What if...

It snowed again.
Trees were blue.
It rained cats and dogs.
We couldn't see colors.
Everyone looked the same.
We could fly.
Unicorns were real.
Narwhals were in warm waters.
Our pets could talk.
We got married younger.
There was no such thing as school.
No one had cell phones.
Everyone liked to read.
Clouds were actually soft and you could jump on them.
We lived in outerspace.
We lived in the ocean.
We lived in the trees.
Our dreams at night came true.

What if we lived in the trees? We could all live in tree houses and sleep in hammocks way up in the trees on warm summer nights. We could build tree villages with bridges connecting them. I don't know how we would get our pets up there but maybe there could be some sort of elevator inside the tree trunk, that way the elderly, infants, and animals could get up. This would be a difficult life for people who are afraid of heights, but I guess that fear wouldn't exist because if we all started out in the trees, no one would know any different. We would all basically live like Trazan and Jane. Maybe we would have monkey friends. I'm sure we would have lot of birds and squirrels to keep us company. Of course we could still go down and adventure on the ground and swim in waters. Eventually cars and grocery stores would be built so people could get from one tree village to another and go to the grocery store. Maybe we just wouldn't have stoves or ovens because that seems like it'd be a fire hazard. Maybe our kitchens could be inside the trees too and somehow made to be safe for cooking in. I'm sure with our technology we could figure that out. You know what trees would be perfect to live in? The Red Woods in Canada. They are so big that we could make our homes in the trunks rather than tree houses on the branches. Maybe there would be different kinds of villages, ones inside the trees and ones on the branches. I wonder if the whole world could live in the trees. Probably not because a lot of places don't have trees in their terrain. So the idea I'd like to submit to the world is maybe not necessarily what if we all lived in tree houses, but what if we didn't live in houses and neighborhoods like we do now. We could live in trees, underground, underwater, or even in space.

What if our dreams at night came true? We all have those incredible and inspiring dreams that we wish were reality when we wake up from them. Imagine if when we woke up, our world was changed to that dream. And each time we dream, our reality shifts to the time and place of the dream. Nightmares would be the exception. They would not be reality. I'm making that up because I for one, do not want to experience any of my nightmares over again, much less live in one. However, I've had some really amazing dreams that I'd re-live in a heartbeat. So what if we still had reality, but we could teleport into our dreams after we've had them and live them out for a little while until we got our fill or wanted to return to reality. Hopefully we'd never lose sight of our dreams and reality by switching in and out of them. Or what if the good dreams we had just came true. That dream you had about getting that promotion and moving to Hawaii or maybe it was a dream about being pregnant and finally having a baby. One dream of mine for example that I wish had come true was a dream where I got a job traveling the world and doing photography. Another dream I had recently was that I got a horse. If either of those things happened, I'd be ecstatic.

What if everyone looked the same? Instead of being judged by our looks, people would be judged for who they are. People wouldn't waste so much time on their hair, their bodies, or their wardrobes. we wouldn't be able to look down on people for their size, weight, or style. Our world would be much less materialistic. We would get to know people beyond the surface and have no reason not to like them or judge them from afar. Society today is so caught up in looks that it blows my mind. I think a lot of us have become numb to this and even contributed to it. I wish we weren't immune to the way we treat people and that we made more of an effort to accept those who don't fit in according to society's standards. You might be the cool kid, but what if you weren't? We all know what it feels like to be an outcast in one way or another and why would we ever wish that upon someone else? I feel like if we were all the same, we would accept people for who they are and the world would be a much more loving, compassionate, and accepting place.

