"Choose to be an Optimist, it Feels Better."

Rain and Cincinnati are two things that go together more often than not. Two other things that tend to go together are life and unexpected circumstances.

This evening, upon hearing thunder, I realized I should take the dog for a walk before it began to rain. This is not the first time I've had this happen, and in the past it has ended in me being very wet. This time was no exception. However, this time I was prepared; I actually brought an umbrella. It started drizzling when I was a street away from my house, but I was unperturbed. I opened my umbrella and casually started walking home at a brisk pace so the dog wouldn't get too upset. (He doesn't like being wet.) It was then that the heavens opened up and we were definitely getting wet- sorry dog. 

The problem was, I would have run home for the sake of the wet puppy, but he has a slightly injured leg and I didn't think running on it would be the best thing for him. I continued walking at a brisk pace, trying to cover at least part of the dog with my umbrella while still staying under it myself. Halfway back down the street I gave it up, as I was getting pretty wet already. I abandoned the umbrella and held it over the dog instead, soaking my sweatshirt. This must have looked pretty ridiculous to the few people that drove past: girl walking down street getting drenched in the rain while trying to keep her dog dry. Not that there was much hope. He was pretty wet too. But I was trying to make him less miserable so he'd be more inclined to walk the street-length home. By the time we made it home, I was as wet as if I had just taken a dip in a pool fully clothed.

Now, one has two choices in a situation like this. The first choice is to become annoyed, moody, and mopey, which is basically what my dog did. You can grumble as you struggle to get your arm out of the sweatshirt that's suctioned itself to you and slam the door of the clothes dryer before stomping back upstairs. Or, you can embrace the fact that you are very wet and it is beautifully raining outside and there's no use being bitter. 

The road I chose to take this time was the second one. I dropped the dog off inside, drying him off a bit and leaving the towel for him to lay on. I did strip off my sweatshirt, (struggling to get it off my arm which it had suctioned itself to) but instead of drying myself off, I took off my shoes and ran back outside. I spent about fifteen minutes sitting in the rain, splashing in puddles, and probably concerning the neighbors. 

Running through the rain is something I haven't done in a long time. It's so weird, and kind of magical. No one else is outside and you feel like you have the whole world to yourself. The clouds make the sky feel low and you just sit and watch it rain while huge drops fall on your back. Or you can sing and run around because, heck, no one else is around. 

I'm not saying this is how I handle life all the time. Days pass where all I want to be is grumpy and unpleasant and on those days unexpected circumstances aren't welcomed when they come. However, I think if you don't live life like this at least some of the time it gets easier and easier to forget the beauty of being alive. 

Plus, it makes throwing on a pair of warm pajamas that much more satisfying. And then I sit down on the couch and watch Netflix and eat ice-cream and blog about hanging around in the rain because I'm a writer and that's what I do. 

As Winston Churchill once said, "A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty." 

Or, to pull from The Fault in Our Stars, after Isaac has gone blind and Augustus runs into the room yelling "I have wonderful news!... You are going to live a good and long life filled with great and terrible moments that you cannot even imagine yet!"

Or, for my last quote as Dalai Lama said, "Choose to be an optimist, it feels better." 

Lisa

Pro tip

Don't ever base your worth on anything related to social media

-Lisa 

Inspiration

I got an email today amongst my many emails that I never read. This one was from a writing blog I subscribed to a while ago. The subject line for this particular email read "You should be writing..." to which I immediately thought "I know, I know." I opened the email, though, which I only do once in a blue moon. The basis of the email was that they were asking people to submit things that inspired them to write. I didn't submit anything, but I did start thinking about what inspires me.

There are a lot of different things that inspire me to write, and some of it depends on what mood I'm in. One of the things I thought of while looking at this email was that being really tired tends to inspire me to write. I wonder if maybe that happens because I stop thinking about what is reasonable or rational or what will sound good, and I just write. This is slightly problematic, however, because by the time I'm halfway through with what I'm writing I can barely keep my eyes open and I would much rather go to sleep than finish whatever scene I'm working on. Despite this, it does have at least one added bonus. Usually when I write like this I'm so tired my eyes are practically closed and after I'm done I immediately turn my light off and fall asleep. The awesome part of this is that when I wake up I remember that I've written something, but I don't remember what it was so I re-read the things I wrote the previous night as if I'd never seen them before. Which is quite helpful in the editing process.

Another thing that inspires me is being in different places. Whenever I'm on a long road trip, I find myself journalling pages at a time without a problem, which is not something I can normally do without smacking myself multiple times and saying "YOU NEED TO WRITE SOMETHING SO YOUR BRAIN DOESN'T FALL OUT." or something equally dramatic. But when I'm away from home, I find writing inspiration everywhere. I don't even have to be that far away. I can walk down my street to Panera and be much more motivated there than I am at my own kitchen table. Part of it might be a new environment where I more alert than I am often at home. But that's just my working hypothesis.

I also love to people-watch. People are just so interesting to me. And sometimes someone I see will stick out to me as a fascinating person. Whether they really are or not, I'm intrigued by them and I make these elaborate back stories in my head about what they're like and what they do for a living and I sort of take these real people I meet and make them into characters in my head. I start thinking about whether this person/character would like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and if they prefer to drive with the windows down or the AC on. Just little things that make up characters. It's good exercise for my brain.

What inspires your hobby? Is there anything that anti-inspires you? (aka gives you the whatever-your-hobby-is version of writer's block.)

Until next time inspiration strikes,
Lisa

The End

I find it kind of ironic to start out a new blog with the post called "The End." But then I've always been a fan of artistic irony. I decided it was about time to start a new blog, for a few reasons. One, because my old one was under a different email address and since Google and Blogger are now linked, it was a pain in the butt switching accounts all the time. Two, because the old one was feeling a bit cluttered to me. I mean I've had it since 2009. It was time. And three, because I've hit a period of great change and I decided that deserves a new blog.

Tomorrow is my last day as a senior in high school and that's insanely weird to me. I've started having a lot of "lasts" and I don't know how to process it all. Mid-April, I had my last high school play. Yesterday was my last dance class. Tomorrow is my last day of school. Later on this summer will be my last piano lesson, my last day of d-group, my last day of work. I don't think it's quite sunken in yet.

On a positive note, I'm very very excited to go to college. It seems like my roommate and I are going to get along really well. I've picked a tentative major. I'm super close to turning in my transcript (after tomorrow, actually, when I'm officially graduated) and scheduling my classes.

As exciting as it is, though, it's also intimidating. I've never really had this big of a change happen to me. I've never lived anywhere else but Cincinnati before. I haven't even moved around Cincinnati; I've lived in the same house my whole life. I've never been away from my parents for more than a week. I barely even do my own laundry. College is going to be an adjustment.

So here's to an end. I always hate endings, but they always happen so there's really nothing to do but accept it and make the best of it. And to look forward to the things I've got going for me in the future.

Lisa