Sometimes

I wouldn't say that I'm overly opinionated. I might come across that way at times, but there are certain things that I believe to be true.And if others don't share the same view, that is totally fine with me. I'm open to new ideas and someone changing my mind.
But I believe there are some fundamental, basic truths to life.
Some things that every kid should be raised knowing. Some things that as adults we forget far too often.
And I'm going to let you know what those things are.

Everything is about perspective.

It's about what's in focus in that moment in time. 

It's always hard to see the big picture. 

You have to be able to shift back and forth between things, like the lens of a camera.
The hardest part is piecing it all together in your mind.

The most successful people I know are experts at this. 

There's the past, the present, the future.

There's then, there's now, there's later. 

But they're not mutually exclusive. 

They all blend seamlessly together into one.

It's up to us to look carefully at each part and see how they fit.

You have to embrace that sometimes things are bigger than this very moment. 

And even if things seem out of focus, they'll clear up eventually. 

Life is an adventure.

It should be treated as one.
Sometimes we need to navigate uncharted waters. Sometimes they're calm, sometimes they're not.
And often, we're treated to an entirely new perspective. 

 

Sometimes, the world gets turned upside down. 

We need to accept change, embrace it. 

Because if you don't, you're going to end up up the creek without a paddle. 

 

And then there are these people.
The ones that make life enjoyable at all. Other people are the reason we can go on, most days.
Despite how hermetic and solitary you think you are, you depend on someone or something else in some way, every day of your life.
 

There are a few amazing people in the world.
And we are so fantastically lucky to have them.
Often, in fact, they are so amazing that we don't even realize it.
They are the ones that you look at, smile, and leap into the abyss together.

And why would you do that? 

Why would you not only risk your own well-being, but not even spend a moment thinking about it?
Because there are some people that we are blessed to know.

They are the people that just get you on a level you can't even comprehend.

They share your values, your beliefs, your passions, and even your hot dogs, on occasion.
They are friends, spouses, family.
They are the ones that matter.
And if you love them, you should let them know.
It's only too easy to take them for granted. 

 

Sometimes a truly great person is hidden. 

Sometimes, we don't appreciate them for what they are, or what they really mean to us.

Don't worry, it's normal. 

Great people are like endangered species.

Combined, there are lots of them, all over the world.

But usually, it's hard to find just one.

We need to constantly remind ourselves that these people are really one of a kind.
Having someone as inspiring and caring and helpful is not something to be taken for granted.
They are the people we want to be, the people we want to be around, the people we want to have for as long as we possibly can.

There are people that make us want to spread out our winds and soar.

You want to shout out to the world,

"Hey, I'm awesome! Check me out!"
Despite the fact that you may look like a total loony.

But one day, you realize, you never really wanted the whole world to know.
There was just that one person.
Those few people.
They were all that really mattered.
And they totally didn't mind that you acted like a loony, as long as it made you happy.

 

 

 

And as much as it  hurts, sometimes those people have to leave.

 Sometimes they pass away, or move to Madagascar. 

They slide out of our lives, and we don't realize how beautiful they are until they're gone.
Sometimes, we didn't even realize they were there in the first place. 

And that hurts.
So realize what you have while it's there!

Do your best to keep an eye out for a good person.

Love them as much as they love you.

Love them more!

If you're reading this, there is undoubtedly someone going through your mind as you read this.

Do yourself a favour.
Don't let them fly away before you realize what they are to you.
Send them an email, give them a call, buy them a pint.
You don't even have to be outright and tell them.
Just be aware of what they mean to you and why.

I can guarantee that your life will be better for it.

 

I can also do you one better.
Take chances.
Sometimes it's hard.

Risk is a tough think to deal with.
But you know what, a lot of the time it's worth it.

Sometimes it's worth throwing caution to the wind, reaching out our arms wide, and taking on the world.

Take love for example.
If you were reading that part about great people, people who understand you inexplicably, and you were thinking of someone, chances are, there's a reason.

No one ever fell in love without taking a risk.

There is someone who gets you down to your core. 

There's someone who will do anything to make you happy.

