Twist and Shout!

Sometimes.
Just sometimes.
I wake up and realize I am not in the greatest of moods. Not necessarily in a horrible mood. Just down a bit.

Sometimes.
Just sometimes.
I get to work after getting ready in the morning and I talk to my boss about assignments. Then I plug into my little world with my pandora station and my designing tools.

Bliss I tell you.

Sometimes even when we wake up in a off mood, you can change it. You can! I was worried that waking up in that mood would affect the way my whole day would turn out. And don't get me wrong, it might end up having some bumps- it's only 11:15 in the morning. But I figured out a pick me up.

Sometimes you just need to twist and shout!
Just let yourself dance in your chair at work to your music, just find something that makes you smile- somethings as small as a cute song or a picture of a puppy (who knows?)!

Just allow yourself some wiggle room to twist and shout in your day and it will most definitely help you find even the smallest reason to smile.

And who knows.
You might be able to help someone else twist and shout in the process.
How great would that be?
-gracie

Even if Armageddon Is Knocking

Once upon a time I saw a sign that someone put on their front door:

The Storm Ends Here

Then I forgot about it. It's probably been two or three years since that time that I saw it. Why did I bring it up today? Well I was listening to my Pandora this morning at work, when suddenly a line popped out at me: 

"Armageddon could be knocking at my door, but I ain't gonna answer that's for sure."

 

Connection made? 

I thought it easy enough.

I think that a lot of the time I find myself letting Armageddon weasel it's way into my life. Let's face it, we all just let it in half the time. We can choose what to let into our lives by what attitude we adopt, and what we DECIDE to allow into our days. I want to be happy, don't you?

Is it easy?

Of course not.

But I think that if we decide the storm ends before it hits us, and that we don't open the door to the horrible horrible things out there in life, we will find ourselves happier, if only slightly. We don't ignore the nastiness caking the world, but we learn how to work through it. We have to be "optimistic realists" as my boyfriend puts it.

I know there are those who have clinical depression, who can't completely control the creeping sadness, but that is why we need to be there for them and help protect them from the storm that is beating down their doors.

Can we do that?

I want to.

Time to get to work. 

That barricade against that ooey gooey nastiness won't build itself!

 -gracie

Keepin' Busy

It's been quite a while since I've written in here. That is going to change. I am making a point of it to keep up on this. I love blogging. I don't know why I've let myself stop, even though I think about it often enough.

Anyways, I have been super duper busy working on school this semester. I can hardly believe that it's already five weeks into the semester. Doesn't seem real. I've been on the run, doing this for that class, and doing that for this class. Sometimes I hardly know what I am doing because I am constantly changing gears and working on something different.

But no matter how busy it gets I love it.

Being busy keeps you from doing stupid things, or at least a lot of stupid things anyway. We all make mistakes of course, but by keeping yourself from sitting idly around you find yourself doing more good than bad.

This semester has opened my eyes to that. Not that I had been into mischief or anything before, but with how busy I've been this semester it's helped me stay focused on what I want to do and leave out the ridiculous time wasters (to a point, anyways). I don't know about you, but I am much happier when I feel like I'm doing something productive. I much rather feel accomplished than guilty of doing nothing important and nothing really that cool.

I challenge you- whoever you might be- to find a bit more happiness in life by finding something to keep you productive.
I know it's helping me.
Maybe it'll help you.
Go find something to make you happy, won't you?
-gracie

Courage

Courage is resistance of fear, mastery of fear; not the absence of fear.

-Mark Twain

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

-Walt Disney

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Sometimes life is hard.

Right?

Sometimes we are scared.

Right?

Sometimes you just want to be happy.

Right?

No matter how hard life is, or how scared we might be to face something- we can find that happiness. We need courage. Take it, honor it, hold it close to your heart. It will not fail you if you hold tight.

We all have the potential to succeed, to face the most important things in our lives and go far beyond the expectations. Why don't we? Fear settles in quite comfortably in quite the quick fashion. Sometimes we don't even hear him enter in. Sometimes, though, we notice he's making a home out of our heads, and we just don't want to bother him by saying anything to him. 

