College: Why I chose not to go.

Ok. So I need to get this off my chest before it floats off into oblivion.


College. I have not attended it nor will I ever until there is something that my heart is so dead set on, the only way to get to that position is through college. I get a lot of judging eyes especially from older folk when I say I have not attended and the same thing always wants to come out when I am asked the question "why?".

No one knows what they want to do for the REST of their lives at the age of 16/17 ((except maybe a very smalllllll amount of people)). I felt it to be pointless to go to school only to switch my major a million times because I kept changing my mind on what to do just because everyone else around me was going? I decided to get a job and work to save money instead. I didn't have the luxury of parents who paid for me to have a full ride so I'd have to work through college to pay for it myself. I could not receive any special scholarships as I did not have any sufficient "super" skills that met the eyes of the government aid, sponsers, etc. I am a white, female so any ethnic endorsements were out of the question. So? Instead of going into school to get myself into thousands of dollars of debt to obtain a degree for a job I didn't really want to do but would be forced into it to pay everything off, I decided to take a couple years off, take adult life head on, and get an early start to being alive.

Through this course of action I have discovered photography! A HUGE passion that I have for it too. And that passion has led me to get my own camera, teach myself how to use it, observe other photographers and their techniques through the glorious thing we call Internet, and develop my own skills. I have started my own business that I have been running on the side. Worked a few odd jobs here and there to pay the necessary bills of living independently. Have a car that I bought brand new that is now nearly paid off ((yess!!!!)) and will be able to have the luxury here soon to be my own individual, travel, and get to know myself without being a slave to anything. Not to mention I got married to the most amazing man alive.

So, the point being is, are you living life based on what YOU truly want? Or what your parents want? What society expects out of you? What your friends are doing? You need to make yourself sit down and really ask yourself this question. By all means, if you are happy being a slave to something you are not passionate about, then go for it! But don't get yourself into something unless you are 100% for it! Think about all consequences before you take action and know when its time to just take a leap and build your wings on the way down when you come to a fork in the road.

There is never a wrong decision if there was a lesson to be learned. Nothing to regret. Nothing to hold you back but yourself. Everything you have been through to this point in time determines what you are now. Be proud of that! And make the conscious decision to ask why. Always.

And never, never ever ever EVER be afraid to do things a little differently.

-Brooke

Learn to Live

Life at times throws you a large curve ball.

Ones that smack you in the face and hurt for a few days.

What do you do in these situations when you are tossed into a puzzle you cannot piece together? What do you do when the time and the pieces you are given don't even match together? I'm not one to pick up a leave from anything until I have figured it out and fixed it. But is it possible that there are some things in life you just cannot be this way with? Maybe this is the answer to all my problems.

I try to make life happier for those I interact with. I live to make people smile and feel good about themselves. If I made at least one person do this in a day, I can sleep happily. I've found it's my main purpose but as with everything in life there is a balance and sometimes I cannot do anything. It is still up to that person to decide whether they will be happy with life or not with what they are given. 

Can I learn to differentiate the ones I can fix and the ones I can't? Can I learn to walk away when I can't fix it and leave it there in the past? Can I let go of my stubbornness and let people come to me when they need me? I suppose I will not be able to live happily myself if I take the burden of others onto myself. Then, that just defeats the purpose of everything I try to do.

Happiness can be just as contagious as sadness. But there is less of it in this world so it's harder to project onto people that have no meaning of it in their lives. The ones that want it will not be so hard to reach.

So, that is when I should learn to just walk away.

The Adventure of Life

I watched the new movie called The Vow yesterday and in the beginning one of the main characters explained a theory they have on life that I agree with 100%.

Our life is made up of moments. Little moments that add up together that can ultimately change the course of our life as we know it. Moments we don't realize at the time that will be such a change in our history until we can look back on it later. We all have moments where we crash and burn. Where we fall hard, break new bones, and experience a new low of failure we never previously thought possible. We all have moments where the people we know in our lives make decisions that effect your own in ways you can't control. And we all have these. All these good, bad, happy, sad, hard, life altering experiences ultimately makes us all who we are in that moment in time

What is beautiful to me, is that it is constantly being added to. Like a never-ending scrapbook of pure awesomeness that is all you. And you are its' creator. Being aware of all you've been through and being proud of it should be something all of us experience. Because no one else on Earth has experienced life as you have. That's what makes you unique. And that's what sets you apart to be all that you want and can be. Live with no regrets. Be proud of the pain you've endured for it has made your soul stronger. Be excited for the happiness you've experienced and you'll encounter more through your journey of life.


When you feel defeated, confused, stuck at a fork in the road, change your perspective. Step out of your shoes and live in someone else's and appreciate all that life has done to you. Forgive. Remember. Embrace all of the good, the bad, and the ugly that makes you, you. After all, life as you know it now could end and you may wake up tomorrow in a worse situation than you woke up dealing with.
 

 

"You'll be surprised to know how far you can go from the point where you thought was the end."

 

Winter Woods

Through the cold winter air, I can feel you standing there. With a long, sturdy shudder there is no other quite like you. And in this long journey of life we come at a cross roads where our paths meet and will ultimately end but how long does it go? There never are simple choices when it comes to the game of hearts and there never is a heart that ever breaks even.

So we sit and wait to see where this goes on life's longest path where no one knows.