today's adventures

Thought I'd provide some more meaning to my day by blogging about it and commemorating it forever! Here are my adventures from today...so far:

• had the best luck at rummy against my mom (I count it because it was after midnight)
• tried WisPride which is a spreadable and delicious cheese
• continued to do some interesting devotions from "Morning & Evening" by Charles Spurgeon...ngl it sort of goes over my head!
• had breakfast while the rest of my family slept lolol
• sent a postcard from home! who does that. me.
• retrieved the garbage can from in front of the mailbox (how we supposed to get mail when it's there?!)
• put my favorite books in a box (decided I probably have too many favorites)
• sorted my sock drawer (decided I definitely have too many socks)
• got frustrated with the disorganization of apartment listings
• took a shower and only shampooed my hair once (ie tested the theory that I may need less shampooing with less hair. results are inconclusive and may require further testing)
• retrieved the mail (I had a lot of adventures regarding the mailbox it seems!)
• read a chapter of "This Ordinary Adventure" on my deck and almost got burned and only lasted one chapter outside
• read some more chapters inside
• had a conversation about free will vs. free choice with my brother
• ate homemade tacos

And it's only 4:18! There are so many more adventures to be had, like making dinner and finding new bits of nostalgia in my room. I hope the rest of you are enjoying your summer as much as I am, whether you're working, travelling, studying or sitting at home like I am. :)

book suggestions

I strongly believe that everyone should read books all the time. Usually I fail at this and only read online articles some of the time, but I regret every chance I have to read a book that I pass up. So since spring break is next week, and since I think everyone should be reading over break, here are some of my top suggestions!

• Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. Though it's by an economist, it's really by a behavioral economist, so it's more like it's by a psychologist. If you liked Freakonomics or just like understanding more things about why people do what they do, this is the book for you!
• Guyland by Michael Kimmel. This explores the sociological side of "guys" (that is, being not a boy nor a man) and has some really interesting things to say about our generation. I just think everyone should read it!
• Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald. If you've struggled, like me, to keep your sanity about you when you're running around doing school, making friends, keeping up with your family, running events, showering, etc. then this is a great, refreshing, practical book that addresses some major issues and will help you take a breath and get organized. Perfect for spring break!
• Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. If you're looking for a bit of good literature without much commitment,  short stories are for you! Don't make the mistake of picking of something tricky like Hemingway when you can get just as much depth and intrigue in Salinger. Also perfect for people who loved Catcher in the Rye like me.
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Intrigued by the clips of the movie that you saw at the Oscars? This is a fun and light read, but also a deep and philosophical story, and it's about zoo animals on a boat...come on, you're intrigued. I read it in oneish sitting.

Also I'm the sort of person who doesn't usually believe in "beach reading" in the traditional escapism/light reading sense, so if you're looking for more classics why not go big and read A Tale of Two Cities? (I read this on the beach. No regrets. Just some funny looks from strangers.)

Also also, if you're looking for something requiring more commitment or if you have more than a week you'd like to spend reading, I would highly recommend both The Cost of Discipleship and The Divine Conspiracy, both of which I'm working my way through currently. Both of them dig into the Sermon on the Mount and its implications for the 20th/21st centuries so if you're not Christian you'll likely find them accessible and if you are then you'll probably learn a lot of new things as well. Great food for thought!

last semester

Since I'm not in a productive state I thought I'd make a list of some of the interesting parts of my previous semester, but then I thought it better to look forward to the rest of this semester than to dwell on the past. The only things you need to know about the fall are that I started dating a great guy, started living with my bff, got my first A in math since pre-calc and finally got to go to Christmas Town! Ok it was a pretty baller semester with lots of great memories but let's move on to bigger and better things...

