A Little Inspiration from Pokemon and Monty Python

Yesterday I found out that I wasn’t selected for a job that I had interviewed for. While not my dream job, it would have been wonderful to work with some of my friends and, most importantly in my view, be assured that no matter what I would have an excellent place to turn to if other jobs I am waiting to hear back from did not pan out. When telling my boyfriend and family, I had a good attitude about it and I still do for the most part, after all I will get something eventually and it will all work out in the end. But it is one thing to tell yourself that and quite another to feel the crushing stress of an almost masters graduate who would really like some financial security as she moves on into the next phase in her life. So, full disclosure, I was a little upset and still have a slightly heavy heart as I write this. However, as I wrote in a previous post listening to happy songs does wonders for getting me back in the right mindset and last night I thought of two songs. They seem quite different and quite a random combination, but in the end they do make sense. I have included the links below so you can listen to them as well 🙂 They are: 

The theme song of the Pokemon cartoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqXlSwBIHFc

And Monty Python’s “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcNpDJ80iqQ

I came into contact with both of these songs at a young age. Pokemon, of course, was from many happy weekends spent hanging out with my cousins David and Matt watching Saturday morning cartoons and then playing with our own massive collection of Pokemon cards and stuffed animals. Now, I will admit that I would totally start playing Pokemon again if I had the time/ could figure out just exactly where my parents put my now vintage Gameboy Advance but that was not the reason that this song randomly popped into my head as I was lying awake at 4am this morning. It was more because of how it brings back those happy memories spent with friends and family who, like Ash’s friends Brock and Misty as well as his Pokemon, always have his back no matter what and are the reason that one day he will become the best that he can be. Sadly I will not be “catching ’em all” any time soon. but listening to my friends and family’s support last night, especially my boyfriend, all telling me that I can do it and that they believe in me greatly helped me keep believing in myself. Whether my “Team Rocket” is finding a job or just combating a bad day, I know that with their love and support I will triumph on this journey of self-discovery. 

Monty Python came into my life even earlier than Pokemon, as I was raised on their humor from young age; I blame them wholeheartedly (but of course with much love) for my love for smart, satirical comedy and British accents. I came across this song not i after having the privilege to watch the musical Spamalot on Broadway, which is based on my favorite Monty Python movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” In that play , right before this song comes on King Arthur is telling his squire Patsy that all is lost since they cannot find the shrubbery they need for the Knights Who Say Ni. Patsy however does not think this is so and sets about showing Arthur through this song that one most always look on the bright side of life. Eventually Arthur comes around and they end up running into a “shrubber” who solves their problem. This song has such a good message and since it came from the minds of my childhood heroes it always brings a smile to my face. How does this fit in with Pokemon you ask? Well, since it is always easier to look on the bring side of life when surrounded by positive influences, aka friends and family, I suppose that there is a connection, at least one I can see. And since both of these songs have made me feel better I will in no way question it or my nerdiness. 

So fellow blogger friends, I will leave you with this: Always look on the bright side of life, because it will help you be your very best 🙂 

Inspirational Quotes

As the semester winds down and the stresses of the “real world” begin to beckon, it is always good to have some positive things to look at even when you feel down. As before here are some of my favorites from Pinterest. Enjoy 🙂 

Happy Earth Day!!

In honor of Earth Day and our Mother Nature, here are some of my favorite photographs of nature’s beauty. Still plenty of beautiful nature to see out there and I hope to do just that someday. 

Loving My Hair: A Lesson In Self Esteem

 

Today I did something really liberating: I got rid of my hair straightener. Now you might ask how is that liberating? Sure, your hair will thank you since it won’t be subjected to high heat anymore and you have fulfilled your goal of spring cleaning but liberating? Really? Yes, strange as it sounds, really. You see, I have thick, curly hair and when I say thick and curly I mean thick and curly. I’m talking Gene Wilder-esque looks like I was electrocuted when I wake up hair. And as much as I love Mr. Wilder in Young Frankenstein having this as one of the few ways I can describe my hair did not do too much for me growing up. Sure, I love the fact that I will never go bald but having my mom practically yank my hair out of my head when she helped me brush it when I was little and almost breaking a brush or two in it (yea, that happened) was never fun.

