Earthy Words of Wisdom

Today is "Green and Thrifty Thursday."

And I'm feeling simple.


So here we go.
Some simple, feel-good, "green" quotes.

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to 

have my senses put in order."

John Burroughs

"Wilderness is not a luxury but a 

necessity of the human spirit, 

as vital to our lives as water and good bread."

Edward Abbey

"All I want is to stand in a field 

and to smell green, to taste air, to feel the earth want me, 

without all this concrete hating me."

Phillip Pulfrey

(source)

"Never does nature say one thing, 

and wisdom another."

Juvenal

"He that plants trees loves others, beside himself."

Thomas Fuller

I found these quotes in this lovely collection,

along with many more gems.

"To feel the earth want me."

Monica.

Just a Wee Whim

Today is "On a Whim, On a Wednesday."

And my whim of choice is a simple one.

And here it is:

I initially felt unsure about it.

But after giggling to myself about "Harold" 

the rest of the day, I decided it was genius.

(not to mention the charming artistry of a 

"Heather Mattoon").

Best part: there is a whole 2013 calendar full of these beauties.

I found it here.

"Part time science fiction writer."

Monica.

On Losses and Fresh Starts (or that one time I accidentally deleted over 3000 songs from my computer)

Today is "Tuning in to Tuesday."

Which has proven to be a sick, SICK irony.

Because in my "new year, new life" mentality, 

I have been organizing my computer like a boss.

Thus the tragic unfolding of these events:

While perusing my neglected computer files, 

I came across a folder labeled, "music."

Upon opening the folder, 

I discovered sub-folders featuring all my customized, 

alphabetized genres from way back in the high school days. 

Back when I didn't own an iPod. 

Back when Windows Media Player was my 

music listening program of choice.

And I thought to myself,

"Awwww... nostalgia."

And then I remembered way back 

to when I was first setting up my iTunes account, 

and how I duplicated all of my music files 

into my iTunes. 

Back when I said, 

"Sayonara, Windows Media Player."

Aaaaaand since I am determined to 

turn myself into an efficient, 

savvy, minimalist

 super-woman, 

I thought to myself,

"These folders aren't really serving any purpose. 

I never use them. I only use my iTunes."

"Sayonara, old duplicate music folders."

....and then my hand hesitated... 

what if these WEREN'T duplicates? 

What if deleting these would make them 

disappear from my iTunes, as well?

"Hold it. Not so fast, old 

(debatebly) duplicate music folders."

A minimal-loss test run was in order.

Which came in the form of deleting the folder with my 

Alison Krauss album.

Because that would be easy enough to 

burn back onto my computer, should it be lost.

Delete it I did.

Checked my iTunes, I did.

And there it was. Right where I left it.

Hello, Alison.

And so I decided to follow through with my computer file purge.

"Sayonara, old (definitely) duplicate 

music folders."

And then I did something REALLY stupid.

Because upon deleting the "definitely duplicate" music folders, 

a little window popped up.

That little window tried to warn me, bless its heart.

It said to me, "These files are too big for the recycle bin. Deleting them will be permanent. Do you wish to continue?"

....The End.

And THAT'S the story of how I lost my entire iTunes library.

(Notice how I couldn't bring myself to actually write out the very end. But I think we all understand what happened next. Apparently, it takes a bit of time for iTunes to get the memo that its music file sources have been permanently deleted).

And - for the record - I have indeed searched the 

digital nooks and crannies of my computer. 

I even did a system restore.

 All of the FOLDERS 

restored themselves... 

...just none of the music that was IN them.

ALSO for the record, I am well aware that you can log in to your iTunes account and still have access to all of your purchases music. But for me, that meant, like... 

1 soundtrack and 

a small handful of Italian Restaurant atmosphere music.

For those moments in your life when you want 

the atmosphere of an Italian Restaurant.

But I've come to peace with this debacle. 

Because, funny thing is, this has turned into 

a fresh start in and of itself.

Albeit, a much FRESHER start than I would have preferred.

But fresh, nonetheless.

Time to break out all the CDs and start new!

Sayonara, digital music collection of my life.

Monica. 

Why I "graduated" without a degree.

You could call me a college dropout.

And by all technicalities and transcripts, you'd be right.

But on Thursday, October 25th,
when I decided to
discontinue my semester courses,
leave Brigham Young University - Idaho,
and move back to Arizona with no intentions of
continuing my college education,

I was most certainly NOT choosing to drop out.

I was choosing to graduate.
I was an Integrated Studio Art major with
5 semesters under my belt.
And this 6th semester was turning out to be the
best and most successful of them all.
And it seemed that the stars were, to my relief,
aligning in my favor on more levels than just my GPA.

Life was good.

SO good, that I couldn't shake the feeling that something lay ahead.

Something on the next page.
Something just around the riverbend.

