A couple weeks ago, I was jammin’ in the car with Sophie at a stoplight. One thing you need to know about Sophie in order to catch what I’m throwing at you is that Soph likes to jam in the car with the volume way up. Whenever Soph is driving, there is a lot of dancing in the car (car dancing is my favorite sport ;). And it can look wierd to other people when the windows are up and they can’t hear the music. People might think we are crazy (and we kinda are), but because they can’t hear like we can, it is confusing to them.
I have a bunch of friends that don’t know much about what I believe, so when I do things and make decisions based on my faith in the gospel, they don’t understand. There was a kid in one of my classes last year that knew I was a member of the church and he would always ask me questions about my faith and the church and he was always really respectful about it. When he learned about how we went to church for three hours instead of one on Sundays and that we fasted and gave tithes once a month, he was confused as to why people were willing to do such things. I did my best to explain that we do these things because we want it to become closer to our Savior and our Heavenly Father. He proceeded to ask what we got out of it, so I explained to him that we make these small sacrifices because in return, we get blessings from Heavenly Father. After talking to him for a couple more minutes, I could see that he wasn’t exactly getting it. So I explained that I have received so many blessings for going to church and paying tithing. He asked me if I thought that the blessings I received were worth the things I did for God. I responded that they were and told him that the blessings well outweighed the sacrifices I make. Just as people don’t understand why we dance when they can’t hear our music, they don’t understand why we keep the commandments and make sacrifices for our faith because they haven’t felt the spirit and recieved the blessings that we have. But the best part about it is that we can help teach them and we will be able to help them come to be familiar with feeling the spirit. In the beginning, the dance may be a little awkward, but as we become familiar with the teachings of the gospel, it will become second nature. Last year in seminary, we had a girl start coming that wasn’t yet a member of the church. You could tell that in the beginning she was a little uncomfortable, but as she learned to recognize the spirit, she grew to know the spirit so well. I can tell you that some of the coolest experiences have happened when I am around people who are learning about the gospel. A couple years ago I got to watch one of my friends start coming to church. It was really cool to watch as she learned more about the gospel. I’ll never forget when I got to be in the room when she said her very first prayer. You could tell it was a little awkward for her to be talking to Heavenly Father for the first time in front of a bunch of people. But He doesn’t care if it’s awkward, Heavenly Father is always happy when you choose to talk to him. I felt so blessed to be there and get to see this person change and grow so much. I’m so grateful for all of the opportunities I’ve had to share testimony with people. I know that the more you share your testimony, not only does it help other people’s grow, it helps yours grow too. If you listen to the spirit, you will know what to say to others. Remember they may feel awkward at first, but eventually it will become second nature. You just have to go for it!
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The world has drastically distorted people’s perception of art. So much so that they've started started to hire critics to tell people how to feel about pieces of art that are meant to make YOU feel something. I think we have all become critics to our own work. We take whatever we create and we scrutinize it from head to toe. When I make something, I always look it over after I’ve finished and start to see all the little imperfections in my work. But I don’t think it needs to be that way. If you make something and you put hard work into it, you should feel a sense of accomplishment and it shouldn't matter what anyone else says about it. It is really important to remember that your best is enough. I think part of the reason why I used to not share my art is because I was so worried about what people would think and say about it. Now it doesn't matter to me whether someone likes my work or not. I believe that your art is mainly outlet for you and is not just another platform for people to judge about you. Whenever I make something, I make sure that I am doing it to fulfill my creative drive and not for superficial reasons. Along with this, I think one of the many reasons why I am not fond of our education is the art programs. I dropped out of my art class last year because I was frustrated with the way it was structured. You see, they have us take these art classes in school and they claim that it will help us grow artistically and explore possibilities that we can move forward in, but then they give us restrictive parameters and expect us to conform to how they want to see our art. Not only that, but once we’ve created something to the best of our ability, they slap a grade on our art. I’m pretty sure Picasso and Warhol are looking down on school art programs this very second and grimacing. And though I passed the first semester with flying colors, I dropped the class for the second because I hated(I know it’s a strong word but it is quite fitting here) that someone felt that they could boil works of another person down to a single letter on a report card. Your creative outlet should be mainly for you and not based on popular opinion. I think a lot of people feel as though their art is not valid unless it fits into an acknowledged category. This isn’t what art is all about. In the Merriam Webster dictionary, it defines art as “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination in the production of aesthetic objects”. It isn’t about impressing others or getting hundreds of people to see it. I really think it comes down to making something that satisfies our appetite to create. The next thing I have always given a lot of thought is whether or not I should share my art with people. Now I don't think deciding whether to do so is such a big deal. Share it, don't share it. That's up to you. But it is important to remember that the worth of your art doesn’t boil down to a number of likes or views. The same applies to whether you consider yourself an artist or not. The way I see it, everyone is an artist. We all have that deep drive to create and it isn't always related to conventional art. There are a million different forms of art and not all of them come out to be something you can hang on a wall. Art can be appreciated in so many different forms. Playing instruments and making music is a form of art. Dancing is an art. Writing is an art. Filming and photography is an art. Lighting is an art. Anything that allows someone to take their passion and create something with it is considered a form of art. I think it is important to remember that we have this ability to create because Heavenly Father has blessed us with those gifts. I believe that when someone recognises a God-given skill, they shouldn’t hide it. I remember once hearing that by not sharing a person’s art that person could be being selfish of their gifts. I am not saying that you should share your art even if you don’t want to. You get to decide whether to share your work or not.