Nor was getting teased about it at school. This is where the straightener comes in. During intermission for one of the plays I was cast in  in high school, one of my friends decided it would be fun to straighten my hair to see what it looked like. And I have to admit it looked pretty good. When I saw my parents after the show they told me that had had to do a double take to find me in that scene. However, right before that one of my “friends,” who liked the straightening asked me how I got my hair to “look like a rat’s nest” beforehand. He knew that my hair is curly like that so needless to say it hurt a lot. And since I had gotten so many compliments on my hair being straightened the first thing I did the next day was buy a straightener from the mall. If straight hair was the only way I would get compliments on my hair then darn it I was going to straighten my hair every day.

Now, this feeling that my hair was my worst feature went farther back than just the one mean comment in high school. As I have written in other posts I am a nerd and (at least now) really proud of that fact. But when you see Princess Diaries for the first time and realize that the way you look if considered ugly and uncool in the movie and the main character only really starts to get attention and be noticed after her transformation it really sticks with you. As I am not ashamed of how I looked you can see the picture for comparison. 

True story: after I “improved” my image by getting contacts and straightening my hair every day my friends told me I had “pulled a Princess Diaries” and grown into myself. Now, I will not say that I am glad I stopped hiding behind my glasses and braces and discovered my unique style and felt more confident. But my hair continued to plague me. Even when I straightened my hair the humidity would frizz it or my hair would be too thick to hold the straightness in and it would just become wavy and crinkly. So that wasn’t really working either. My mom, whose hair is quite similar to mine, would always tell me that she wished I would wear my hair curly since it looked so pretty. I wanted to believe her but 1. She is my mom and obligated to say those things and 2. I didn’t know how I would be able to since no products that claim to “tame frizz” or the like actually worked on my hair.

So what changed? Why I am now alright with wearing my hair curly and getting rid of my straightener? A couple things: 1. I stopped caring as much and 2. People began giving me compliments. When I say I stopped caring I don’t mean about how my hair looks or what people thought of it; anyone who says otherwise to either of these is probably lying. What I mean is that I decided that I was given this hair for a reason and if I was ever going to truly love myself I had to tackle my self esteem issues at the source. After I got my hair cut really short I decided that I would let it remain curly and no longer straighten my hair. Here I have to give a big shout out to Herbal Essence because I found that its Tousling Mousse, while not always taming down the frizz, allowed my curls to be defined rather than just a wavy mass. And now that I was wearing my hair down with its big curls, I discovered that I looked good in the retro style hats that are coming back in style and that the curls accentuated my favorite headbands. It seemed like this change in feeling about my hair would allow me to explore defining my own style further.

Then came the compliments. My friends would ask me how I got my hair to look like that since it looked so “perfect” or “retro” and I would happily reply that aside from the help from the mousse I described above it was all me as I naturally am. This made me really happy since until then the feature I got and still do get complimented the most on is my eyes. Now one cannot change one’s eyes, only play them up with makeup and the natural light that shines from within all of us. To get complimented on my hair, something else that in the end will always remain the same no matter how many different styles it goes through, was a welcomed change and made me see that my efforts at changing my perceptions were not for naught. 

My boyfriend has been the biggest source of these compliments and also the most important. After all, it is everyone’s nightmare that they wake up with their loved one only to have the worst case of bedhead. Since sometimes my head looks like it has bedhead even when I’ve been up for hours this was a genuine fear of mine. He had never teased me about my hair except when I would tickle him with it but since I have always been concerned about how my hair looks I wanted to know that he liked me on the days I didn’t straighten my hair; he still teases me about how I would ask him if I looked “poofy”. In fact, my boyfriend told me after I started wearing my hair curly all the time that he actually prefers that I wear my hair naturally. And in a way that made it come full circle, he refers to my curly hair as my “princess hair.” How ironic that I was subconsciously trying to look like a princess for him by straightening my hair to cover up its curliess only to already be a princess when I just let myself be myself in all my poofy glory. 

In the end, what is most important is not the compliments but realizing that I, like everyone else out there, am a princess (or prince, I’m not forgetting you guys!). And not every princess needs to have straight hair or a tiny waist or the best clothes or whatever else makes people feel inadequate. A princess just loves herself for how she is already and that is what other people love her for. I will continue to have my poofy days but at the end of the day I will still be me.