Wait... Did I just say that? Confront a stranger? Get rid of an intruder? Psh, who in their right mind would want to get rid of someone breaking, entering, and making a home out of yours without consent? .... Isn't that illegal?

Well it's just as illegal in your head. The first step to getting rid of fear and standing up for what you believe is having the courage to say something. Courage, like Mark Twain said, isn't the absence of fear, but resisting it. Fight fear by doing what you know is right and showing others what you believe. 

Have that courage to be happy.

That is all.

-gracie 

:)

Design for Good

Have you ever looked at what your future could be like, and realize how utterly impossible it seems to be?
I have.
Have you ever taken a second look, and come to the fond realization that you are capable of anything and everything?
I have.

You should too.

The last few days I have been at a national AIGA conference (and for those of you who don't know, just know that it is a national conference for everyone with the most stupendous jobs in the world: Graphic Design). I was expecting a few things out of this before I came down:

Networking with the Professionals.
Leaning more about design itself.
Get a few more ideas.
Expand my vision of what I could become.

And let me tell you, all of this was possible. Every part of my expectations were easily fulfilled. But, know this: I have learned something that has forever changed my perspective on what I do.

The theme for AIGA this year, or maybe it is a campaign in and of itself, is: Design for Good. I was honestly not expecting to come here and get so many deep lessons on service. Of all the things? I wasn't displeased at all. I was confused, yes. But not displeased. Over the course of this conference I learned something more about myself, and my purpose here in life. Listen to this: What we do for a living, no matter what it may be, can be used as a force for good.


I am a graphic designer, and I want to create a better place through my talents. I always have said that, but it never hit me as much as it did this weekend here in good ol' Phoenix, Arizona. We all have potential, potential that is just waiting to burst out and be used as a force for good. There is so much bad in the world. We need to start acting. Making that move through OUR OWN TALENTS AND INTERESTS to make a difference.

So, if you are having those twiddling thumbs, only seeing the impossibilities in your future, you need to take a step back. Back away, and realize that there are those opportunities. Back away, and realize that you have potential. Don't diminish it. Use your talents. Nurture them, and you will see how they multiply.

We all can do it.
I promise to use mine.
Will you?
-gracie

Minimilize

I do believe we spend our time doing too much that is not worthy of our time.

Facebooking?
Oh please.
I have found that it is a bit ridiculous to spend hours on the computer really doing nothing at all.

Don't get me wrong, I love computers.
I'm a graphic design major, why wouldn't I?
But I think that we can use them in ways that are more profitable to ourselves. If we were to minimalize our time doing ridiculous things, and doing things that are more fun, more worth while, I think that we would be able to feel more satisfied.

Okay, I might start sounding a little bit scatterbrained, but think about it! Why do you find yourself on facebook? Why do you find yourself on myspace, twitter, or mylifeisaverage, or pinterest? Maybe because you are bored? Yes of course! All of these things have a time and place, but to waste your time doing these things, only to get off and realize that there was something more fun to do, something more fulfilling, is quite a sad thing.



I am sorry if this was a ridiculous post...
But all in all,
I am going to spend a little less time doing not-fun, not-productive, not-fulfilling ridiculous things.

(Because, there are productive, fulfilling and fun ridiculous things. I can assure you of that.)

-gracie


I think I will write in here more often. Just thought I'd write down some proof of that statement.

In Every Day

I found this poster online somewhere, and I think it is absolutely true. We all have those hard days, those seemingly endless days where everything seems to be fighting against you. It's inevitable that things will not be picture perfect every day. But this is no excuse for being angry when there is something so lucidly shimmering with hope right in front of you.

Yes. We all have those days.

But look! Right there, yes you got it. There is something that you can be happy about.

As I was walking into work today I was a little bummed about this ridiculous sore throat I've been having for the last almost week. Somehow my mind switched from "Woe is Me" to... what can I be happy about? I started listing things in my head, and to my surprise I kept going and going without even thinking about it. Almost mechanically. As I went through this cycle of happy-rendering thoughts I found I had a soft smile on my face that made the whole difference to my day.

Sure, we may have it bad sometimes.

But there is always at least one thing good to remember.

Try it.
It works.
Pinky Promise.
-gracie.