Like this:

Because all the knowledge I was gathering - whether it be in my academic courses, art projects, or just the school of general life - seemed to be teaching the same thing.
Different as they were, these sources of learning and thought and pondering were undeniably pointing in ONE DIRECTION.

Like this:

And after some apartment hunting around town, considering alternate areas of academic study, and many MANY "what if" conversations with my husband...

...I came to the conclusion that I had absolutely
NO CLUE what it all meant.

And so I took Grandmother Willow's advice,
and listened with my heart.

Like this:

But actually, more like this:

(photo source)

And I knew then that yes, change was coming.

But rather than search the seven seas
trying to figure out what it was,
I needed to just continue about my life
diligently, patiently, and faithfully...

...and the answer would come.


And come, it did.

And SURPRISED ME, it did.

Because whilst going about my day, something dawned on me. It dawned in a simple way. In the same way that you would be brushing your teeth and think to yourself, "I need to get eggs at the store today."

Except my thought was something more like this:
"I have completed my college education."

I did not have a degree of any sort.
I was not even finished with the current semester.

And yet, within a few hours of individual and spousal contemplation...

(like this)

...it was decided.

I was indeed finished with my college education.

Because for me, college was never about the degree.
It was about getting the education,
experience, and
tools I needed
to be a professional artist
and a good, well-rounded person.

And all this was for the purpose of providing a
good life
for myself and my family.
And the compass was telling me that my college experience had served its purpose. It took me as far as needed with these goals,
and it was time for the next chapter.

And I felt graduated.


Is it the norm? Nope.

Is it what I expected? DEFINITELY not.

But do I know with every fiber of my
spunky being that it is right?

You betcha.
Dabbling in the future,
Monica.

Changes....

On a Whim, on a Wednesday: Is Creativity Becoming Extinct?

Technology.

It is kinda a BIG DEAL.

For better, or for worse.

...or for both.


Technology is creating a society of
short attention spanned,
hot headed zombies.


OR....

Technology is creating a world of
information,
collaboration,
and opportunity.

"I've heard it both ways."
(Thank you, Sean Spencer).

I definitely have some rather developed, supported, and
-most importantly-
evolving opinions on the matter.

But I think that I'll hold off on writing that post.
Especially since I am smack dab in the middle of some pretty expansive research on the matter.

Because, you see, I'm writing an essay.

An essay where I basically explore
the impact that technology has on the
creative foundation of adults,
as well as on the
creative potential for children.


Soon to come: My new-and-improved opinion on the matter.

And just in case this subject is as important you to as it is to me, (or even if you just want to dip your toes in a bit)
here is a list of my chosen research sources:

THESE books:

And THESE articles from the internets:

>Want To Be More Creative? Get Bored.
by
Martin LindstromLink:
http://www.fastcompany.com/1829462/want-be-more-creative-get-bored

A blog post centered on an
interview with Isaac Asimov
by
Maria PopovaLink:
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/01/28/isaac-asimov-creativity-education-science/


And please oh PLEASE share your thoughts on the matter!

Determined that I'm going to thoroughly read each of these books before my essay is due next week,
Monica.

Tuning in to Tuesday: Up and Up

I'm a mildly big fan of Christian Rock.

Sometimes, members of the LDS Church tend to shy away from this musical genre.

Because mixing the sounds of popular modern day music with subjects like
repentance
and the Spirit
and Jesus Christ...

can be a rather peculiar juxtaposition
that we just plain are not accustomed to.

And some would even argue that it is irreverent to mingle such sacred subjects with such casual musical form.

Okay.
To each his own.

But in this modern day when even my dear old country music becomes just as littered with inappropriateness as any other popular music genre,

I have no problem changing the radio station to
songs about the Savior.
Songs that give hope.
Songs about being charitable.
Songs about spreading the good news.

Are there sometimes specific doctrinal references that I don't necessarily agree with?

Hmmmm, yes.

But if disagreements on the specifics of a matter
(even eternally important ones)
mean that I should avoid association with the source,
then I guess it is time for me to go live in the mountains and cut off absolutely all ties with my fellow human beings.

And maybe raise goats, while I'm at it.

And although I strongly believe that there is in fact a need for reverent handling of sacred subjects,
I'm not going to reject a song just because it
accompanies Christ's teachings with
guitars and drums
instead of
a piano and violin.


And if you disagree?
That's okay.
I'm perfectly fine with that.
(see previous note on handling "disagreement.")

On that note, I would like to share one of my favorites:

Up and Up - Relient K

This song is for when
you feel guilty about digging a hole for yourself,
but you want to have faith that you can climb out of it.

And to remember that Christ is more than happy to join you for the climb.

This song is also for when your car is broken down and you have had a crappy day and you feel like there is just no way you can manage to walk up the monstrous hill back home.

Yeah.
When THAT happens,
cue THIS song:



I'm just trying to be a better version of me for You,
Monica.