Growing up...

The past couple days have been filled with talk from people all around me about how things change so much as you grow up. You have responsibility through bills, school, a big guys job, and decisions that could feasibly change the path your life is taking. People around you are getting married and having babies, and the old people around you are quizing you as to when you're going to hop on the wedded bliss bandwagon. You realize that your parents are a lot more human than you'd ever liked to believe before. You suddenly feel the pressure of making a "real" life for yourself. There's a constant barrage of people who are trying to look out for you telling you which books to read to become someone, which majors will get you the jobs that you're going to want 10 years down the road, which guys to date and which ones to not touch with a 20 foot pole. It's overwhelming.

My solution?

I've stopped listening. All of those solutions may have really worked out well for the people offering up the advice, but not everyone wants to be a doctor. Or a lawyer. Or an accountant. I have never wanted to be any of those things. Maybe marriage isn't for everyone, and you know what? That's ok! You cross that bridge when it comes. All of those boys that I probably shouldn't date? Yeah, I totally have. And you know what? I got some epic stories out of it and some memories that still crack me up. I wouldn't trade those lessons that I learned for anything. As for those majors in school? That's great that a business degree would allow me to get a job almost anywhere, but here's the thing, I don't want to go into business!! As I see it, that sort of defeats the purpose of getting that degree, no?

So, if I'm not doing all of the things that those "wise, educated, learned" people around me are telling me to do. What am I doing?

I'm meditating.

I'm practicing yoga.

I'm buying plants.

Lots of plants. And in turn, learning to care for them.

I'm longboarding every night.

And honestly, not getting much better at it. But I do it because I enjoy it.

I'm having ANTM marathons with my sister.

A waste of time? No. The memories of hanging out will last forever.

I'm reading.

Walden is a truly magnificent book. Eat, Pray, Love is another. The Dalai Lama is a very wise man. As is Lao Tzu. As is Gordon B. Hinckley. The animals being hunted in the ocean are beautiful and deserve the chance to live their little lives completely. Plants really are wise on a plane that we don't usually think about. The Earth is full of power, she's just waiting to give it to us.

I'm dancing.

Whether at official tribal dance fires, in my room, or in my car on the way to work. Dancing makes everything seem better.

I'm drawing again.

I let my passion for drawing, and creating fall to the wayside. But I'm reclaiming my love for art.

I'm dating.

And not dating. It depends on the day. And my mood. But I'm sure getting lots of good laughs out of the whole experience.

I'm laughing.

Because if you don't laugh, then you cry.

I'm crying.

Because sometimes that's all you can do. When those saved up tears reach a certain point, they're going to come out whether you want them to or not.

I'm learning to try and embrace change.

Sometimes it's good change and other times it sucks. But you know what I've learned? It's going to happen anyways, you might as well find the positive side, right?

and most of all...

I'm loving my life. Ups and downs. Ins and outs and all. It really is a beautiful ride, whethere you decide to have a conventional life or a completely obscure, off the wall, insane life. They're all beautiful none the less :)