I really can't ignore the fact that I have miserably failed to post... again... over the past few weeks. I want to just admit to myself now that there is no way this is going to last once the school year gets going, and just quit because chances are I will find 10 minutes of sleep more valuable than arranging my thoughts into a nice little parcel for those people that read them (who I really, really, appreciate).
BUT, I also need to admit, well not quite admit but rather DECLARE that I am going to live my life with ease and with an abundance of time and support, every day. So, if that plan goes as stated, even still I think I will take cooking a nice dinner for my housemates interactively rather than electronically blogging (which is still interactive, but in a very different kind of way), so I will only be blogging at least once a week, in order to keep it manageable and not too much of a burden. As planning goes I have envisioned that I will blog every Sunday, but who knows how things will pan out, and if something exponentially exciting happens to me during the week, I think it would be best to write about it while it is fresh in my head.
I had so many topics in mind for this post because I have been so moved lately! Today, I went to see the Movie "The Help" with my mom and felt like a melted puddle on the floor when it was over... melted by its charm and warmth and emotion that just rolled right into my heart. Going into movies that come from books that I love, I always feel as though I am the only true fan in the theater, and as though I am the most excited and feel the most personal connection to the film over everyone else in the room. Which, 1) I'm sure is not true, and 2) I'm sure a good handful of people feel the same way, especially going into the Harry Potter and Twilight movies. I felt a special connection to The Help, and hubris over the other very equal patrons in the theater because this is one book in probably 5 years that I actually got motivated to read (well listen to on tape), finish, and LOVED. And, it was a recommendation from my grandmother so it was gutsy of me to try in the first place. Now I am deep into a book called "The Dirty Life" (a farm tale... no, I know what you're thinking), so maybe the summer trend will continue. Anyways, I had incredibly high expectations, and they were surpassed. It is my new favorite movie, before Letters to Juliet (although now I can't remember why I liked that one so much), and will be for a long time. Books have the power to connect readers to the stories, emotions and experienced of characters so different but just as important as themselves, and movies rarely display that charisma, but this movie did. I wanted to hug every single character, and have them over to my house so we could chat some more. It was absolutely phenomenal and made me re-appreciate the different walks of life that everyone is in.
Also new this week is Bikram Yoga, a type of vigorous flow yoga practiced in a 100 degree room. My brother Jason, just out of the Marines is home for the summer, interning in the NYU hospital, and found a studio near our house. As general guidelines for our relationship, Jason is very "tough love" and goofs around a lot, preferring to be seen with us in public as little as possible, and when it is unavoidable, making comments and walking significantly behind or ahead of the group of us women (mom, me, lily, frances). So I was very surprised when one morning he emerged form his room complaining about our noise, and then inviting all of us to attend his intense, highly ettiquette-driven yoga class. Of course we gaggled and giggled in the car and worried ourselves to pieces about getting too hot, and what happens if we can't do something while he grunted over the directions on the way there, but once we entered the room, it just kind of happened that we all separated and each took the experience for ourselves. It was also cool to see Jason in the midst of something he so believes in for his health and for him to be able to share it with us.
The whole idea behind it is cleansing your pores and sweat purification because you sweat A LOT. At first I just thought that I would get flushed and be warm through the whole class, but it turned up fast, and you just start pouring sweat, without even realizing. It got to the point where if you saw me next to a pool you would think I had just gotten out of it after swimming. I mean, you get soaked. Towards the end I felt incredibly fatigued and was having trouble moving from exercise to exercise, like those commercials where you see the man crawling through the desert towards the sweating ice cold high-fructose corn syrup beverage that has magically appeared next to a cactus. I didn't think it was possible to feel the need to move so slowly... it was crazy. I love the idea of cleansing myself, and apparently if you do it enough, your sweat begins to lose odor! So I'm going to go again tomorrow and hopefully continue in Kalamazoo.
Today, I would like to tribute my post to a person, someone who I know has really impacted me because they will not be a part of my life next year in the same way that she has been in the past. You know you will miss someone when you can look ahead and think, wow, my whole lifestyle will be a little bit empty without them. Maddy has become one of my closest friends at school, but won't be coming back next year.
At this point, I have come to understand that it's not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it just is, and it's ok to be sad about it. She has helped me to realize that people who come together have for a reason... it's not their absence that has to preoccupy us or worry us, because if they're meant to be a significant part of your life they will continue to be one.
There is a difference between the evolution of time and the parting of ways that comes with moving along with your life, like leaving for college or switching schools, starting a new activity. But it's harder to fathom when your life will go on being the same, and someone who had a huge influence on the way you think and spend your time will be gone.
It's not that my life will be different, I will just miss her energy and presence, and the place she created for me when I was around her. I will miss how she embraces my quest for life, though I know she won't stop, and we will meet again if we're meant to. I will miss how she loved to do the same things as me, and how we did them together and made everything so much fun, and such an opportunity. She is one of the best things that happened to be this year, but I know she will be on to such amazing things in the future.
Tomorrow starts a busy week, and then I'm off to Michigan to skate on Wednesday! Lot's of fun things to write abut coming up, I hope everyone has been doing well :)
Quote for thought of the day, from the movie (from the hero's mother to the hero):
"Sometimes courage skips a generation, but I'm glad you brought it back into the family"
Let's not let any virtuous qualities skip a generations! Of if they have not yet started, plant the seeds.
Goodnight Moon- I'm so glad "Help" has such dynamic meaning these days, and no longer refers to a group of people. Thank you.
xoxox