There is someone who will make you tea when you're sick, fold your laundry, take your kids to daycare, make you smile when you don't want to.

 

There is someone that you will do anything for.
There is someone you will go to the ends of the earth to make happy.

There is some you will willingly sit through Alice in Wonderland synched to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with (even if it's horrid!) just because you know they love it.

There is someone.
You might already have that person.
Make sure you kiss them when you see them next, and tell them that you love them.

You might have lost that person.
Never forget how they made you feel. It's invaluable.

You might have someone in mind.
And if you have the slightest inkling that it could work, take that chance.

Remember: great people are like endangered species.
But people you truly live are much, much harder to find.
It's not worth it to let them go before you realize what could have been.
 

If you're thinking of someone.

Take that chance.

But you do need to be careful.
There are people out there who will take advantage of you.

And it's all to easy to forget.
It could be a wolf in sheep's clothing, someone you thought was a good person.

Or it could be unexpected.

You could be swimming around happily one day and the big bad hawk would unfortunately choose you.

Sometimes, when you've been raised in good company, you give too many people the benefit of the doubt.

Which is a good thing, and a bad thing in itself.
If you're like me, you see the good in everyone. You see potential, not failure.

You believe everyone is a heron inside, ready to bust open their wings and soar!

It's all too easy to forget.
Sometimes, we even try to fix a bad egg, hoping that one day, something truly beautiful will unfurl.

But we do get burned.
It happens.
Sometimes life gets the better of us.

We lose a friend.
We lose a significant other.
We lost a job.
We lose our car keys.

But we can go on. We have thick skin for a reason.
There are four layers, and together they are amazingly resilient.
We still have our friends, however. 

And we know that they'll help us through it, no mater how hard it seems. 

They'll hold you when you cry. 

They'll listen to you talk for endless hours.

They'll go to Home Hardware at 2 a.m. to get the plunger you're too embarrassed to buy.

  Or they'll simply buy you a pint and tell you to suck it up because you're better than that.

And you should never, ever be too proud to hang out with your family.
You'll realize, one day, just how much effort they put into making you who you are.
It goes beyond changing smelly diapers, you know.
Although that can get pretty gross.

Your family, even if you aren't technically related, are the people that are closest to you.
You decide who your family is. You can have lots of different families.
You can make your own.
But in order for them to be healthy, you need to have a whole lot of patience, a ton of honesty, and, most of all, more love than seems humanly possible.

Also, don't be afraid to spend some time alone.
You have to make yourself happy before you can make anyone else happy.
So love yourself, then you can love your friends.
Take a minute.
Sit back, look around you, and realize whatcha got.
Take time to recognize what's good in your life, and what isn't so much.

 

Just remember:

There are many beautiful things in life.

The truly spectacular isn't always unexpected.
Sometimes it's as ordinary as the Earth turning

.
But when everything falls into place at one time;
When we recognize all of the conditions that have culminated into one amazing moment;
When we open our eyes and appreciate everything for what it is;

Then, we can say we were truly living.

Random Thoughts

Ever have one of those days where you are incredulously self-aware?

Today was one of those days.

I don't know what brings them on. Perhaps today was due to a mix of reasons; Easter with my family, moving my sister into her new apartment, visiting my old elementary school, tucking another decade milestone into my pocket...who knows.

Today was one of those days. When you're finally able to step back and look at everything around you; to take a minute out to survey your life. Lessons learned from the past are spread out like a deck of cards. What seemed like a harrowing issue wasn't so important. What might case a problem in the future becomes a source of adventure.

I thought about a lot of things.

I think it'll turn out just fine.

In fact, I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be right now.

I think it's good when that happens; I somehow feel that the contentedness I'm experiencing is fairly rare.

I'm happy.

I'm ready for what comes next.




Bring it on.

Plans

"Now the sky could be blue, could be gray, without you I'm just miles away." --  Strawberry Swing, Coldplay

I’m a fairly metaphoric person. I’m not the hippie type to tell you that your soul is really a rabbit, nor the Dr. Seuss type to tell you that your world is really a fluff on a flower being carried by a giant elephant in the sky.

