget. Honestly, this may be one of my favorite Obama speeches.

The rest of the day I spent watching people react and the funny thing is I didn’t see much negative. The hashtag #LoveWins became the number one trend on Twitter and people changed their profile photos across many social media sites to a rainbow haze over their photo. Here on WordPress, the task bar at the top of the browser was a rainbow instead of the normal solid blue and once night fell the White House was rainbow colored.

It was a great day for equality and a great day for not being afraid of who you are.

Congratulations, everyone. We now live in a country where we just have marriage.

Not one man, one woman.

Not same-sex.

Just marriage.

Just love.

Love Wins.

30-day writing challenge: Day 30

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Challenge, College, Family, student, Uncategorized

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Day 30: Your highs and lows for the month

Well, this is the end of the road for this challenge.

I can honestly say I had some fun with this. I’m not joking when I saw I had low expectations for this challenge seeing as I have a tendency to forget things easily and I had a strong feeling I’d be skipping posts. Thankfully, I did every post on time and finished all 30 days.

Michael Scott, "The Office"

Michael Scott, “The Office”

Most of the lows came from moments of writer’s block or trying to find the best videos to link to songs and trailers. Seeing as I’ve been using WordPress for a while, I’m used to the format of the posts and how to use the settings.

I experienced a great deal of highs. Sometimes it was watching my mom try to figure out what would be in the daily post and other times it was typing furiously trying to finish before I fell asleep on my keyboard. I had fun doing this and even more fun seeing people “Like” a post because someone other than family and myself were getting something out of the challenge. One writer even asked if she could steal the idea to which I responded I stole it from another blogger via Google Images.

I think by ding a writing challenge helps you remind yourself who you are in a time when your head is spinning from work, school and reality. I’ll probably do another challenge at some point in a few months but for now I’ll focus on blogging about projects I’m working on or things going on around the world.

See ya writing challenge, it’s been real.

Here’s a hint: soon there will a post about the big equal rights victory from last week.

30-day writing challenge: Day 12

13 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by in College, Family, Life, Literature, Uncategorized

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Day 12: Write about five blessings in your life

These are the things I am truly grateful for and couldn’t imagine my life without them.

My parents
Behind every nerdy, weird and well-awarded student is a strong support at home. I know if I leave a sticky note on our Keurig asking my dad to wake me when he gets up and 4 a.m. because I’m napping on the couch in an attempt to survive my all-nighter. I know if I rant to my mom she’ll listen and try to make me laugh to relieve the stress. I adore the two of them and couldn’t imagine where I would be without the two of them.

My nephew and I shortly after he was born.

My nephew and I shortly after he was born.

My nephew
Though I am usually left highly annoyed by his antics, I couldn’t imagine not having the little hellion around. He came in the winter “storm of the century” in February 2011 (jokes on us, February 2015 was way worse) and has provided endless mischief. Should I also mention I used to get him to smile when no one else could and he’s repaid me with blaming me for the smallest of things?

Jules
Though I no longer have her, she was one of the greatest things in my life. Right before my sophomore year of high school, we rescued an eight-year-old shih tzu that became my partner in crime, my shadow and my snuggle buddy. She was mine and I was hers. Ultimately, the worst decision of my life was deciding when to let go and giving the go-ahead for my mom to make the appointment that I wouldn’t be taking her home from.

Jules in her comfort zone, my lap, less than a week before we said goodbye.

Jules in her comfort zone, my lap, less than a week before we said goodbye.

My education
I think our education is often overlooked when people think about the things they are grateful for. I’m not only lucky to have had access to a K-12 education but am also lucky to have received a scholarship to Wayne State University, a research institution on par with the University of Michigan. I’ve spent the last four years working hard at a degree and with my recently added minor I still have a bit to go before I’ve conquered college.

My dreams
I guess sometimes you need to have something you want to reach for but won’t put yourself down when you figure out it’s an inch passed your fingertips. I have many dreams, some of which evolve and others fizzle, and I’ve always been happy to be the type that has them. I feel dreams are linked to drive seeing as everything starts as a dream you wish to accomplish and must possess the drive to do so.