I love how such crappy situations bring forth some of the most beautiful memories... if you think about it, it's all the crap that helps us grow in ourselves, with God, and with each other.
Kind of how pretty flowers spring up from manure--horse crap--crap.
Looking at "the good and the bad" as mutually exclusive events is one way to see life... things are either good or bad... the low lows make the high highs higher.
I think that we can all agree that nothing in life is black and white like this way of thinking. I don't think the either/or perspective suffices when it comes to the beautiful and the ugly times we face in life.
There are times where the situation may be crappy, but in spite of that, there are glimpses of beauty to be discovered. They are those times that bring hope and make all the pain worth it, even if for just a brief moment.
Think back to the flower for a second.
It's a pretty flower--all big and pink... kind of like a gerber daisy.
The flower is indeed beautiful, but it is still essentially surrounded and stuck in manure... aka, crap. It's not like the flower's presence magically turns the manure into that chocolate pudding-and-crushed oreos mix that you used to get for dessert as a kid. No, it's still just a bunch of smelly dirt.
The dirt doesn't change. Instead, we just might begin to see something that we didn't see before. There is a little flower sprouting up, distinguishing itself as something beautiful.
Life is all about growing flowers amidst all the crap life throws at you.
It's about finding those flowers and appreciating their beauty because of what they are and where they are coming from. And while one flower is all we need to get started and give us something to hold on to in the tough times, it would be wrong to stop there. Keep growing flowers, keep finding all the beauty there is in life, and grow a beautiful garden filled with the blessings gained in spite of the tough times--all those good memories, good feelings, and good people that could easily be looked past if not deliberately searched for.
I love it when people find beauty in the midst of despair.
And I've discovered that a particular characteristic has developed and become more prominent in me over the past year or so:
Empathy.
When someone near and dear to me hurts, I hurt.
When they rejoice, I rejoice.
I want nothing more than for them to see the bit of light among the thick darkness, the beautiful in spite of the ugly, the break in the chaos lasting just long enough to take a breath.
And to me, empathy isn't just experiencing this with them--it is also helping them find that light, the beautiful, a moment to breathe.
From the perspective of the one inside all this mess, the one thing that can bring hope in a seemingly hopeless situation seems non-existent. Finding hope can feel like finding a needle in a hay stack--frustrating, disheartening, overwhelming, down right torture; all to the point of near surrender.
But you know what?
That needle is in the haystack, is it not?
The needle does exist... the hope does exist.
And sometimes we just need someone to dive into the haystack with us, someone to dive into the chaos with us.
Not only can they help to find the hope and beauty, but they can also share in the pain, keep you company, cheer you on...
So to me, empathy is jumping into a haystack for someone. It's joining in the chaos and helping them find the beauty when times seem like nothing but crap. And even better, it's rejoicing when they have seen a bit of that light.
and while i'm already talking about hay, i should let y'all in on a recent event... this past monday was our dorm hay ride/sqaure dance mixer at post family farms. i'm too sleepy to write it all out, so i will just copy and paste the article i wrote on it for Chimes:
A hayride gone haywire left nearly 30 Noordewier VanderWerp residents soaked and on the verge of hypothermia when their trailer tipped and dumped them into a pond on Monday night.
Cameras, cell phones, shoes, purses, ipods, and clothes were on the list of lost or damaged items resulting from the unexpected plunge into the pond, but luckily no one suffered any serious injury, according to NVW’s dorm president, Savannah Gruesbeck.
The hayride took place at Post Family Farms on a night that Noordewier resident Carolyn Affholter described as “cold—freezing!” In fact, a student had noted the temperature displayed on a bank sign to be 34 degrees Fahrenheit when driving to the farm.
A tractor pulled two trailers filled with hay and passengers around the property; Lindsey Jetter, a Noordewier resident, recalled that “it wasn’t smooth, but that’s what you expect in a hayride—a couple of bumps here and there.”
While many of the students in the rear trailer—the one that tipped—described the event as happening in “slow motion” and “surreal,” VanderWerp resident Alex Verseput described what happened from his perspective in the front trailer.
As the driver drove too close to the edge of the pond, the rear trailer began to tip to the right and kept tipping until it was standing on its side, dumping all of its passengers, according to Verseput. He had yelled to the driver to stop because the driver was unaware of what had happened.
“I was shocked, and the screams scared me,” said Verseput. Affholter was among the few passengers who were completely submerged in the freezing, murky water; not only did she get soaked, but she also found her cell phone broken due to water damage.
