When Was The Last Time You Dreamed?

Lately, a recurrent theme has been happening in my life . . . dreaming. Whether it's goals. Whether it's the future. Whether it's practical things in the present. I've been thinking about dreams, wishes, hopes, call it what you may. Then I think . . . 

Do I live as a dreamer?

Do I dream for my family? For my future? For my life? For my faith? We all dream what we want to be when we grow up. What about if we dreamed even though we are already grown up? 

Dreams and desires are a strange thing. Some say you only need to believe for it to be true. Some say not to be unrealistic. I say, find out what your dream is and what it looks like, and then do it. No excuses. No procrastination. Live your dream. Live today. Dream.

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Don't forget about the transition from Google Reader to Bloglovin'.

This is effective July 1st, so don't forget to follow A Silver Snapshot here.

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Mayan Calendar

Sunset through the window on the bus ride to the Youth/Young Adult Advance.

Have you heard that the world is ending??? Because according to the Mayan calendar, you have one month {minus one day} until said phenomenon occurs. 

Yesterday, I conducted an experiment on Facebook {sorry, friends, you didn't know you were signing up for this did ya??}. I posted, "So if the world 'actually' did end on December 21st, what would you do with your last month?" I got a variety of responses.

• Sister said she hoped everyone still did their Christmas shopping, because if the world didn't end, the stores would be incredibly busy on December 22-24.
• Kate said she would continue doing what she was doing with more flair {okay, then}.

However, the majority of responses were . . . spend time with loved ones and family.

I guess this is a whole "live like you're dying" post {Kris Allen, anyone??}. My point though is that it doesn't matter if the world ends tomorrow, on December 21st, or in one million years. We all have a responsibility to live each and every day to the fullest, love the people around us, and never take life for granted.

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Empty

Brother encouraged me to post more writing on my blog. I admit my style is pictures and not many words.
Today, however, . . . is words.

There are a collections of buildings in our town. They are empty. They have been boarded up and sitting there for at least a year {if not longer}. They were deemed unsafe in the middle of the night. Although there has been a lot of talk as to what is going to happen with the buildings and land, so far, nothing has happened {This is not a rant on our municipality. I happen to really like our municipality. There is a metaphor in this}.

When I walked by the empty apartments today, I was struck with their relativity to life. Sometimes, I stand there . . . empty. Sometimes, I don't fill up with life and let good things happen. Yet at the same time, I don't tear down the bad parts and rebuild. Sometimes, I am just stagnant.

And that's not good. Because I'm not doing anything. I either need to continuously fill myself with the good, pure, and true things of this world. Or I need to tear down the bad, gross, and wrong things and start anew.

I don't ever want to be empty. That's not life. That's not purpose. That's just standing there through every season neither moving nor growing.

In the end, it takes activity in order to avoid being empty.

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No. 301 - A Hairy Situation

So, as weird as that title sounds, it does have some self-esteem point to it.

Here's a little history.

I haven't appreciated {or known what to do with} my hair until about the last year-ish.

Ok, don't tune out now.

Basically something was always wrong.

It was always too frizzy.

Too long.

Too dry.

Too many split ends.

Etc.
I have come to terms with it and learned how to work with it though.

Ok, now here's where the self-esteem point comes in.

We all {probably speaking to girls here} have body features that we wish were different.

Longer legs, smaller waist, bigger . . . ahem . . . chest.

The point is {not to quote Bruno Mars} but you're beautiful just the way you are.

So this week, let's all take something about our body that we normally don't like and find the positive in it.

I'll start.

I don't like that my hair is dry and frizzy,

but . . .

I do like that it is low-maintenance and doesn't need to be washed every day.

See?

Now, you try.

And for the picture of the day,

my coworker posted this on my bag at work.

Sometimes you don't value things about yourself the same way that others do.

Remember that.

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No. 280 - I Love Me

Don't worry, the title of this post wasn't to "toot my own horn" or tell you all how wonderful I am.

Let me explain.

Everyone person in this world deserves love and respect, but the hardest person to dole this out to is ourselves. It's because we have a front row seat to every screw-up and every mistake. Unfortunately, this paints a very altered perspective of ourselves in terms of value. So basically, we have to get over ourselves in order to value ourselves.

Today, the challenge is to stop looking at yourself through your own eyes and through the world's eyes. 

To quote Prince of Egypt, you must look at yourself through heaven's eyes.

Today, I bought myself flowers. 

This was to appreciate life and to . . . ahem . . . smell the roses.
This was how I looked at myself through heaven's eyes today.

So, what do you say? Want to join the dance?

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No. 223 - Politics

Right now, I am taking Political Science as a mandatory elective (although I don't know why they call it an elective when it's mandatory). Anyways, I am having a bit of a difficult time with it. I guess when I started the course, I figured it would be a lot about Canada, history, facts, dates, people, and systems. It is all that, but this class should have been called Political Philosophy not Political Science.