Today I want to talk about something that I haven’t talked about much in a long time. A little over a year ago, I developed a bit of anxiety and had no idea what to do about it. I had tried a bunch of different things to try to get rid of it, but nothing seemed to work. But as of today, I have not had a single panic attack since the second week of September. I know to someone that doesn’t have anxiety, this may not seem like that big of a deal, but to me it is. I have since learned a couple ways to calm myself down when I start to get a little anxious, so I figured I’d share a couple of my methods with you.
I’ll start with the method that I use the most: breathing. I know it may sound a little obvious but the best thing to do is take a couple deep breaths. I remember when people used to tell me this and I would actually get a little annoyed with them because I didn’t think it could actually work. It turns out that it does and I didn’t really understand how until I was reading a book about anxiety one day. When I used to have these panic attacks part of the reason was that I felt like I wasn’t getting enough air in my lungs. The reason why I felt this way was actually because when you take shallow breaths, too much stale air gets trapped in your lungs, as a result, there is no room for fresh air. So, what I have found most effective is to take a deep breath and exhale for a longer time than you normally would. This helps push out not only the fresh air in your lungs, but the stale air too. Another thing I feel when I used to have these panic attacks was that everything was trapped in my mind and that I would never be able to stop thinking about whatever I was worried about. At this point, I would give myself a couple of options: write it down, play piano or get artsy. When I would get to feeling panicky, I wouldn’t be able to talk about things very clearly, so I found other ways to express myself. One of the things that calms me down the best is to marble paper. This may sound a little weird, but my favorite method to marble paper is to use shaving cream and food coloring. Being able to feel the shaving cream with my hands really calms me down for some reason. I think one of the best ways to make me feel calmer is to do something that I don’t have to really think about. For me, I instantly think of my piano. I have played the piano for the majority of my life, so when I sit down at my piano, I don’t even have to think, I just play. Another thing that I do when I get panicky is to just pray about whatever it is I am worried about. Praying about it helps me remember that Heavenly Father is protecting me and He will help me through anything I struggle with. One thing I try to do is work on ways to prevent my anxiety. There are a couple ways I do this. When I’m feeling anxious, I often feel trapped, in order to avoid this, I don't wear shirts with tighter necks. It has also helped to make healthy choices, like exercising regularly, limiting my sugar intake, drinking lots of water and getting a good night’s sleep. I think one of the most important things to do when you have anxiety is to know what your triggers are and learn how not to worry about them so much. One thing that I always used to get me really nervous was talking in front of a group of people. Now, I can stand up in front of a class and give a presentation without a hitch. Just remember that when you’re talking in front of a large group of people, half the people probably aren’t even listening and the other half are paying attention to the stuff you’re saying, not you. I am so blessed to have some pretty amazing friends that know about my anxiety and were always willing to help. It’s really important in the beginning to have something or someone that helps you calm down because sometimes when you are panicky, it’s hard to think straight, so having a homie there to help you realize that whatever it is you’re worried about isn’t the end of the world is really helpful. Now, I’m not a doctor or mental health professional, these are just things that have worked for me. If you are really struggling with something like this I highly suggest you tell a professional. Even If you don’t have anxiety, these methods work for when you’re just nervous. If you are feeling like you just can’t overcome whatever it is you may be experiencing, just remember that Heavenly Father never gives us anything we can’t handle. First of all I’d like to congratulate you. You’ve made it, it’s finally 2017! The beginning of the new year has always been very exciting to me. I think it’s mostly because I like new beginnings. I love starting fresh. I like setting goals for myself and seeing what I can actually accomplish. But right now, I’d like to give some advice for the coming year.