Fear

Fear. This makes me think of phobias and we talked about all different kinds of phobias in health the other day. Some of them were really silly like fear of gravity and fear of looking up. Those may seem silly, but everyone has phobias. I'm terrified of sharks, but I think they're the coolest things ever. I'm that person that will make sure there's other people surrounding me in the water so I'm the least likely to get eaten. I'm also the kid that sits at home for a week every summer in from of her TV and watches Shark Week by herself. Just thinking about getting in a cage with them freaks me out and I don't think I could ever do it, but it blows my mind when I watch other people do it on TV. I've had enough scary moments with sharks outside of the cage. One time we were snorkeling and a bull shark swam about ten feet underneath me and started circling. I froze and stopped breathing. While I was in fear of my life, I couldn't help thinking about how beautiful the shark was. It was pretty small and realistically, it probably wasn't going to hurt me. I always think the worst when I step into the ocean though. I always assume that I'm going to get eaten by a shark. Every time. The entire time I'm in the water that's in the back of my head playing over and over. My brain has stopped working now and I don't know what else I was going to say. Most likely another one of my shark stories, but the more I think about them, the sillier they seem. Explaining something that was terrifying for one person might not be terrifying to another person. I'm going to go ahead and tell another story though. One time my family was swimming and we hit a sand bar so we were playing catch and enjoying the sunshine. There were some noodle waves, but no big waves or anything. I call waves that don't break "noodle waves". But anywho, there was some seaweed and stuff in the noodle waves and then all of the sudden there was a shadow of a big fish. I knew instantly that it was a shark. My dad told me not to move, but knowing I was the closest to it and most likely to get eaten first, I ran (as fast as I could in water about chest high)and hid behind my dad. The shark headed straight for us and then apparently it decided we weren't worth his time because he turned back around and kept going down the horizon. 
...loopdeeedooo...
Finding beauty amidst fear. I wonder if that's what people feel like when they're about to die. They're scared, but maybe they're reflecting on some of the  beauties they experienced throughout life. I don't really want to talk about death or scary things anymore though. Maybe something a little bit happier. I would discuss the sunshine, but it's freezing cold and the sun is hiding from us today. Missouri weather is bipolar. I thought Georgia's weather was bad and then I moved here. For example, on Sunday it was so nice outside. Breathtakingly nice. I got off work and picked up my dog. We drove to the park with the windows down and sunglasses on. It was a perfect day. I guess the rest of Missouri thought so too because the park was full of people walking their dogs and also of people walking their children. My dog met lots of other dogs and I enjoyed people watching. We played frisbee and then set up my hammock and rested in the last bit of sunshine before the wind started up and the weather dropped. Well, the next day it was negative degrees when I woke up and it was like breathing in ice. It was terrible. And the last couple of days have been like that too. In Georgia it's really cold right now too. I'm happy for all my friends though because they're getting to enjoy some snow days. Some of them got stuck in their cars for up to 8 hours yesterday and others had to spend the night at school. That's pretty scary. There's also some humor to be found in those scary moments because Georgians are not used to this weather so they start doing crazing things like pour buckets of water on their driveways to create a sledding hill made of ice and others raid the grocery stores like the apocalypse has come. I remember one year when it was only snowing a tiny bit. They closed the schools for a week and Walmart was out of water and canned food. My family, who moved to Georgia form Colorado, thought this was hysterical. So yeah, it's been pretty cold here and because I had a taste spring the other day, I am so ready for this cold to end. 
...loopdeedoooagain...
Colorado. Last hear I visited my homestate and my sister, nieces, and I decided to go camping in the mountains. Now, I've talked about camping a little bit before, but this was legitimate camping. That means, no bathrooms, no restaurants nearby, and no cell signals. We were in the Rockies. My nieces had never been camping before and I had never been camping in the Rockies and my sister had never been either. So it was a new experience for all of us. Again, like my other camping story, we didn't have and men with us. We started out our trip driving about 4 hours into the mountains. We stopped in this little town that was about 2 hours away from camp and ate dinner before heading onto the gravel road and up into the trees. By the time we got to the gravel road, it was getting dark. So we were driving into the dark and to a place we've never been before on a road that has no destination besides the mountains. There was literally no way to figure out where you were, you just kept going until you decided you liked a spot and wanted to set up camp there. So we found our spot and set up the tent with the use of the headlights. We crawl into our sleeping bags and start settling the girls down. They fall asleep and I'm drifting off when my sister wakes me and asks me if I hear anything strange. Sure enough, I heard footsteps. We started hyperventilating. What were we going to do?! What if they were escape convicts or what if it was a bear on the prowl?! We had no weapons with us and no way to hide. All we could do was sit and wait. So we did and the noises kept getting closer. Then we saw lights. That knocked a bear out of the options. So obviously it was an escape convict. Now we really started getting scared. So we devised a plan. My sister was going to go start the car and see if she saw anything and I was going to grab the girls and jump in and we were going to get out of there. She got out of the tent to look and jumped right back in because the lights got closer. What if they got to us before we could get to the car? So paralyzed by fear, we stayed in the tent. The noises died down a little and the lights dimmed. We woke up in the morning and went on a walk. Our convict was an old man that decided to go camping at two in the morning.  

Awkward

I work at a coffee shop. One night we were really busy and my co-workers and I were getting a little stressed out. This one Asian kid came up to the register to order and he bought a fancy pour over set to hand brew his coffee with. I'm not racist or anything, I just remember that he was Asian. The total was $57.00 if I remember correctly. We told him the total and he handed a $5 to My co-worker, Alexis. She took it waited expectantly for more bills to be handed to her. She waited...and waited. Then she repeated the total to him and he just stared at her. He stared...and stared. She stared back and I stared at them both. I'm pretty sure they held eachother's stares for 2 minutes. Then once again, she repeated the total to him. He kept on staring. I couldn't handle it anymore. I bent over and pretended to get something out of the drawer underneath the register. I was attempting to regain control of my self before I blew up and started cracking up. Well, I couldn't keep it in and I started laughing so hard I was crying. Alexis gave me a look that said, "Shut up", but I couldn't do it. So I walked into the back and kept laughing. After I managed to stop and breathe, I walked back out to make sure she didn't need any help with the next orders. The Asian kid was still standing there and he was still staring. She looked at me, eyes pleading for help and so I walked over to support her while she explained to him that he was about $52 away from the total. He finally stopped staring and said, "I know. I have a credit card." I could tell Alexis was refraining from yelling, "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT TEN MINUTES AGO!?" at him. We took the card and finished the transaction and he walked away. We started cracking up again and the people in line were all laughing too. We weren't being mean to him or anything, we were just laughing at the awkwardness and lack of communication.

