Inner Perspective: Look How Far We Have Come!

Since my husband and I took the leap into our life journey together through the military soooooo much has changed. In 5 short years we have lived various places, seen vast amounts of country, and achieved so much in our lives together. My hubby has finally started back going to school and I'm almost done with my BA in Psychology and Criminal Justice. We have acquired more family members, fur children, along the way with each move we've made. We each have gotten a new vehicles, something neither of us were planning on. We have met some great people and some not so greats. Gone to some amazing churches! It has been so easy to fall in love with each place we lived. With each move we are saddened but excited at the same time to see what next amazing thing will take place. It has been a journey and I'm so excited to see where we head next! 3 more years in WA then who knows!

The Ceaseless Question: What is love?

Love a never ending synonymous word. When we think of love we all have different connotations in our lexicon about what it entails. Most of us have a misconstrued conception that movies, novels, and television places into our ideals of what love actually is. Affection, adoration, friendship, fondness, passion, fancy, and adore are just some words that come to mind when we hear this magical word “love”. In reality the actual thing does not always live up to our expectations but yet there is another side to this arduous word. Usually we assume that to love it must be fully and without end however, this is not always the case. True love is not an all-day affair of consuming thoughts but something more. It is the little bits of fondness one displays to someone they care for when they bring flowers or put thought into a personal gift. It is the affectionate look you see not always, but every once in a while shared between two people who care deeply for one another. It is the passionate way someone will defend the person they care most sincerely about when others beguile them. Or perhaps it is the adoration of that proud mother in the stands watcher her son or daughter become a graduate? While we all could argue that yes love is constant it is not this unrealistic ideal that society has placed on this poor singular word. This one term has to live up to a vast community of different philosophies, implications, and expressions. Each language has their own word for love but yet not one language can singularly define it. So next time you think about saying I love you to someone think of the various implications you could be telling that person. We say the word so haphazardly and throw it around like telling someone the time that we do not truly respect nor value it anymore. For me personally I feel differently each time I say it depending on who I say it to and in which of the various ways I mean it. For me it is not just a single word but a vast expanse of different definitions with a different meaning each and every time I state it dependent upon the circumstances of that specific time. Do not fret though because while love like the movies is not quite as magical 24/7 it is real but in small doses. 

Jet Love.

Jets.
As they fly overhead there is something uniquely comforting about their roar.
Everyday they are seen, yet not truly appreciated.
Their sound alludes to glory, freedom, and honor.
Children are quick to seek them out but often miss the concept of how sound travels and miss them entirely.
Yet as adults we do the same, our heads turn upwards almost always finding our mark.
Jets.
Their never ending presence gives us hope and makes us feel safe.
There is a fascination about them that draws you in like a tiny child.
They exude joy when we see them at airshows or just about day to day.
Why though?
Well it is simple they are a sign of everything we stand for...
They are protection which make us feel safe...
They are boisterous which makes us intrigued...
They are life, liberty, & happiness...
Which makes us Americans.

Descriptive paragraph assignment I had to do it was fun!

5:16 a.m. the harassing tone of the alarm clock encompasses me. With the foul taste of sleep still on my tongue I roll over dreading to leave my 500-threat count heaven. Finally, urging myself out of my antique four-poster dream world to the scratchy welcome of the old worn beige carpet. Trying not to stub my toe, like usual, on my giant clubbed foot dresser I shuffle to get ready for my day. Meandering over to the cream vanity, which makes up the corner of my room I quickly put on my face as I try to decide which of the ten lotions I have to choose for the day, finally electing cherry blossom. Blowing a kiss to my sleeping other half, I try not to wake him, as I scoot out the door while it bids me a creaking adieu. 

Starbucks Anonymous

You are on your way to work and the craving hits you like a ton of bricks. It seems to be calling to you. You will have time, right? Five minutes and you can be through there and get your double shots in no time! The cost not important, we all know you need it, and seriously you do not care if you fall under that stereotypical profile. Starbucks, your morning joy, the one thing that can wake you from being an a.m. zombie.

            Pulling up you look at the menu maybe you’ll get something different today but you already know you will get the same thing you always do. Cup of mocha with two double shots even though you want three you know you cannot afford it. Just thinking about it makes you wake from your autopilot mode. Man did they go up on the price, but really do you care? With your pocket book six bucks lighter, you are on your way with the overpriced, but quality coffee. Wondering to yourself why have I bought into this steep trend.

            Parking your car and heading into work the aroma hits you. Looking around, you notice that everyone has made their usual stop at Starbucks. Just like you, they think that they need that jolt of java to get them through all the meetings, car pools, and whatnot. In reality you all know you do not need it but man does everyone seem to think they do? You know that if someone at your job does not get his or her double shot for the day you had better steer clear because it will not be pretty. As the workday progresses you see some come back from lunch with their craving of caffeine in their left hand; that fresh brew that makes them functional.