But I relate easily to my surroundings, and I find expressing my thoughts in that way helps people understand me better. 

Anyway, as of late, I’ve been thinking a lot. Slowly getting back to my more philosophical side, I suppose.

And recently, I’ve been thinking about plans. 

Having just finished an exam that went well and it being nice outside, I was sitting outside reading my book yesterday, soaking up some well-missed sun.  I like to be comfy when I read, so I was lying back on the warm concrete of the roof of 137 (thanks, Ron Thom) and seemingly became distracted by some clouds drifting by.

I was attracted by the colour of the sky, first of all, and how blue it was. Being a bit of a backcountry girl, I always forget the way the sky lightens around the horizon and gets deeper blue towards the middle. Anyway, that’s another story.

I felt like a kid again, looking for shapes in the clouds, watching them shift shapes and whisp around the sky.

And I realized that clouds are very similar to plans.

As I’ve said, I’ve been thinking about plans lately. Maybe it’s because I’ve suddenly realized I’m halfway through my life as an undergraduate. Maybe it’s figuring out living arrangements for the year and beyond. Maybe it’s looking for alternate employment for the summer. Maybe it’s realizing who’s important to me. Maybe it’s thinking about the future and what I want from it.

I have a lot of plans. 

Everyone has a lot of plans. 

They’re what keep us going, in a way. They give us something to look forward to, something to hold onto when things get rocky, something to look back on and tell ourselves we did the right thing. 

I got thinking, as I watched the clouds dance across the sky. Our plans are like clouds (fine, that’s a simile, not a metaphor, thank you English Majors).

We make plans that tend to float aimlessly around for a while. They fluctuate; bits break off when they don’t work and bits get added when things get thrown into the mix last minute. They interact with other people’s plans. Sometimes two clouds collide and make one big one. Sometimes they make amazing shapes and formations that catch the sun just right at sunset…and sometimes they create vicious storms that rage across the whole sky and never seem to end. Sometimes we get to our destination (above Maccu Picchu) and sometimes we don’t (above a chemical factory in Cleveland).

But most of the time, despite our best efforts, life is quite random. We can’t control anyone else’s plans and sometimes they take over ours, for better or for worse.

 We can’t always control where we go in life, or the means in which we get there. But we make plans, and on a whim and a prayer we head out into the world hoping that ‘things go as planned’.

Plans are good. They give us inspiration, hope, and stability. They give us the drive to do the right thing.

But knowing that they don’t always work out is just as important. Sometimes plans fall through, and sometimes the unexpected occurs. 

But you know what, life is beautiful, no matter how ugly it can seem. There is beauty in a storm, especially just after it ends. No matter what, the sun sets and rises (even if it’s hidden!), and life goes on.

As someone important to me once said,

“We fall in love, we fall out of love…but we’ll still end up worrying what to do with our Friday nights.”

Plans lead to plans that lead to plans. 

And as many of them as I have, I’m content to just sit and watch the clouds go by once in a while. To expect the unexpected. And to be ready for whatever comes next.

20 Things

Okay, so, I haven’t updated you on anything environmental lately. But here’s something else that I think will have some environmental themes and hopefully be quite interesting.

As some of you may know, my birthday is coming up. I’m about to turn 20. Five years ago that seemed so old. But now that I’m here, it seems not too bad at all. Maybe it’s the fact that most of the people I spend time around these days are older than I am, or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve always felt older than I am. In any case, age is a weird thing for me. I’ve never really acted my age, or at least felt my age. Which, interestingly enough, has given me a unique perspective on life. 

So I have chosen to enlighten you with 20 things I’ve learned in 20 years.

1)    

·         A smile can be the greatest cure.

·         Happiness isn’t something to be sacrificed.

·         Music can make even the worst day a little bit brighter.

·         Kids make the world go round.

·         It’s best not to dwell on the bad.

·         It’s ok to ask for help when you really need it.

·         If you’re in doubt about something you’ve done, you haven’t tried your best.

·         Your family is the reason you are who you are.