Here's what I'm looking forward to this semester:

• finishing my SA's little instructions for life at W&M, minus everything about sports
• familiarizing myself with Gavin DeGraw's music enough to enjoy him in concert
• last ever campus golf (/last ever scramble for a theme/last ever team-forming drama)
• photoshooting with Katie
• making use of the farmer's market
• skyping Jamie
• watching the new IV exec team develop!
• snapchatting Chelsea all the time so she has a big list of faces to look at every time she sees her phone
• dress week 3: the last stand
• actual last chance dance (unlike last year's second-to-last chance dance)
• hopefully getting a job
• ringing the wren bell
• beach timezzzzz
• playing secret roommate
• squeezing in as many coffee dates and social timez as my mono will allow me
• getting enough sleep to satisfy my mono
• pleasing Katie by referring to my disease as if it were a being who controlled me

ocpd confession

So like most people at my school I'm 90% convinced that I have, along with many other psychological disorders thanks to my psych classes, OCPD which is like OCD but less intense. It basically means I'm really into things being organized, which to me sounds like a quality rather than a disorder. :) I'm actually pretty sure I don't have it after consulting wikipedia for 5-7 seconds because, especially since developing mono and a sedentary lifestyle, I don't really care about controlling things. But I really do like things to be in order and for that I have no apologies.

In light of that I just wanted to confess that while visiting my blog today I started wondering about the distribution of my posts and how weird it would look if I had more posts in 2013 than in 2012 because then my yearly post count distribution would appear bimodal rather than unimodal. I'm not sure whether that counts as an OCPD consideration or just a result of too many math classes but I thought I'd put that out there despite my uncertainty.

Just imagine this graph with t = number of posts in a given time period and g/t = time and you see the trouble I'm mentally running into.

innocence

Today as I was flipping through Proverbs I noted a verse that I had underlined:

All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. (Proverbs 16:2)

What! This is terrible news! I can be going through life thinking I'm doing everything great but apparently something as silly as my motivation can trip me up. Unfair! Now this verse reminded me of a passage in 1 Corinthians that I studied last semester, so off I went to the back of my bible in search of a connection. Here's what I found:

My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:4-5)

I felt like this provided some more insight to the seeming condemnation in Proverbs...after all, if your ways only seem innocent to you that implies that they are in fact not innocent. I do like this idea, and I think that it's true in my own life an awful lot of the time, but it's still an unpleasant thought. No matter how hard I try to align myself with what is right, I am often motivated by the effect of my actions on my image or other transient things; it doesn't matter if all of my thoughts and actions are "innocent" if they're just focused on me, because that is not an innocent motivation--it is very sinful to only consider myself, as sinning is just another way of saying that I'm putting myself before God. So even when I do a good deed or try to consider others above myself, if I'm doing that out of my own pride it is no good--God will instantly see through that.

But Paul's letter gives us more to chew on. First, he brings up the Lord's return and judgment. Second, he explicitly says that other people can't judge your heart, and neither can you judge any hearts; however, the motivations which drive us will be exposed, implying that you really can't hide selfishness from yourself or anyone else forever. Third, though, is that everyone will essentially receive what is due to them. I don't think this in any way implies legalism--that people who are "better" Christians, follow the law, don't sin "as much," etc. will earn their salvation while other people won't. But it does bring me some relief to know that what I do and think matters--that God sees and knows that, and that he does have a reward for people with good intentions and motives, because (let's be honest here) it sometimes frustrates me that everyone is entitled to the same salvation should they choose to accept it. I feel like no reward could be better than being more like Christ and knowing the Lord more intimately, but if there is some other reward that awaits us then that's cool too. I guess it doesn't matter, but I liked the way that this was positively framed instead of saying that after he judges our hearts he'll punish us accordingly.

Anyway, it's just more reason to be aware of my motivations and to be conscious of the fact that I'm responsible for more than my actions. As we see continually throughout scripture, God cares way more about our hearts (the conditions they're in...who we're letting control them...etc.) than our adherence to rules. I have to tend to my heart as well as my behavior, aligning my feelings with his heart and letting Christ's example (of innocence and purity) shape my every intention and consideration.

october 2012

In October 2012, something quite unusual happened. Although I'm used to having a team to root for in the MLB playoffs (namely, the Cardinals), for the first time in my life the only three teams I've ever cared about could all be found playing games in October. I'm not used to this kind of conflicting emotion.