 

 

Cherry Blossoms in DC

The DC cherry blossoms always have been and always will be my favorite. In honor of the end of this year’s cherry blossom festival, here are some of my favorite photographs of them that I have taken over the years. Enjoy! 🙂 

The Power of Music

I have always loved music. Some of my fondest memories from when I was little revolve around singing in choirs, either for school plays or in my choir class. Being part of a group of like-minded music lovers and creating something beautiful with just our voices was beyond inspiring. I fully intend to get back into singing in a group once things in my life settle down a little; I really miss the camaraderie that it brought into my life. When I have moments alone, I like to blast music in my apartment and sing my heart out. I am a decent singer, but I still get nervous when I sing in front of other people; being in a choir allowed me to hang out with awesome people and do something I love in a “safe” setting. One of the many reasons that I know my boyfriend is the one is the fact that I do not feel self conscious when I sing in front of him. In fact, I sang one of the very few duets I have ever done with him at a Chinese festival. We sang a love song together and the audience loved it; considering the fact that speaking Chinese in general makes me nervous this was a double victory. I love music no matter where it originates from, even if I do not speak the language. Music has the ability to make one feel something no matter what. I certainly have had songs like that in my life.

I am not one of those people that has a song perfectly suited to every day of my life (I wish I had that much time and storage space on my iPhone) but there are artists that definitely have had a effect on me.

Like all teenagers/young adults I have had experiences that made me hate life and, on a sadder note, myself. I fully intend to do my best to ensure my children do not feel this way or at the very least they have some power anthems to fall back on. It took me a little while to discover her (I know pretty sad), but during my first couple years of undergrad I fell in love with P!nk’s no-nonsense style and her big push for self-empowerment. I love her song Conversations With My 13 Year Old Self because those are conversations that I wish I could have had with a future, more confident me back then. Then I would’ve known that not dating in high school didn’t mean that I would be alone now or that my nerdiness was never anything to be ashamed of. Of her more recent songs, F$#king Perfect is my all time favorite ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl0qf1pgjEs ). I wish I had had this song during my angsty years to remind me that everything would be alright in the end and to not put my own self down since in the end we are our own worst enemies. You can bet that this will be blasted in the mornings in my household (although probably the cleaned up version, no need to get my kids swearing early).

When it comes to my family, I am the closest to my Dad. And we got a way to become even closer through the band Lifehouse, which I heard by chance on the radio and since then have bought all their albums; they are the only band that I have done this with. Most important, is that our mutual love for this band has given my Dad and I the opportunity to go on father-daughter road trips to see new parts of the country and hear our favorite band. All told, we have seen Lifehouse 5 times, twice in Philly, once in DC, once in Baltimore, MD and once in Pittsburg; at one of the Philly concerts we also got to see Daughtry, whom Lifehouse was front lining for. The pittsburg one was especially memorable since neither of us had been to that amazing city before so we got to see some sights before going to the concert (though as a Ravens fan it was scary to be deep in Steeler territory). The song that started it all for us was Lifehouse’s You and Me ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac3HkriqdGQ) and I fully intend to play this for my father-daughter dance at my wedding some day. To me, no other song means so much to my Dad and I; I know I for one will be crying throughout it.

Like most couples, Weifang and I have “our song.” It wasn’t playing on the radio or our first date or anything like that but Rascal Flatts’ Broken Road ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-vZlrBYLSU) , for me at least, accurately describes how I felt once we started dating. I had to overcome a lot of personal self-doubt and lack of self-worth before I started dating Weifang; yes, I am a big subscriber to loving yourself first before anyone else can. And I certainly had some bumps in the love department beforehand, where I fell for a couple guys who were not the best for me. So this song really speaks to me since for me being with Weifang is like coming home and this song speaks of a long winding journey that had some twists and turns but ultimately puts you where you need to be. Of course, now whenever I hear romantic or happy songs I think of Weifang so I like to think that we have many “our songs,” including the Chinese song we sung together. Broken Road started it all, but like our relationship things just keep evolving and getting better so it only makes sense that we have what I like to call “our playlist.”

A song that is on that playlist and I would say describes my life right now is Pharrell’s Happy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM) . This is probably one of the few songs that I don’t mind being played every few minutes on the radio. It is so happy and peppy and everything a good song should be that I can’t help but be happy when I hear it. And even though some days I am a little down I do my best to not let it bother me because, like the song says I have so much to be happy for. Come what may, I will be happy and dance like a goofy person whenever this song comes on. To me, that is the best way to live.