·         You can’t love anyone until you love yourself.

·         Nothing’s better than doing what you love to do.

·         You can never have too many Smarties. Or Cheerios.

·         Talking to strangers isn’t always a bad idea. Sometimes they’re lovely people.

·         Friends come and go, but it doesn’t make them any less valuable.

·         Love will never make you do the wrong thing.

·         The right thing is sometimes the hardest thing.

·         Never fight the feeling that you want to smile or laugh.

·         Money isn’t everything.

·         Health is the most important part of being alive. Or feeling good in general.

·         Trying new things is good for you. And keeps you on your toes.

·         If you can see something being in your future, there’s probably a reason.

E     Enjoy :) Comments welcome. 

Green Love?

I just had the randomest thought.

But it's rather interesting, so I thought I'd share.

First of all, I will shamelessly admit to you that I have been sitting here watching The Big Bang Theory, knitting, and drinking hot chocolate (or hocho, as I call it). And watching Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj bumble through their nerdy little lives has gotten me thinking about dating.

Typically, in any of the hard sciences or engineering, a strange thing happens -- for which I will coin the term The Nerd Phenomenon -- where  the ratio of men to women is extremely high. That is, there are about 100 nerdy guys for maybe 1 or 2 girls. Thus, the boys of the physics and egineering department find themselves hung up over Penny. And, finding this amusing (as well as my sad appreciation for science jokes) I continue to watch the show.

However, I just realized that the same situation seems to happen in the environmental sector. It seems to me, through my meetings with other environmentalists and people of the like, that the opposite occurs. We shall call this The Green Phenomenon. Everywhere I look, there are young single ladies such as myself striving for environmental solutions and sustainable living. But there aren't all that many young suitable males...

I read a green dating post over at Grist, stating that the same Green Phenomenon has been happening elsewhere! The general consensus seems to be that there are tons of young green women, and few men. One poster stated that at his local Green Drinks events, there is a huge abundance of single women, and only a few men, who happen to bring their wives...

As environmentalist and secondly a nerd, I have to say it seems my chances are pretty slim.

In response to the poster from Grist, I have to say that, in my experience, all the green men are so attractive that they get snatched up quick. I mean, what's hotter than a guy who enjoys hiking and wants to live sustainably, too? The thing is, environmentalism isn't just a department, like physics. It's a lifestyle. If you're into climate change and the outdoors, every life decision you make is going to be influenced by that --  so it's only inevitable that environmentally-minded people are going to hitch up fairly quickly!

I wonder why there aren't more men in the environmental fields? It seems that there are many older men working in the field, but who knows, maybe they jumped on the bandwagon while it was empty, back when environmental fields were just starting out. Now, I'm looking around my classes and I'd say there about 70-80% women. Where are all the guys at? Seriously...there's a whole world of active, fun, and  tanned environmental ladies out here in the boonies.

Well, you'd say to me, head on over to the physics department and bag yourself a Star Trek loving theoretical physicist!  It would make sense, after all, if the Nerd Phenomenon and the Green Phenomenon met up and made little nerdy green babies...our kids might even come up with a theory for mitigating climate change.

But is there something wrong with wanting a like-minded life partner?

It would only make sense for two environmentally-minded people to fall in love...they would have similar values, which would probably extend beyond their discipline, such as a love for nature, a particular outlook on children,  a need for exploration and fun.

But, at the moment, there are a whole lot of single men in suspenders hanging around somewhere, and a whole lot of single women with hiking boots.

Guess I'll just have to revert to my animal instincts and hunt a green man down. But with the trend I'm seeing, it would seem futile. I might as well just sit at the end of a trail and wait for him to come to me...

Hello, again.

Would ya look at me, updating once again.This is madness!

I have to say, I should be updating more often with more of my pseudo-philosphical thoughts, but to be honest I haven't really been thinking too hard lately. I'm not finding my classes this semester to be challenging at all, however they're so time-consuming that I don't get to spend much time reading. Speaking of, I'm hoping to finish The Shack by William Paul Young, and hopefully break out my old copy of Walden to spark that old environmental flame...I might even hunt down some Aldo Leopold.



