I love me!

Todays lecture was a wonderful reminder of loving yourself! There were several take aways, but one was ( in my own words) don't be afraid to be YOU. Dr. Coyne showed us some research and studies that show the ways media effects women & men. I love when I leave class challenged and I have more questions.

I have thought a lot about trends, fads, and what people call "the norm"...what does that even mean?! I often see trends and think, WHY? There are health fads that people try and will do whatever it takes to change , become skinner, or whatever the excuse. I know I have been there. I think that is mainly why now I strive to figure out why I do what I do.  I don't mean I necessarily always need to have a deep perspective on every topic, but we do need to get out of this mentality of following the crowd.

We need to each rejoice in the success of others! I love this world because of its diversity and the media only wants to portray beauty as one way. How boring is that?! Options are essential.  I have traveled to several different countries, I have seen several different types of people and the common theme is people are happiest when they are themselves.

I love the question of what is REAL beauty? To me there are two faces to beauty, inside and outside.

Headphones

Walking around campus you see a lot of people using their earbuds. I am ALWAYS curious to know what they are listening to. It is not like I could easily guess, but sometimes I bet it is surprising. I often joke (to myself, ha!) that they are listening to something way out of what seems to be their norm ( I guess I judge based on clothes), like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, that just seems funny to be listening to around campus, but I bet it happens.  I also wonder if people sometimes are not listening to anything, and just doing it because it seems cool.

I could count on one hand the times I have listened to music on my phone, using my headphones. I do use my headphone though when I am chatting on the phone. I love having my hands free, especially when it is cold outside I can keep my hands warm and enjoy my conversation.

It is entertaining to be taken off guard when you hear someone randomly start talking and they do not have anyone near them for hundreds of feet, then, OH, you realize they are on the phone!

Also in the library when someone's headphones accidentally get unplugged, and their music goes blaring, that is always a great moment.

Headphones, who knew they would be SOOOO useful and helpful, & entertaining!  Nice to have our own private line to our media.

BUT GET THIS

I was researching headphones and this music video came up, I got a little teary, it is a song called Headphones. Watch the video to see why!

Enjoy!

HANGOUTS!

A previous post I mentioned how my sister and her family quickly moved to London, England. Well now that they are there the best thing has been hanging out on google+, or as google calls them, hangouts! Although the time change is 7 hours, we still get to see each other. Today I read some books to my niece for bedtime! It was so fun. I am so grateful for technology and how it keeps us connected all over the world.

I have family all over the country, and I would not know my family as well if it was not for hangouts! A cool feature they have is you can hangout with up to 10 different people, pretty amazing!

Hanging out in dating is not encouraged, but on video chat that is what it is all about!(such a mormon comment!)

Anyway, Thank you google+

Freaking Fear

Fear is it a factor for you? I enjoyed today's lecture. It was on fear. Fear plays a bigger role in media than I realized. I hadn't ever gone out searching to discover what I am fearful of. I actually questioned if I was afraid of anything.  Sure I am jumpy or get nervous being in a big house by myself at night,but that is because I watch the news and know that burglars are real.  It is all fear though, so pertains to all people.

I wonder why some people thrill seekers of scary movies, while others cannot stand them. It is interesting how we are all so different.  Interesting too how it develops over time and depending on certain experiences and observations. Also our personalities, again amazing how we are all so different.

It got me thinking what I am fearful of, but I had to stop because then I was too scared of thinking. ha

Faith over fear , right?! 

I was reading this other blog by Andrea Sullenger, she wrote on the topic of fear.
She took on the topic not so much relating to media, but I believe it can apply.

"What do you say it is? Most anyone would admit that fear has played some roll in their life at some point. How about as an entrepreneur, how has fear dictated what you will do and what you won’t do? Fear has a powerful force that can steer us away from what we really want if we let it. Or, if you can evaluate fear for what it really is, you can allow it to propel you into something magical."

She goes onto list ways of how to release fear for good. You can see her rules here!

Last thing, I found this picture that I thought was empowering. Made me think twice about my fears.

I think fear is important and if we were not challenged we would not grow as much. Fear can be that factor that can either hinder us or help us. Just as the two meanings above show.

Ads, ads, ads

I enjoyed the class where we talked about facets of advertising. I always love when new light is shed on a media topic. Ads are usually looked upon as a negative thing, because they are trying to deceive us or get us to buy something. Essentially this class talked about  the good and the bad with ads. Not all is bad.

Anyway since this class I have noticed or become more aware of advertisement. For example  I was at the BYU basketball game on Thursday and started looking ALL around me and seeing all the different types of ads. Clothing, banners, music, conversations talking about certain products, food, apps on phones, the kind of phone they had,  make-up girls were wearing,etc. Crazy, right?

I could go on and on, but I started thinking more of what I was advertising. What message am I sending? Being single I want to advertise I am single, ha. Desperate? ha JK! Really though, the point is, there are so many layers to advertisement, it is something worth thinking about. What you show on the outside advertises what is on the inside.

I looked up a definition of advertisement just to bring my thoughts back to the basics.

"a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy."

Here are some clever , simple ads I found on-line.

                                     

Becoming One with Nature

God gives good gifts.

I was able to take advantage of the three day weekend by heading south, New Harmony, it is a smaller town just south of Cedar City, Ut. The group, 8 of us, stayed at our friends parents house, 20 acres! Cows, goats, chickens, guinea hens, dogs, and cats all added to the fun! Not only did we enjoy the peace of a slower city pace, we went into Zion National Park and hiked around up in the beautiful red rocks. It was so peaceful up there and although there were lots of people, it still was so nice to be in God's creation.

I feel the peace when I take the time to hike high in the mountains and am able to contemplate life and feel closer to God. I also really enjoyed star gazing, we laid on the trampoline and could see probably a trillion more stars, even saw a couple shooting stars. It just reminded me of how gigantic this universe is and how much we must rely on our Heavenly Father. A scripture that comes to mind is Mosiah 4:11,

"And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel."

This, to me, expressed what I was feeling because I felt of God's love, but also always need to humble myself and always call on the name of the Lord. 

Everyone go enjoy God's beautiful gift of our bodies to enjoy his magnificent creation!

Running outside!

First run of the year...outside! Surprising since it is February, but I welcome the spring weather, and celebrated with a run. I started out just running south, and had no idea where I was going to end up. My only goal was to get my heart rate going, and get some miles in! I couldn't have really known, but I used one of my favorite apps, Map My Run.

It tracks your distance, pace, and many other features. You can add friends and see where they have run and use their course. Quite fun!

I recommend this app!