Perks of being a Film major.

Currently, I am on excitement overdrive. A.K.A. wicked excited. In just 17 short hours I will be on plane on my way to Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. For those of you who aren't film buffs or just don't know how big this is, let me tell you, it's big. Sundance is one of the biggest film festivals of the year. It's where some of the best independent films are premiered and picked up. It's home to such great films as The Usual Suspects. 
Not only is this my first time (hopefully not my last) going to Sundance, it is also my first time leaving the east coast. I have never been further west than New York City. The farthest I have travelled is to Florida. So this is a big deal. I am wicked excited, and have been counting down since April. Finally, the day has come. 
I still have to sleep at some point, but that may not be likely considering excitement leads to adrenaline which leads to no sleep, which is perfectly fine. 
What makes this trip even better is the fact that it's with a bunch of film majors and a couple awesome professors. We'll be in Utah for a week (well just under a week) and be able to enjoy the festival as well as some Utah perks. The trip will probably include an adventure to a mountain for skiing, snowboarding, and tubing. Due to my history, I'll avoid the first two and stick with tubing (not really in for a repeat of a decade ago). 
Also, this week will be a nice change. I will not be bringing my computer with me (I know, shocker.. for real) which will be weird considering I spend so much time on the computer (there better not be any storms because I won't be able to track them.. yes that is an actual concern of mine being away from a computer). 

Without the computer, I'll truly be enjoying every second of my trip to Utah and be living in the moment. 

I'm grateful I get this opportunity, and I know wouldn't without QFS, so I'm going to treasure every minute of it. Like I said, perks of being a film major.

So my challenge to you this post is to get excited. Try to remember the last time you were so excited that you couldn't sleep. Try to remember the last time you were so excited that your excitement made others around you excited. Then go out and get excited. Days of excitement are what make life worth it.

Have a great weekend, enjoy the Monday off, and good luck to all you college kids starting classes.

peace.love.happiness.

New Year, new promises.

At the beginning of a new year, we make resolutions. We declare that this year, unlike the previous ones, will be our year. We say we’ll change for the better. We say we’ll be healthier, be more careful with money, find that true love. We say a lot of things. What is it about a new year that makes us want to start all over again and find ourselves and better ourselves? It’s just another day. Maybe the whole concept of it being something new makes it different. It’s our chance to start over and forget all the bad things that we did and the bad the things that happened over the last year and just leave it all behind to start fresh. Maybe it’s just another day, but it instills a new hope in so many people. My challenge to you: Don’t be rude to people who are trying to start over or change something, encourage them because maybe, just maybe, this could be their year or it could be yours.

On a side note..
My new year's resolution is to write down every happy moment I experience and put it in a jar. At the end of the year, I'll take them all out and see all the great things that happened in a different perspective.

Also, I am happy to say that I completed my resolutions the past two years. In 2011, I passed my goal of doing 52 things I have never done before. In 2012, I laughed every day.

Peace.Love.Happiness.

Fear.

A recent topic on my mind has been fear. Everyone is scared of something. Some people claim they are scared of basically nothing, while others are scared of basically everything.I think most of us fall somewhere in the middle. We're scared of things, but we don't let it affect our lives too much, or do we? 
I'll admit, I've always been scared of the dark, scared of things jumping out at me, and scared of thunderstorms among a list of other things. I was thinking the other day, what makes me scared of these things? Am I actually scared of these things or is what could happen as a result of these things. That led to the thought of most fears coming down to three things: 1) getting hurt 2)the unknown 3)dying. 
People are not scared of being up high, they are scared of what happens if they fall. They could die or get hurt or be perfectly fine. We don't know until we try. There are so many things that can scare you. If you dissect your fears apart to the root, I can guarantee that the three aforementioned fears will be there in some combination. 
We can't live our lives in fear. We might fall or get hurt, but we have to continually face our fears until we have conquered them. I wouldn't suggest going crazy and standing on the top of the highest skyscraper holding on to a metal pole during a thunderstorm. Rather, watch the storm and try not jump at the bolts of lightning and crackling thunder. 
If we never face our fears, we'll never fully live. 

So my challenge to you as we enter 2013 is to forget your fear of falling, getting hurt, or dying and just live.

Good luck, and Happy New Year!

peace.love.happiness.