Before I give you that advice I was talking about, I want to tell you something that I’ve benefitted from when I was reviewing 2016. As I was thinking about the past year, I was so caught up in the negative things could have been different. But I learned that when you begin to feel like things should have been better this year, remember the mountains and valleys that got you here. They were not accidents and those moments were not in vain. You are not the same, you’ve grown and are still growing no matter how old you are. Remember that you are wrapped in endless, boundless grace. And things will get better. Heavenly Father knew you could handle whatever trials you experienced and both He and the Savior will always be there, rooting for you. Okay now on to the advice...First, you don’t have to have it all figured out to go forward. I really like to have things well planned out before I go anywhere or do anything. But things don’t have to be completely planned in order for you to take the first step in a new direction. I had always planned on going to college close to home, but this year, I felt that I needed to apply for a college that was out of state. At first, I really didn’t want to, but I really felt that I still needed to at least apply. I don’t know if I got in yet and have no idea what I’m going to do if I get in. But I know that if I trust in my Heavenly Father, he will direct my paths. My next piece of advice for you is to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Even if it’s only something small. Last week, my family went to a wedding in Arizona. It was really fun, it was for one of our friends. Well the brother of this guy is around my age and I’ve known him since we were both little. Anyway this kid asked me to dance, actually it was more like he told me he wanted to dance with me and pulled me to the dance floor. I had no idea what to do because it wasn’t a slow song and it wasn't a song you could really dance to either. But I went with him anyways. The next thing I know he’s in front of me and he starts line dancing! I felt so self conscience, as we were the only to people on the dance floor. But then I thought to myself, when am I going to get the chance to line dance with this kid ever again. And so we line danced the heck out of that song and it was the most fun I had had in awhile. You never know how much fun you’re going to have unless you leave your comfort zone. Another piece of advice I’d like to bestow upon you is to pray often. Even if whatever it is that you feel you need to pray about isn’t huge. Heavenly Father wants you to communicate with him because it brings you closer to Him. I kind of struggled with praying for a little while this past year and I can tell you that it is absolutely horrible to lose communication with Heavenly Father. I know that the closer you are to Him, your trials will never feel unconquerable. If there was any piece of advice I could give someone, it would be to always use loving words. Even when you’re upset with someone. Because later, we won’t remember what the fight was about, but we will remember the words we used. The use of harsh, spiteful words will hurt more than anything physical. After some time, a bruise will heal, but we tend to remember words for a long time following the disagreement.
It is easy to resort to being mean when you have a big disagreement with someone. It is up to us whether we are going to resort to hurting others’ feelings to get our way. Most of the time, it is not worth it to damage a relationship because you are frustrated about something. I can tell you by experience that it is not worth it to put someone else down to lift yourself up. We should always try to use words that uplift others. When I was little, my mom used to tell us, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all” (if you don’t know what this is from, go watch a bunch of old Disney movies please). This phrase has been at least a million times in my house because it’s such a good rule to have for yourself. I guarantee you that someone is looking up to you and you never really know who is. When you use words to hurt people, those who look up to you are going to think it’s okay to do the same. I have two sisters; an older sister and a younger sister. From this, I have learned that younger kids often want to be just like the older person. This means that the older sibling has the power to lead the younger siblings in either good or bad directions. I know I would never want my little sister to go in the wrong direction. If I use words that hurt others, she may start doing the same. I know I don’t want people to not hang out with her because she uses words that hurt others. To prevent this, I really have to watch myself. I must think about the impact my words will have on others before I actually say them. Just as we can use words to impact others negatively, we can also use words to affect others positively. I think one of the best ways to brighten someone’s spirits is to compliment them. I don’t mean just telling someone you like their shoes. I mean give someone a genuine compliment. It’s really cool how your words can make someone else happy. You never know who’s listening to you and if you use words to uplift it will benefit you and everyone around you. Most of the time, it is not hard to use your words positively, but we must be cautious when we are frustrated or angry. In a moment of anger it is easy to forget to try to look at others through the eyes of our Heavenly Father. People can say things they don’t really mean simply because they are angry and do not have the self control to not say those hurtful things. If we learn to control our words and not use them to hurt others, we can develop better relationships with everyone around us. |
My name is Ellie. I am a sophomore at BYU Idaho. I am excited to live life and to share a small piece of it with you!
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