The content is very much about controversial areas such as freedom, equality, rights, morals, values, etc. This is interesting except that I am finding it very difficult to know what it expected of me in the course. When I write the answer to a midterm, I lose marks because I am not thinking outside of the box even though all the right answers are there on the page. 

Another thing that I am finding frustrating is the picture of negativity painted over Canadian politics. Now, I will be the first to admit the system is flawed. However, at the beginning of the semester, our instructor told us that the purpose of this course is so that we could be better involved and care more. However, I am finding the lack of hopefulness and right course of action disheartening. Maybe I am asking too much? I am just so thankful to live in Canada, and as far as political systems and economies go, I thought we had it pretty good.

Either way, tonight is the second midterm, so we'll see how that goes . . .

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No. 202 - A More Beautiful You

This morning I was reading a blogpost by Urban Nester entitled "breaks my heart". It was a great entry (I encourage you to check it out if you have time). The basic theme of the blog was women's insecurities and self-esteem issues with body image, particularly those in the high school age group. As a woman, I can attest that this is something that gets thrown in our faces more often than not. However, I also know that as a woman who professes to find her identity in the Lord, I have attempted to be thankful for the body and attributes He has given me. 

I remember explaining to a friend once about my reasons for wearing a bikini. Now, I know this may be controversial, but I wear a bikini not for any attention game or to be a "stumbling block" for men. Not by any means! I told my friend that I wear a bikini to show that I am comfortable in my own skin. To show that even if I weigh more that 170 pounds and have a few love handles here and there, I am still beautiful. Why? Because of Who made me.

Now, that being said, I also have an obligation to take care of my body. However, there is a fine line between health and extreme. Extreme is where we find issues like anorexia, bulimia, obesity, body-pride, low self-esteem, and obsession. It is easy to become any of these. Health is a lifestyle. Health is an attitude. Health is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. 

Anyways, the specific issue I am addressing is a woman's self-esteem regarding body image. I do not have a quick fix - not in the world we live in. All I have is a challenge. Spend some time alone this week and ask God how He sees you. What He sees in you. And why He made you. The very first thing I remembering hearing when I first heard God's voice was that He thought I was beautiful.
It was a life-changing moment. 

I have two things to leave you with this morning.

First, is the picture of the day. I snapped this photo while I was still in my gym workout clothes to show myself in pure, true light. Then I uploaded it on Picnik and worked my editing magic. I just wanted to show the difference.

Then, the second thing I want to leave you with is the song A More Beautiful You by Jonny Diaz. 

It speaks to the heart of this issue. 

Now, I don't know the specifics of who all reads my blog, but if I have said anything that touched on something in your life and you would like to chat about it, feel free to contact me by shooting me off an email under my Contact page. I would love to hear from you.

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No. 150 - Feelings

Yesterday, I had an epiphany about feelings. Wanna hear it? Okay, here it is.

Feelings are not reliable. 

I know it's not earth-shattering, but I think I needed to remind myself of this truth. For example, I never feel like getting out of bed at 6 am to go to the gym, but that does not mean it isn't good for me. On the other hand, I feel like spending the night on the couch watching TV when I have another two hours of homework to complete. We go deeper with this concept when it comes to God. Often, I don't feel His presence. Does that make me a bad Christian? Am I doing something wrong? Now, don't get me wrong, I believe there is a difference between your "gut feeling" and just "emotional feeling". Your gut feeling (or conscience) will let you know if your relationship with God is in trouble, but as for those emotional feelings,
they aren't as reliable. 

As for my picture, we often hide our logic behind our feelings,
but I believe it is supposed to be the other way around. 

(P.S. The lighting and effects in this picture were by accident, but I happened to like it.)

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Inappropriate Texting

Disclaimer: This is my personal, slightly-biased opinion (hence the reason it's on my blog :P).

I think the age of cellphones is amazing. It is so easy to get in touch with people. And I think texting has definitely given us freedom with contacting people and being contacted. However, I have some issues with texting. I just think there are certain times when it is inappropriate...

...when you are driving. Okay, now this SHOULD be a no-brainer, but ya know. Now, I suppose changing music on an iPod could be placed in the same category, so maybe I'm just being hypocritical.

...in church. Again, how do these two things go together? However, I do think there are exceptions like emergencies or being on-call.

...in the movie theatre. You know that statement on the screen that says "Look around. These are the people you disturb when you talk or text". Ya, they're talking to you.

...in the middle of a deep, one-on-one conversation with a friend. This is the one I think that upsets me more than all the rest. You really learn how important your friendship is when you are spilling your heart, and the person opposite is responding to a text about dinner locations.

Okay, I'm done my little rant.