When I was little I watched the Orioles play (and lose) a lot. I read their statistics in the newspaper at least four times a week (some days I didn't remember to check). I waited and waited for their winning percentage to break above .4-- and I mourned when playoffs came and they weren't even close to the Wild Card position (it was only a little bit of mourning; I never really expected them to make it so I wasn't that disappointed). But they were not my team. They were just the team that played closest to my home. I did own an Orioles sweatshirt, but that was only because I went to Camden Yards and sat up way at the top and froze while the O's lost 10-5 to the Braves and my dad pitied my 8 year old self and bought me a sweatshirt.

My team was and always has been the Cardinals. And I liked them before Mark McGwire thankyouverymuch. I can't quite pinpoint my reason for adopting this franchise as my own (though I think it has something to do with our local minor league team), but in any case I was there when Big Mac became a home run king and I was there (fruitlessly) cheering on the continuation of the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 and I've been there for every playoff loss (and win...) for the past 13 years (because for the first few years of my fanhood, the Astros were stellar). It was incredible to experience them playing a home game, albeit slightly disillusioning because I also realized that they have the same kinds of vendors that everyone else has--but whatever, they're still rock stars to me.

And then one day in late 2004 I read in the Washington Post (my only source for baseball statistics and really any other news) that the Montreal Expos were moving to D.C. They were trying to become my home team and I would not have it. But it was ok, I eventually realized, because they were not trying to be better than the Orioles: they were in fact almost decidedly worse. I've now been to a few games in their new stadium, and I admit that I like having a team within Metro distance and whose players I can follow with a little bit more interest than the O's (who, after retiring Cal Ripken, have made no significant impact on my life). The Nats have been truly inspiring this season, going from literally never having a winning season (as the Nats) to having the best record in baseball this year. It's clear that they've been going through major changes and improvements every season but I still didn't expect them to make it to the playoffs until I was old and had kids of my own.

So this leaves me with a lot of conflict. I can clearly root for the O's (I could cheer for anyone against the Yankees let's be real); despite their loss tonight I have hope. I'm at a loss for the Cards-Nats series because I can't really watch either of them lose because then I can't be happy for the winning team, so I'm going to settle for cheering on the winner after they've made it through this week. But if it comes down to it, I'm not going to lie, I want to see the Orioles on top. After losing every season since their loss in the first playoffs I ever watched (1997 Marlins whatupppp), I think it's time...and as much as I'd like to wait another 15 years to see them succeed I would really just like for them to win already. But if they have to lose, hopefully one of my NL teams will be around to avenge them in the World Series.

rest

It's ironic that I'm blogging about rest because I have a midterm tomorrow for which I haven't begun studying and I spent the day at Busch Gardens and I spent the weekend catching up on sleep. It sounds pretty much like I have this whole rest thing down pat. But I think instead of rest, what I've been doing is not worrying. I know that I have work to do. I've done the work that absolutely needs to get done and I'll get around to the rest when it needs to happen (studying for this test probably being the first priority, after this blog). I just haven't been worrying about it.

But that's not really rest. Instead of worrying about work I've been running around having fun, being social, taking care of IV business and pretending to do Monroe work (priority number two at this point...it actually needs to be finished on Tuesday though for a presentation). It's certainly a good thing that I haven't been tryna do these things and worry about work, but these things aren't a good replacement for work/worry. Rest is. Just rest. Resting in who I am and who God has made me to be. Resting in his word and his purposes and his love. It takes work--it isn't easy to turn off our brains, to stop worrying, to become unavailable in cases of emergency, to say no to hanging out...but ultimately it is refreshing and necessary and so wonderful.

After this Monroe thing I'm going to need to soak up some more rest. Until then I'll continue to let my value be derived in Jesus and try to not let that demotivate me from studying.

Also if you feel unsatisfied by this post read this other post on the same topic!