"We stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang true inside these bones...."
Something I have learned this month: the sunshine really does appear (eventually).
My life has been amazing lately. Maybe it's that everyone else's lives are amazing and I get to enjoy watching it all unfold or be a weird part of it. Biggest fan? I'll take it.
For starters, my best friend in the entire world, Lauren, got engaged this weekend!!! WAHOO!! Brennan was one smooth operator. He is so sweet. SO thoughtful. I was the creeper with the camcorder. Yep. Just Lauren, Brennan, Santa Cruz natives and yours truly. I almost asked to borrow a beach towel to wipe up all the sweat on my neck. I was so nervous! There was no need to be nervous really. Everything was perfect. After 7 happy years, they are officially engaged. So so happy. Lots of tears. Happy tears. I am so grateful for Lauren and Brennan. They are family to me. They keep teaching me so much about how to LIVE.
Erin left for her new big adventure. So excited for her. And grateful for her. She's hilarious. We sent her off with a bottle of La Victoria's Orange Sauce and a smile. She packed up her truck and off she went. No more Hayward for E.P. She is one of the most thoughtful, simple and reasonable people I know. Here's to many more happy memories to come!!
Today I was eating my whole wheat pasta with some delicious tomato/herb sauce from Trader Joe's. I decided to watch a TedTalk (as per the recommendation from NetFlix from my recent view of the Steve Jobs documentary...which I watched when I had the flu, and little sleep. Many tears.) Anywho...I flipped around some TedTalks and landed on Jane McGonigal's talk entitled, "The game that can give you 10 extra years". Honestly, wasn't really hooked for most of it. She is a video game developer. Some things I liked. I appreciated some of her arguments about how people need to play more often and work less in an effort to enjoy life. I forced myself to have an open mind while listening. My gut reaction: video games/alternative lives (opposed to reality)= bad. I admit, I had some change of heart by the end. She drew some pretty lovely conclusions about real life (abstractly, from the vantage point of video games).
Que up her talk from 10:45-11:52. She talks about Posttramatic Growth as opposed to Posttramatic Stress. Fascinating to me. Posttramatic Growth! It's beautiful to think about. Psychology Today even covers it in the article titled: The Key to Posttraumatic Growth. The key to Posttramatic Growth, according to author Stephen Joseph, Ph.D., is story telling. And re-creating our stories at that:
"Through telling new stories that we are able to rebuild our sense of self—to reconstruct an understanding of who we are, our place in the world, and what our expectations of the world are".
So that's just what I plan on doing. New stories. I'm building and constructing me. That's what's going on in my neck of the woods. I have about 1 year left of my Master's Program in Public Administration. I have about 1 year left of serving with some of the most incredible students in the world here in University Housing. I have been on 3 overnight retreats in the past month with work. I've had so many opportunities and experiences. I keep learning and growing. I LOVE the people I get to learn from EVERY day!
Sardines!!
this is what we get to do...for "work"
RHA takes on the Boardwalk. I love our RHA team!
The Unequivocal H.A.M.
#BaconCupONoodlesBeefJerkyDoritos
A3 Crew. Always on point. "Let's share our favorite song and our favorite bad word..."
Green.
Let's get closer to the cliff. Totally safe.
I suppose that's why Ben Howard really has resonated with me this week. I keep growing. I really feel like I am standing steady and growing.
"We stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang true inside these bones...."