            Chuckling to yourself, you notice you fall right into the same stereotype. Videos in your mind playing back all the things that you have seen and thought when you went into get that caffeine pick me up. The book nerds huddled in the corner getting their fix, students studying in a group trying to make it through their next exam, or business executives pushing against the space of time for sleep and work. All rolling into the one need or so they thought. I guess that is what makes Starbucks so successful. People thinking they need it.

            In a way, the purchaser is somewhat addicted to this new trend, buying into all the new rage of expensive coffee and stereotypes. Before you know it they will have a Starbucks Anonymous for those stuck on that caffeine fix the one thing that they think they need to survive and we all know they don’t really need it they just want it! It is like the feeling of hunger never being satisfied but instead it is a feeling of thirst for alertness and vitality.  This thirst is what drives people to buy more and more thinking that they will not survive without it. The legal addiction of caffeine that has been around for ages and ages but only now is it becoming a trending problem. 

An old essay I had to do on my favorite place...

Stillness, it is everywhere. Why you ask? The time difference of course. I wake up to look at the generic alarm clock on the bedside table to my right, glaring at me to show it’s only 3:36am back home and everything would be chaotic at 8:36am. We’ve only been here a day and it’s beautiful from the crashing waves to the trade winds blowing tousling your hair it’s the perfect vacation spot. So much culture around me that my senses just soak it up as if I were a dry sponge laid out in the sun for days. The feeling of pure bliss as I know the day could not get any better and with such a great time difference, I will not sleep all day!

            Up early I decide to go explore the little piece of Honolulu below our hotel. Strolling around the corner I stop and stare at the spotless streets, I have never seen a city so clean! Gawking like the retarded tourist I am, my eyes finally settle onto a little bagel shop not but two stores down and I decide to investigate (later this place became my little breakfast haven). One shop away and the aroma of fresh baked bread hit me. Ordering a bagel and a cold Starbucks Frappuccino (you know the kind they have at convenient stores) leaving I’m off to explore the city amidst the Plumeria trees. This place, from what I could see, had everything from: tiny shops with vendors trying to sell you their souls and the best seascape you could imagine. All I could see were surfers for miles upon miles, all looking for their “perfect wave.” Just a short ride from our hotel was an old inactive volcano the hard piles of solidified rock stretched all the way to the ocean just daring you to view its beautiful destruction once caused.

            Our picture perfect day of exploration seemed as if it might end with the quick change of the trade winds blowing some clouds in hastily. Luckily, what they call rain is what we know as mist! Fifteen minutes later, it ceased; to be quite honest it was very refreshing as the whisper of mist caressed my tacky skin. Soaking up the rays of sun, I explored all the ways to the edge of the solid lave. I could never imagine what it would have been like to see Mother Nature in full force. Since it was gorgeous out, I decided to take a little stroll not noticing how much time was going bye, being that it was a wonderful 87 ⁰ out. Before I knew it, I had gone up the beach and came to rest at a quaint little town.

            The laid-back culture of “hang loose” engulfed me. There were little fishing boats and a market. More of the harassing soul-selling merchants trying to pay for their twenty kids and a tiny little surf shop that rented surfboards for the day. We ended up going into a restaurant down the road that had things like Pâté and escargot. I, of course, chose to eat the tomato soup, since I did not feel like being brave and trying the escargot. It was delicious like nothing I have ever tasted before. Our whole meal went that way; everything was as if it was being eaten for the first time with explosions of new tastes in my mouth. This little island had turned into my little heaven made of pineapple fields and people of a marvelous culture.

            Thinking back at the whole experience, I could not have asked for any place better than Honolulu. The beaches, weather, and their people were some of the best experiences in my life. I know that before I die I want to visit Honolulu again to experience it like the first time. Before leaving the island, you are supposed to put your lei’s in the ocean in hopes that one day you will return. I know I will one day; I just do not know when yet. One of the great things in life is you’ll never know what will happen or when so I’m hoping one day I can go on a whim back to that peacefully wonderful island.  

The American Dream Outlook

People long ago knew exactly what the American Dream was. Today there is a completely new meaning to it. In the beginning, it was a basis for what American’s knew. The definition of the American dream is the widespread aspiration to live better than their parents did.  That dream has changed now, instead of people viewing it as an opportunity for a better life many are seeing it as an opportunity to get away with murder, steal from the government or win big in a lawsuit. Instead of living the best life possible, they are trying to live it by beguiling others by any means. The dream for most, in general, is to do better off than their families before them. Many people have lost sight of what we once were. Possibilities then were endless dreams with no bounds of what could be. Back then, people only saw the positives of a hope to do great things. Now it is as if American’s only see the dismal side of life. From our harsh economy to facing wars to the east, it all seems so grim from that long ago happier view on America.