So what has my life been filled with as of late?

I'm not even sure.

I've been trying to keep up my training, but it's kind of slowed down a bit. Still running strong, though. I managed to run Armour Hill up Hunter St. 6 times the other day (woo!) and I did a quick 2.5k around campus yesterday followed by the OC stairs a few times. I also biked to tri clinic on Sunday, trying to avoid the many puddles. The weather's been nice lately...can't wait to take the road bike out for a spin.

Classes have been....gruelling. Fairly uninteresting, unfortunately. I'd like to say that I'm learning some new and valuable information, or that I'm at least being inspired to undertake new projects or research on my own...But I'm not. Quite frankly, I'm a little annoyed with Trent as we're taught the same things over and over again without much deviation. I know it's very important, and it was very interesting the first time I heard about it, but if I have to hear about eutrophication and the ELA one more time, I'll explode.

Profs keep telling us not to focus on big cases such as Temagami or James Bay because they're sick of hearing about it...but you know what, there are important environmental case resolution lessons to be learned from those cases. Eutrophication is an ongoing issue, yes, but at least teach us about what's being done now, and what other related processes are important, not that it's just there, that Lake Erie died and came back, the end.

Sorry. Frustrated rant.

Somebody tell me something interesting, please. Something I can analyze or learn from or learn more about.

Anyway, what else have I been up to?

Looking for a job, for one. Something outside and active.

It has also been "surprise roommates with dinner" week, and so far we've had
-- maple salmon/wine and herb salmon with asparagus
-- chicken divan
-- pierogi casserole/lasagna
-- fettuccine and peas with homemade garlic bread
-- honey garlic sausages and baked potatoes (tonight)

Assignments are so much less exciting after a glass of wine...

Anyway, I need some fun in my life. Perhaps I'll make a music video or something.

I must be off now, though. My chariot awaits.

(aka the scary old lady who drives the east bank)

Update

Hey there...

Quick update on the tri front.

Since my last blog, I was struck down by a vicious sinus cold which put a cramp in my training...and my schoolwork...and my sleep...and my life, really.

Honest-to-God, I was so sick that at one point I crawled under my desk with a cup of tea because, in my teary-eyed delusion, I thought it would make me feel better. And, on top of that, I still had to walk to the bus stop and get my butt to school each day because apparently lab demonstrators don't care if you can't breathe or talk, there are samples of estuary water that need to be tested for pH!

Anyway. I've had some successes in the tri department, regardless. I shall shamelessly update you on my somewhat less-than-impressive running successes. My long term goal for the tri course was to be able to pace this guy in the class for the 2.5k run, but I did so last Sunday. We even had a conversation the whole way!

I've been running on the treadmill lately, as I'm still somewhat recovering. I've been upping my mileage over the course of the week, and so far I'm up to 4.5k, which is almost double last week. My min/mile has been dropping as I get stronger, and I'm looking forward to seeing it decrease!

I'm hoping, for this month or so, to log a 5k time under 25min, which I think should be possible. By race time, I should hopefully get it sub-20, or at least sub-22. I shall work hard!

My roommates have started the TriForce, my training support team, who basically will cheer me on when I finish my first triathlon. They might make tshirts, I'm not sure. But by all means, feel free to join. We'll have a barbeque at my house after, hopefully my family will come up and my nieces will be there to cross the finish line with me! :)


I've also graduated from frozen yogurt to normal and frozen fruit to fresh in my smoothies. Addiction to blackberries starts now.


In other news, I'm now also addicted to rock climbing. Yes, I tried it at the gym and it was really fun. Calling all climbing buddies, come belay for me and I'll return the favour!! I'll have to get some decent climbing shoes first.

Also, you can look forward to an upcoming blog post on environmental thinking...it'll be more or less a paper I'm writing for one of my classes but it should be very interesting.

Oh, almost done my sweater, too. I need to knit the sleeves and cuffs, then add the zipper, but it should be wearable in a week or two :) Woo!

Anyway, have a great week, try not to get sick!