The students showed a mixed reaction when commenting on the handling of the situation by the farm staff. While most students, preferring not to be named, were disappointed with the slow response of the driver, others gave credit to the rest of the staff in this unexpected crisis.
Affholter explained that, once the trailer was finally flipped back over and returned to the farm, the students were directed to the farm kitchen where staff brought blankets and hot cocoa to the students as they exchanged clothes and told their version of the story.
A common opinion voiced was that of the gratitude toward fellow residents on the ride. Jetter said she was impressed by the initiative of fellow residents reacting quickly and with concern for the well-being of those cold and drenched, offering up any dry clothes they had.
Calvin College, NVW Resident Director Aaron Einfeld, and dorm president Gruesbeck are working on getting a list of lost and damaged items. While they can’t promise anything, they are working with the staff of Post Family Farms to possibly provide reimbursement for lost and damaged property, according to Gruesbeck. She also commented on the great cooperation that the farm is showing in this situation.
Friday, October 31
Sunday, October 26
And I thought gravitational pull made the world go round...
Every single one of our computers shut off. I was in journalism, and ten minutes after class started, I found myself watching every single computer, one after the other, succumb to the black-screen plague.
Our entire campus and part of Grand Rapids had lost power.
Why?
A squirrel thought the main electricity/power source would be the prime spot for storing his acorns for the winter--after all, it didn't look like any other squirrels seemed to be using it.
High voltage + squirrel = well, in the words of Quiznos, mmm, toasty.
Events like this are so fun for me. I love things that mix it up a bit... and this power outage mixed the day up better than martha stewart could mix up a batch of cookie batter.
Even more fun than the actual event is seeing how people react to it.
Do you realize that all it takes to mak the US shutdown is a squirrel in a power box? well, figuratively speaking, of course, cause that would be one big squirrel and one big power box if all of america were plugged into it... and naturally, Hawai'i would have to be connected wirelessly.
So the power went out... causing the internet to go out... leaving thousands of college students sitting on the floor of their dark dorm room, rocking back and forth in the fetal position because their entire life has been suspended in the amount of time it takes a squirrel to short out a power box--which i hear isn't much time at all.
Classes got cancelled because teachers couldn't remember how to teach like they did, say, oh, seven years ago, before they used power point to flash information in front of our eyes at high speeds. No electricity? No power point, and no class.
Students flocked back to their rooms excited for classes to be cancelled. And just as they were about to jump on the computer and check their email or facebook...
oh ya, internet is out.
well, i can just pass some time watching a bit of TV... wait, TVs need electricity. and by the time you've already thought of five other electronically dependent activities that you can't do, it dawns on you the crisis you are in.
That brings us to the college students in the fetal position rocking back and forth on the floor of their lightless dorm room.
And that's where I found myself... minus the fetal position and floor. Instead, i sat on the futon with absolutely no idea of what to do with my time.
There was this time, you know, like a hundred years ago... ya, it reminded me of that.
With cell phones being the only working technology, I found myself calling people and leaving messages for entertainment.
On my way to speech class i walked over the Belt Line on Calvin Crossing... the traffic light on the belt line was out... not blinking like it was out of order... completely out, lacking any luminary properties... leaving cars parked bumper to bumper further than i could see.
Yes, I still had class because all we had to do was speak, and last time i checked, we don't really require electricity to do that.
The power did eventually turn back on after about three hours.
But I must say that I got a kick out of watching all of Calvin College stop dead in its tracks because of a squirrels capability to conduct electricity.
Our entire campus and part of Grand Rapids had lost power.
Why?
A squirrel thought the main electricity/power source would be the prime spot for storing his acorns for the winter--after all, it didn't look like any other squirrels seemed to be using it.
High voltage + squirrel = well, in the words of Quiznos, mmm, toasty.
Events like this are so fun for me. I love things that mix it up a bit... and this power outage mixed the day up better than martha stewart could mix up a batch of cookie batter.
Even more fun than the actual event is seeing how people react to it.
Do you realize that all it takes to mak the US shutdown is a squirrel in a power box? well, figuratively speaking, of course, cause that would be one big squirrel and one big power box if all of america were plugged into it... and naturally, Hawai'i would have to be connected wirelessly.
So the power went out... causing the internet to go out... leaving thousands of college students sitting on the floor of their dark dorm room, rocking back and forth in the fetal position because their entire life has been suspended in the amount of time it takes a squirrel to short out a power box--which i hear isn't much time at all.