Camping

I love camping. I love being outside and exploring. There is nothing like camping. Nothing compares to sleeping under the stars, the lingering smell of a good fire, and the great outdoors. I am grateful that my parents started taking me camping when I was really little because it was something that was a huge part of my childhood. There was one time where my mom and one of her girlfriends decided to go on a camping trip in the water fall region of North Carolina. The first thing we did was set up camp, which took a lot longer than it should have. Probably because our moms didn't know how to set up the tents without our dads. Then we decided to go on a hike and enjoy the daylight. I remember starting a hike that was supposed to be two miles and we were excited about it because we would still have time to collect kindling before it got dark afterward. Well, 4 hours into the hike we starting thinking that maybe, just maybe it wasn't actually two miles like we originally thought. We ran out of snacks and water and started to worry, but we kept walking. So I guess we weren't that worried. Two hours later we reached a road that intersected with the trail. It was starting to get dark. By now my friends and I are done making the most of it and our mothers have become the definition of hysterical. Suddenly we heard a car coming and sure enough, a lil jeep comes speeding by. Our mothers wave the car full of hippies down and my friend's mom jumps in with them to go get our car. So we wave goodbye at her and read the writing on the back of the jeep that says, "headed to hell". Don't worry, she came back a while later and rescued us. Turns out that hike was 23 miles long. Needless to say, we didn't have time to collect kindling before bed that night.

Reflection

I find it extremely difficult to complete self-evaluations. I usually have to do them many times before I feel the least bit satisfied with the result. I guess I do not like to be categorized or stereotyped. Maybe I just do not like to limit myself. What makes it so difficult, is how hard it is for me to feel like I'm answering honestly by not perceiving myself as who I want to be compared to people I admire or who I think I should be based on what my mother has told me. After trying at least four times, I ended up with a result that I'm not necessarily comfortable with, but that I do not strongly oppose. That is life though, isn't it? There are always things to learn and ways we change that bring growth, which moves us along. We are like wildflowers. We start out bright and hopeful and then the winds come; we are uprooted and tossed into the air until eventually, our petals spread out and plant themselves in new places where they can grow furthermore.

My results show that I am an INFJ. I understand those results only show that I am most likely to fall in the categories INFJ covers and I agree with almost everything in the description. I would like to point out that while they may describe most of my goals and personality, those letters do not define me. I want to focus on the letter “I” meaning, “Introvert”. For example, I used to be a complete introvert. I was the kid that spent my free-time with my nose in a book, I was the little girl that chose to watch the other kids play games instead of joining in, and I was the sibling that didn't voice her opinions. However, I had a seed that was waiting to be planted for growth. I might have appeared to be an introvert, but I never wanted to be one. I always wanted to be the kid that was unafraid to shine. Maybe my problem was never that I started out as an introvert, but that I started out uncertain of myself. I remember one time where I was forced out of my comfort zone in drama class. I was scared out of my mind to get up in front of everyone and participate in the improv exercise, but I loved the thrill of it and the pride I felt when I sat back down. Like a shy, little turtle that cautiously stretches it's neck out of it's shell for the first time, once I got a taste of light I didn't want to go back into hiding. Slowly, but surely I became more confidant. I believe that is how growing feels and I believe that people are never done learning new things about themselves and they should explore growth even if it seems impossible.

The test was spot-on with almost all things regarding school. I love reading and writing and I love learning about those two things. That is something I have recently re-discovered. One thing the results say is that “In the writing process, the INFJ will often...need to organize their writing to allow time for thinking and put a lot of thought into writing in order to impact their reader” and I feel so strongly about both of those things that it makes me a little emotional. I believe that writing makes a person look into their soul. Seeing the academic strengths an INFJ has is encouraging and makes me want to accept challenges and excel. Just like a person can experience new things that may change how they perceive themselves and chose to grow, writing is full of learning and growing and it is one of the most exciting and beautiful things available for a human being to experience.

Lost and Found

Today, a lil Lincon Log was found. We'll call him Abe. Because of Abraham Lincon of course. Seeing Abe reminds me of my childhood and all my mind is flooded with fond memories. My brother and I used to build castles and cabins with hundreds of Abes. I also am reminded of how painful it was to step on an Abe. I wonder how this Abe found our classroom. Mrs.A of course helped him get here because she found him on the floor. But I wonder how he got to the floor. Maybe he fell out of someone's backpack and they have no idea he's missing. Maybe a young mom brought her kid to school today and the little guy threw a fit and dropped Abe. I don't know. All I know is Abe is probably wondering where he is and what is so special about him that 17 college students are writing about him. I wonder if he has experienced a lot of adventures. If he's participated in many Robin Hood or Lord of the Rings reenactments. I wonder if he misses his owner or if he's enjoying his break and will adjust nicely to the classroom setting. I think we should look around the school for more Abes. What if the same person who dropped him or misplaced him also left behind some of his friends. Maybe we can find them and build something. Or maybe there will be so many of them that it'll be like following a bread crumb trail and we'll end up face to face with the person that is dropping their beloved Abes. And who knows, maybe we'll find out that he knew he was dropping them all along and he wanted to send us on an adventure. 

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Test post.