So, it looks like this year is done. 2016 has somehow gotten a reputation for being absolutely terrible. But at what point did we all just sort of simultaneously decide that it was the worst year ever? I certainly don’t remember making that decision. I thought it was an excellent year, actually. I recognize the reasons we thought it was terrible: continuing chaos in the Middle East, a continuing refugee crisis, continuing terrorist attacks, continuing world hunger and poverty, continuing threats to our environment (both natural and man-made). There was an over abundance of deaths of famous and important people (or so I have been told), and a pretty ridiculous American Presidential Election came to an unsatisfying end. I recognize that terrible things happened. I recognize that in certain categories, 2016 was terrible.
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On Friday I went to a conference at Utah Valley University co-hosted by BYU's Wheatley Institution and UVU's Center for the Study of Ethics. I found out about it about a week and half ago and, as I told my mother, "I saw “PEACEBUILDING” with a picture of a butterfly and knew I would freaking walk there if I had to." I didn't have to. I asked the magical world of Facebook for a ride and successfully obtained a good one. Maybe "obtained" isn't the word. Anyway. The remainder of this post will be adapted from my letter home this week. (So, Mom, Dad, Marian... don't read this yet. Your version is better anyway.) So, the conference! It was so good. We were there for a total of five speakers, and a discussion/Q&A session for two of them. Each speaker was better than the last. I took notes (in pink ink, of course). I managed to streamline (most) everything into a few key points:
There is no reason to hold back on being profound.
There is no reason to hold back on saying something deep. There is no reason to hold back from saying something you find remarkable, whether or not it's something you came up with on your own. There is no reason to tread lightly on saying something that could change whole world views because you are afraid someone will not agree. You cannot afford to limit your world and your discussions because doing so would go against something that someone once told you. We all have quotes and sayings and thoughts that we hold dear, we all have heard something once that changed how we see the world. Whoever it was the originally said that thing was brave enough to say it, to write it, to whisper it in someone's ear or shout it from the rooftops. If you have something to say, say it. Don't hold back on a moment that will change the world because the person to your left might disagree with your statement. No one tells stories about bland discussions on topics already understood. No one remembers the speeches or lessons that followed the book exactly or restated long-known ideas. Branch out. Tell a new story. Reinterpret something. Don't leave that to the "professionals," be a great mind yourself. The professionals didn't become professional without trying something new themselves. I am so tired of people deciding they don't need original thought. I am so tired of people telling me only what they've heard others say before. Do not be afraid of analyzing and criticizing and reimagining. Do not be afraid of doing or saying something remarkable. Do not ever shut people down because you read once in a textbook that their idea is impossible. Let them be philosophical. Let them wonder, and ponder, and think for themselves. And let yourself do so too. Not just for yourself, but for everyone listening. The title pretty much says it all.
A lot of the time in programming, one of the first things a learner will ever have the computer say to them is "Hello World!" So I figured, hey, why not? I might as well have "Hello World!" be the first thing I say, to you. This is my blog. This is where I'm planning on spilling the secrets of the universe. Or, at least, the secrets of my life. There are a lot of ways you can start a blog - you can pick up like you've been doing this for years, you can make a meek little "hi there" post, or you can test the waters with what you want to say. I'm gonna do all of that in this post. I've started with the meekness, but I'm a comfortable inhabitant of the wild world of the World Wide Web, and so I'm not about to be terribly shy. But I also want to seem humble, and I want to develop along with this website. The page will change as I change, and for right now, I'm still trying to figure it out, so the page (and this post) will start out how I feel: boring, but a little hopeful. My initial plan for this blog was to put it up on the first day of my summer vacation, because I thought that was going to be when my mission to find myself really begins. But I keep having so many revelations and existential crises and reading so many thought-provoking things that I decided that now was the time to start. Putting off beginning this blog would be the same thing as putting off my new beginning, and so I can't wait any longer. Today is the day that I test the waters, that my story lets itself begin. In every book, the first few chapters are slow, and that's okay. I've realized it's better that way, because then you can really see how the whole thing (plot, characters, emotions) develops. The story can only unravel if it starts out somewhat normal, right? I think this website is going to help me, and everyone else, to figure out who I am. Hopefully, this website is how I'm going to reach a sort of enlightenment, how I'm going to come to terms with my identity, and how I'm going to sort through all my problems. I'm going to put on a show for you, with nothing but the magic of words, the Internet, and my screaming mind. And please, let me know how it goes. I can't do this without you. xoxo |
I'm Audrey, a college student and existential rambler.
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