Classes got cancelled because teachers couldn't remember how to teach like they did, say, oh, seven years ago, before they used power point to flash information in front of our eyes at high speeds. No electricity? No power point, and no class.
Students flocked back to their rooms excited for classes to be cancelled. And just as they were about to jump on the computer and check their email or facebook...
oh ya, internet is out.
well, i can just pass some time watching a bit of TV... wait, TVs need electricity. and by the time you've already thought of five other electronically dependent activities that you can't do, it dawns on you the crisis you are in.
That brings us to the college students in the fetal position rocking back and forth on the floor of their lightless dorm room.
And that's where I found myself... minus the fetal position and floor. Instead, i sat on the futon with absolutely no idea of what to do with my time.
There was this time, you know, like a hundred years ago... ya, it reminded me of that.
With cell phones being the only working technology, I found myself calling people and leaving messages for entertainment.
On my way to speech class i walked over the Belt Line on Calvin Crossing... the traffic light on the belt line was out... not blinking like it was out of order... completely out, lacking any luminary properties... leaving cars parked bumper to bumper further than i could see.
Yes, I still had class because all we had to do was speak, and last time i checked, we don't really require electricity to do that.
The power did eventually turn back on after about three hours.
But I must say that I got a kick out of watching all of Calvin College stop dead in its tracks because of a squirrels capability to conduct electricity.
Thursday, October 23
FOR RENT: part two in the "search for a dwelling place" series
I was standing outside the office door at the Lakewood Hills Apartments with my roommate when i heard the disheartening news.
With the door closed and no eyepatched senior citizen there to answer the door, i had to call the phone number scrawled on the chalkboard attached to the door. That's when I learned of the crushing figures.
After I got off the phone with the manager, I pouted, on the verge of a temper tantrum, and gave my roomie the pricey news.
$1875. A month. For a 2 bedroom apartment.
AKA. no college students allowed.
Resisting the urge to kick the building or draw a pirate saying "come back on monday" on the chalkboard, we sulked back to my car. The pit-stop at Lakewood Hills was our 3rd stop of the day... the first being at Perkins (where my roomie's car had spent the night due to a busted clutch). we went in and ate some delicious pumpking pie as we waited for the tow truck.
The next stop was the dealership, and then we were on our way to Lakewood Hills--however, we took a scenic route. We took Reeds Lake Drive all the way around the lake... the trees (and houses) were absolutely amazing. To label these leaves just green, orange, yellow, and red would be like calling Half Dome just a big rock--that is quite the understatement.
Fall is clearly here. The leaves have begun their gravity-induced adventure from tree branch to the ground, joining the other leaves that have already completed their pilgrimage. This is definitely my favorite time of the year.
Just the other day I was walking back from class when i saw a little girl, about four years old, playing in the leaves. She'd grab an armful of leaves and then run around, leaving a trail of leaves falling behind her. She finally resolved to do what is practically instinctive in a child at this time of the year: she scooped up as many leaves as her little arms could hold and then threw them in the air. This joyous act had required so much effort and enthusiasm that, as the leaves went up, she fell down on her butt. The airborn leaves made their trip to the ground for a second time, this time covering the girl.
I love it.
Ok, back to the main story.
With the numbers $1875 still haunting us, we ended up on a neighborhood tour, scanning lawns for the very signs our mission called for: "FOR RENT." The going was slow at first... we saw a lot of lawns decorated with "for sale" signs and the politically charged "McCain Palin" and "Obama" signs.
For the record, when I have a front lawn, it will have a pink flamingo and a gnome on it. And around election time, I will stick a sign that says... well, i don't know what it will say, but i've got four years to think of something clever.
After a bit of meandering, we finally found one... actually, three, all on the same street. This was exciting. We took down all three phone numbers so that we could call for some more information. My roommate made the first call. Oddly enough, the owner happened to be at the house working on it and said that we could stop by and check it out.
This cute little house (with a porch on the front of it) was empty but smelled of fresh paint. The wooden floors sent the echoes of hour steps throughout the room, but i did take note that these floors were perfect for sock-skating.
My favorite part was the kitchen... black and white checkered floors and red walls. So much fun.
Since our need for a place to rent isn't until May, there wasn't much we could do, but the owner was very nice and encouraged us to keep checking in with him.
