The Plans for After I Graduate...?

My last year of college begins in a few weeks and my mind is going crazy thinking of the many paths I could choose at the end of it; typical of any senior. I wouldn't say I'm the type of person who is a 'planner,' however I do like to have a general idea of where I'm going and what I'm doing. As of now I am considering four very different options. Which is leaving my nerves...the very opposite of settled. I suppose that is the way I like it though. The anticipation is killing me but it's incredibly exciting.

My best answer:

On Artistry...

                                                                                         (Please excuse the bad quality of the picture...)
I am slowly working on becoming a better artist. And I'm really enjoying it because it's more of an outlet than anything else. This quote essentially sums up everything: “To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”

The picture above shows some of the process I go through while painting. This painting in particular is of Worcester Cathedral, which I painted for my roommate Alex's birthday. A fellow anglophile, she had visited it when she went to England earlier this summer. It's also a testament to our love of Worcestershire sauce (best eaten on a piece of Welsh rarebit ((basically toasted bread with mustard and cheese melted on top))). Its place of origin the same as this cathedral. Not to mention, it was an excuse to paint a typical scene from the most beautiful country in the world.

Painting is just one of the artistic talents I'm striving to develop. The other is temporarily on hold until fall semester. And I'm dying to get back into it! It's a bit embarrassing but 80% of the decision of where to live this last year of college was made by how close I could get to the building with the ceramics studio. And I literally ended up in the closest place to it...right across the street. Thankfully, truly thankfully, I ended up with at least one awesome roommate I know I love (Shelby) and a huge top-loft bedroom...in a very nice complex, which I got a serious discount on. Benefits of working in the BYU off-campus housing office, I think.

I'm so excited to get my hands back into that clay and make things that are me. I'm freakishly attached to that studio. It's the only thing that saved me from going insane last year while taking some of the hardest classes of my major. It's one of those places that always makes me happy when I'm there, no matter my mood beforehand...it easily changes into nothing but a content sense of calm and genuine happiness. This year will be especially interesting because I'll be the only non-Visual Arts Studio major in the class. I was recommended by my previous ceramics professor to take the higher level/majors only class because she saw, quote: "skill and a unique vision" in me. And honestly, when it comes to creating art...I am not going to shy away. I may not be extremely talented but I am determined to create and enjoy it anyways.

My determination to do so only grew when I read THIS fantastic article by Neal A. Maxwell on how we should cultivate our artistic talents. In the article he talks about how we shouldn't compare ourselves to other people. Everyone is on their own timing and it is pointless and wrong to envy and be discouraged by people who we consider to be much better than us or that are farther along than we are. We all start at the beginning at some point. I loved how he explained that each time we create something, we are creating something that has never been before. We are unique and no painting has ever been painted in the exact way that you painted it, no piece of pottery had been thrown and fired the same. When we use the talents that God gave us, we are unique in our expression of it. It is similar to the way that God created US and made each of us unique. We emulate God when we cultivate our talents and we also glorify Him.

Elder Maxwell also promises that: "The greater our sensitivity to the Spirit, the greater our response to beauty, grace, and truth in all their forms as these exist about us. Our righteousness opens us up like a blossoming flower to both detail and immensity. Sin, on the other hand, closes us down. It scalds the taste buds of the soul."

This is so beautiful. I've always thought I had an appreciation for the small, lovely things around me but I never realized that I could heighten my senses and enjoyment even MORE through the Spirit. This is certainly one of the most wonderful promises I have heard pertaining to making our lives more beautiful, happy, and full.

No big deal, just standing in my favorite hallway in the whole world. If you haven't seen it in real life, please tell me you at least recognize it from the Da Vinci Code! Eh hem, my total guilty-pleasure movie. I was quite content there...standing in a gallery filled with masterpieces from the Italian renaissance...quite content.

Around here...

                                                                              (Can I just say, I love my National Geographic old world map.)

I am not a morning person. So taking a job that starts at 8am every morning probably wasn't the best idea. You would think. Everyone around me apparently agreed with this idea, because when I said I was working at 8am Monday through Friday...they all laughed and said good luck with that. My dad, my best friends, my siblings, my roommates... Really I should be thankful that those around me clearly know me SO well. However, I feel like I have proved everyone wrong! Even myself.

I have actually been enjoying working early in the morning. I feel incredibly productive by the time 5pm rolls around. Not only am I always on time, I usually even get there early and before everyone else. AND I am perfectly sociable and cheery. Yay me!

All this early rising has made me really appreciate my bed these days. I've got a great roommate who, like me, loves to keep the window open at night to feel the cool breeze. Unfortunately, this can make getting out of my warm cozy bed in the morning even harder. Add in the fact that our room now smells like lilacs (due to a lovely candle) and....man, its a wonder I ever leave that bed.

Yesterday was the summer solstice and thus, the first official day of summer. I am a big fan of change and I was feeling a bit worn out at the end of school in May so getting a new job and starting a new season has been the perfect way to get my spirits back up. I have a renewed conviction to live a life filled with happiness, faith, health, and rich memories. And I won't settle for anything else.

Muse...

(picture taken of Bucktown by me, in Chicago)

{Muse}
-To consider something thoughtfully-

And so begins a new series where every Monday, I'll share some sort of inspirational thought. Mondays need this sort of thing, I think. 

“Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is certainly something I will be thinking about this week. Too often I let my problems be the main focus of my life. I let them determine how I plan my days; how I act in different circumstances. But no longer! It's time for a change. From now on, I will work on planning my days around things that make me feel appreciative, breathless, and captivated. And I will focus on the positives. Because there are many. I will live in the moment and be led by God, my personal values, and my passions.