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i’ve been reflecting a lot on my groups of friends i have had over the years.
i realize how many people i know / have known through the years… and i’m floored. yet it kinda makes me sad to think of all the people that i haven’t talked to in a long while. and actually i have just recently been going through another one of those “friend shift” periods in my life… not by my choice.. but it’s just how life goes. i’m realizing more and more that i can’t keep my “old” friends just as they ‘were’… and i have to let go and let both sides grow as God intends them to.
see… the funny thing about these recent thoughts of ‘friend-circles’ has come up in really random ways in my life lately. for example, our latest gig with the jazz quartet…. i was SUPER excited about, and told as many of my friends as i could. yet all my friends that said they would ‘try to make it’… never showed. and actually, only two of the 40+ people that i invited came to the show. but despite the fact that virtually none of my friends were there, the place was FILLED with familiar faces.. and i was surrounded by a great number of ‘new-circle-of-friends’ type people. it was awesome to see so many people come to hear US! i think we have a good chance of getting another gig at the mosaic in the future. i really hope so, since i had such a great time playing there. 
now i don’t want this blog to sound like “oh.. poor me.. my friends don’t come to hear me play..blah blah”… because that’s not what i feel at all. i mean.. i AM sad that i don’t see / hang out with / talk to my ‘old’ friends as much. but i really am blessed with some great friends, and have ALWAYS been blessed with great friends. just because the ‘seasons’ of my ‘close friends’ changes, it’s still a blessing to have had the opportunity to cross paths with so many wonderful people throughout my life.
and this fact makes me think about how many people in this world WILL i run into throughout my days? i’ve already met SO many people… and i’m only 27 years old. it reminds me again and again to never ‘burn bridges’.. since i never know if i will run into certain people again in my life. hey.. they might be my boss someday…. or worse yet… be preparing my food 
this is where i don’t understand how people can be rude to people they don’t know. i mean.. the other day.. i was sitting in the drive through at wendy’s.. just to get a soda and a little snack… and the drive through lady just looked like she was having the worse night. i watched as the guy in front of me angrily pulled out of the drive through line, squealing his tires because there was a couple minute wait…. and seeing her having ‘technical problems’ with the cash register, so the manager had to come over and put some sort of code in the machine to get it to work… and all these things just happening in the 3 or so minutes that i was there. i’m sure she interacted with some pretty crabby customers throughout the night. yet through all of this stuff, i just smiled as she gave me my food and i told her to ‘try to have a good night.’ and for the first time in those minutes, i saw a smile emerge from out of nowhere.
seriously people. if a smile is all it takes to get another person to smile…. why don’t we do that more often?
wouldn’t life be easier if we would just be nice to people that we meet in our lives? wouldn’t we all be healthier for doing so?
ok. i’ll get off my soap box now… i never know exactly where i am going with these blogs… but that’s just how my brain works. have a great weekend everyone. and SMILE and a stranger… or two… or fifteen….
who does this?
so i’m sitting in a marquette university classroom waiting for a class to start
i know what you are thinking… “i thought she was done with college” and “hey.. didn’t she go to uwm for college?” yea. both of those are true. but i’m ‘sitting in’ for a class taught by the one and only michele korb. i get to see first hand the people she mentions… put a face to those papers that i see her grading…. and see micki in “her element.”
i’m excited to be in a class… and not have any stress about it. i don’t have to worry about being tested… or to make sure i get all the notes i need… etc. this is the kind of school i like… 
(and no.. sitting here in this chair with the fold-up desk arm on the side doesn’t make me miss college or feel like i need to go back to school. it actually makes me feel the opposite. i’m happy to be out of school. an occasional visit is fine… but taking classes… nope.
this makes me think about what we do to understand a piece of those we love. do you ever notice how people act or even how they look when they are doing what their passion is? have you ever seen a friend or family member truly “in their element?” 