Since then, more ideas have come up and we are starting to go back more in the direction of apartments again.
But those details will come in part 3.
Soon. I promise.
With the door closed and no eyepatched senior citizen there to answer the door, i had to call the phone number scrawled on the chalkboard attached to the door. That's when I learned of the crushing figures.
After I got off the phone with the manager, I pouted, on the verge of a temper tantrum, and gave my roomie the pricey news.
$1875. A month. For a 2 bedroom apartment.
AKA. no college students allowed.
Resisting the urge to kick the building or draw a pirate saying "come back on monday" on the chalkboard, we sulked back to my car. The pit-stop at Lakewood Hills was our 3rd stop of the day... the first being at Perkins (where my roomie's car had spent the night due to a busted clutch). we went in and ate some delicious pumpking pie as we waited for the tow truck.
The next stop was the dealership, and then we were on our way to Lakewood Hills--however, we took a scenic route. We took Reeds Lake Drive all the way around the lake... the trees (and houses) were absolutely amazing. To label these leaves just green, orange, yellow, and red would be like calling Half Dome just a big rock--that is quite the understatement.
Fall is clearly here. The leaves have begun their gravity-induced adventure from tree branch to the ground, joining the other leaves that have already completed their pilgrimage. This is definitely my favorite time of the year.
Just the other day I was walking back from class when i saw a little girl, about four years old, playing in the leaves. She'd grab an armful of leaves and then run around, leaving a trail of leaves falling behind her. She finally resolved to do what is practically instinctive in a child at this time of the year: she scooped up as many leaves as her little arms could hold and then threw them in the air. This joyous act had required so much effort and enthusiasm that, as the leaves went up, she fell down on her butt. The airborn leaves made their trip to the ground for a second time, this time covering the girl.
I love it.
Ok, back to the main story.
With the numbers $1875 still haunting us, we ended up on a neighborhood tour, scanning lawns for the very signs our mission called for: "FOR RENT." The going was slow at first... we saw a lot of lawns decorated with "for sale" signs and the politically charged "McCain Palin" and "Obama" signs.
For the record, when I have a front lawn, it will have a pink flamingo and a gnome on it. And around election time, I will stick a sign that says... well, i don't know what it will say, but i've got four years to think of something clever.
After a bit of meandering, we finally found one... actually, three, all on the same street. This was exciting. We took down all three phone numbers so that we could call for some more information. My roommate made the first call. Oddly enough, the owner happened to be at the house working on it and said that we could stop by and check it out.
This cute little house (with a porch on the front of it) was empty but smelled of fresh paint. The wooden floors sent the echoes of hour steps throughout the room, but i did take note that these floors were perfect for sock-skating.
My favorite part was the kitchen... black and white checkered floors and red walls. So much fun.
Since our need for a place to rent isn't until May, there wasn't much we could do, but the owner was very nice and encouraged us to keep checking in with him.
Since then, more ideas have come up and we are starting to go back more in the direction of apartments again.
But those details will come in part 3.
Soon. I promise.
Wednesday, October 22
welcome back
well, we're back here... and to be honest, i've kind of missed it.
so i am glad to be back, and this time with a few new features.
since i really liked having a photo gallery to mass upload pictures to, i have created a website through smugmug that will have all my pictures. i will still put pictures up on here in posts, but i always feel so limited in how many i put up (because i can only do three at a time). so, a complete collection of photos will be available at that site.
the link to my photo gallery is:
http://stav.smugmug.com/web%20posts
you don't need a username or anything to view it, and it is a site i share with my dad... so you can always browse through his pics too.
ok.
so, yes.
and i hope moving back here will increase the number of comments y'all leave... i kind of miss them, and i think livejournal decreased them exponentially.
we'll see.
enjoy, and please tell me what y'all think.
so i am glad to be back, and this time with a few new features.
since i really liked having a photo gallery to mass upload pictures to, i have created a website through smugmug that will have all my pictures. i will still put pictures up on here in posts, but i always feel so limited in how many i put up (because i can only do three at a time). so, a complete collection of photos will be available at that site.
the link to my photo gallery is:
http://stav.smugmug.com/web%20posts
you don't need a username or anything to view it, and it is a site i share with my dad... so you can always browse through his pics too.
ok.
so, yes.
and i hope moving back here will increase the number of comments y'all leave... i kind of miss them, and i think livejournal decreased them exponentially.
we'll see.
enjoy, and please tell me what y'all think.
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