i remember a couple different stories of seeing people be truly themselves… or at least getting a glimpse of that. one in particular that happened just a couple months ago when i went down to chicago to go dancing. we went out to funky buddha’s in downtown chicago with sunitha. i’m sure i’ve talked about sunitha before… but she’s one of the wisest people i know. she is originally from india and has an amazing ability to listen and learn about people and their interactions with each other. plus she is very aware of culture and it’s effect on people and their actions, especially since she is living in the united states but looking at the american ‘culture’ from the lens of another culture. i enjoy every conversation that i get to share with her and have learned so much from her. well one thing about this amazing woman of God is her dancing. she has shared with us several different dances from her own culture. it was amazing to see her come to life and move so freely. i could tell there was a different “presence” to her when she was dancing. well that night at the funky buddha was no different. the music played… more and more people filed into that little club.. filled the dance floor… and suddenly i saw sunitha’s spirit run wild. it was an amazing sight and it made me want to let go of whatever was holding me back to follow my passions with that same energy.
so right now.. there is a group presenting chapters 5 and 6 from their texts…. 
michele is in ‘teacher mode’ and diligently taking notes about her students presentation. you know.. i wonder how aware these students are of their teacher? how aware was i when i was in class? i don’t think i truly understood or even cared when i was in school. i was too wrapped up in the anxiety and nervousness of “passing the class” and getting good grades. there were few teachers that i really remembered as standing out. and now i realize why they stood out. they were doing what their passion was… and their spirit was truly set free. whenever we are doing what means so much to us… when we are truly following our passion… other people can’t HELP but notice and be effected in some way by it. when we have teachers who truly share this passion, we as the student can’t help but learn something. no matter our profession or place in life… if we follow that passion… people sit up and notice.
following our heart changes how we look at life… and how we look in life.
so.. maybe we will look different if we are truly following our passions and desires? would that make us weird or ‘out of place’? a part of the american culture is all about “being different”… so why is it a scary thing to be different from other people? i know from personal experience that being different and ‘standing out’ is scary because of expectations. you know the quote “with great power comes great responsibility”… well i think that’s very true and can be terrifying at the same time. so now that we stand out… people are watching us… what do we have to say now? what are we going to do? 
it’s like we are on stage and the spotlight is on us… now … entertain everyone. ready, set, go. everyone’s watching…. this better be good.
but we are all there at some point. we all have the ability to follow our passions and do great things. but what if we fail? is that reason enough to not even step out and try? i think not. so what’s stopping us from ‘looking different’
ok. now the group is still presenting… and the guy is talking about liver.
wow. this is a really random entry.
and now i’m home and gonna post this.. and since it’s so stinkin’ long i’m gonna post pictures that i took with my camera phone during the class throughout the enrty. hhokay?
chipper“labels are for filing. labels are for clothing. labels are not foe people” -martina navrátilová
(i knew i liked martina navrátilová for a reason )
contentwebpage fun eh esteban?
as you can see… esteban has discovered a little known fact. all my webpage user accounts can post entries on my site. yes. it’s true. so feel free to post if you wish. (and you don’t even have to wait for the next free for all friday *grin*
i trust you all. and plus.. when i get super busy.. my webpage gets really boring. anyways. if you do post.. just say “hey this is _____” so my family doesn’t get confused as to who is talking on my page
anyways. just a quick little update on me and my life.
i thought my computer died last night. but it just had a temporary power issue. w00t. i’m back up and running after a quick trip to the apple store. i actually watched wrestle mania last night… and it wasn’t so bad. well.. i should add that the reason why it wasn’t so bad was the funny ‘peanut gallery’ comments that myself, matt and jeff were making throughout. (hilarity ensued) the smirnoff ice didn’t hurt either.
this weekend was the expressions: sexuality & faith conference at uwm. i thought it went super well. i know they wanted more people.. but gosh.. i was thankful for all the people that were there! i got to take pictures of the conference… so i had a blast just running around to hear bits of each session. a lot of really great points were… well.. pointed out. i also had the privilege to meet more of my awesome brothers and sisters… i’m so thankful for that. and i hope more people wrestle with the issues we discussed and really seek God for the truth of His love! i hope this is a yearly thing.. and more and more churches will start talking about these things… challenging themselves and their beliefs… seeking God to answer the tough questions they have… and allow their eyes and hearts to be opened and blessed by people like my newly found brothers and sisters. (i may post a whole entry expanding on my thoughts on this… but that will be later… )
ok. well.. so much for a “quick” update on my life…
so here is my johari window. please click the link and select some words that you think describe me. thanks!
