Monday, March 19, 2012

Personal Addition 4 - My "Feel Good" Playlist

I'm sure that you can agree with me when I say that everyone could probably make a list of songs that make them feel good. Due to the fact that music is such a big part of my life, I decided to make a list of my "feel good" songs. It doesn't matter what kind of day I had or what kind of mood I'm in, these songs just seem to have the power to control my emotions (yes, it's cheesy, but very true).


So here it is.. a playlist that's made up of pretty much only two bands.. a playlist that I love..

My "Feel Good" Playlist
Like We Did (Windows Down) - The Maine
St. Paul And The Wolf - The Midway State
Atlantic - The Midway State
While Listening To Rock & Roll... - The Maine
Don't Give Up On (Us) - The Maine
Alive - The Midway State
Don't Stop Now - The Maine
Heart Of Glass - The Midway State
Heroes Of The Sidewalk - Two Hours Traffic
Change Of Seasons - Sweet Thing
and of course.. What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction (you know you like it too)

This list is constantly changing over time and with every new song that joins the list and every song that says goodbye, the feelings stay the same. 
Music is such an amazing part of life and it's amazing what it can do to you. If you haven't made yourself a playlist of feel good songs I highly recommend that you do. You never know when you may need it.


Moments: Christmas Eve

The sun was out and the snow was sparkling. When I looked up, the sky was a bright blue. It was the most beautiful day that I can remember.

December 24, 2007, was the last time that I saw my Nonno. He was living in a peaceful care home and had forgotten a lot of his life. Some days, when my dad would visit him he was his son, while other days, he was his brother. Some days they spoke English together, and others, Italian was all my Nonno could remember.
When we got to his room, I wasn't surprised that he didn't remember me. It wasn't even the fact that he didn't remember my name; it was how hard he was trying to remember my name that hit me the most. He smiled nonetheless and was his goofy self. He danced through the halls singing, "Tippy tippy tay" while carrying the presence of an eight year old.
I loved how silly he always was with my brother and me. He was so happy when we were around and when he was happy, we were happy.
Some time had passed and we were sitting at a table with the perfect view outside. My Nonno was enjoying our visit so much that it made me wish I had seen him more often. It was hard being his grandchild while he seemed to had lost all of our memories together, but I loved my Nonno so my knowledge of that was washed away. After finishing his favourite cookies (maple leaf cookies) he started digging into his pockets. Who knew what he was about to show us. Surprisingly, he took out a few pictures. All were torn at least in one spot, other than one. He studied this perfectly intact photo for a moment. You could see he was trying to make a connection and suddenly, the emotion in his face changed. His eyes widened and his smile doubled in size. He looked up and pushed the picture into the middle of the table. It had to be one of the most precious moments I've experienced when we recognized our own faces in that picture. He pointed to the picture, then to each of us. First my mom, then my brother, followed by me, and lastly, my dad. He remembered.

Seeing my Nonno's smile grow larger when his memory caught up with him was the best Christmas gift I could have ever asked for. My Nonno passed on the following year, and I wouldn't change a thing about our last day together. It was the day that he remembered and it was perfect.

Personal Addition 3 - Escaping

You know that feeling you get when all you want is to be alone? Maybe it was something your friend or parents said, or maybe it was nothing at all. The only thing that matters in that moment is escaping the world. The time that you can give yourself to think, or even stare into space for a few minutes, can be as precious as life gets. It's amazing the things that your mind can come up with in only a matter of minutes and escaping the world seems to make these fantasies come to life. Whether "escaping the world" means putting in your headphones (which is my form of escaping), painting the sunset, or going for a jog, we all experience the sensation that this time alone has to offer. Personally, I believe it's the best feeling in the world and I wouldn't give it up for anything else.

Personal Addition 2 - To-Do List

Thinking of the future can be intimidating and a little scary. There are so many things that I want to accomplish and see throughout my life and it feels like there's not enough time for me to do so.
I thought that making a "To-Do List" would be the best way to keep track of everything I want to do. This list is not even close to be doing done because I wanted to leave space so that I can add on to it when new ideas pop into my mind. Now that I think about it... limiting myself to a page is very unrealistic! I'll definitely update the list on here as I update it on the paper.
I'm interested and very curious to see how many of these boxes will get checked off within the next few years.

Digital Footprint

A while ago, we were asked to make a doodle of what our digital footprint may look like.
I made assumptions of what you may find if you were to search my name on the internet and for example, I know that my YouTube page will come up because my name can be found on my channel. I also had a feeling that somewhere, somehow, Facebook would find it's way to the search engines, along with Twitter.
I'm definitely not comfortable with how easy it is to find information about other people on the internet, but it is what it is and other than not posting anything, what is there to do?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Personal Addition 1 - I Wish It Was A Dream..

I was at my best friend's house when my brother called me.. "the paramedics are here, you have to come home now." I don't think my body has ever shaken more in my life. When I pulled onto the street, I could see the red lights flashing. It seemed so surreal. The ambulance took up the whole driveway so I ran through the high snow that made up the front yard. The door was open and there were footprints all over the floor. My brother was standing there waiting and I could feel that I was still shaking. We didn't say much to each other before I ran up the stairs to find a team of paramedics and my mom. She seemed to be calm, but yet again, she's always been a strong woman. I barely got a glimpse of my dad before the paramedics told me there was no room for me upstairs. I felt non-existent, as if none of this was actually happening. Maybe it was a dream... I wish it was a dream.
Some time had passed. One minute felt like ten. Five felt like an hour.
I could hear my dad being brought down the stairs. When I looked, he was in some sort of chair that I had never seen before. I remember hearing a man saying, "Don't try to grab on to anything Dan. It will only make our job harder"... Normally (being the stubborn Italian he is) he would ignore that, but this time he didn't. He didn't have the strength to ignore it.
They lifted him onto the stretcher... he looked so small, like a young boy being carried by his father when he's fallen into a deep sleep. He was holding a bag to his mouth to catch the vomit and it was obvious he had no energy left.

Throughout the following six and a half hours, my mom would call to update us. "They just took him for a test"..."They tried another anti-nausea drug"..."He's sleeping"..."He's really tired"...

My dad will be fine, he just needs to rest and recover. He's been through worse and I know he's strong.

Everything that happened seems like an overwhelming dream... I wish it had been a dream.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Six Word Memoir - Four

We all want a happy ending.

Something about the vacancy in the sky captured me when this picture was taken. I feel like it resembles the emptiness some people experience throughout times in their lives and connects well with my six word memoir.
As for the meaning behind the words, well, I feel as though it's quite obvious. We all want a happy ending. It's not a metaphor and it's not ambiguous.
Sometimes, life doesn't go the way you have expected it to and at once in a while you need to simply stop and reflect. How will you continue from here? What's missing? What's wrong? No matter who or what you answer with, that answer is what will bring you one step closer to your happy ending.

Six Word Memoir - Three

Forget the excuses, we're only human.

I was wanting to write a six word memoir that would be meaningful and powerful. It may not be to every person, but as long as it is to one person I'd be content.
When re-reading this one it came to my mind that it's an oxymoron. It's saying to forget the excuses, yet saying "we're only human" is as much as an excuse as all of the others.
When I was looking for a picture to use with this memoir, I wanted to find something that would represent life in some shape or form. When I saw this picture I felt like it was exactly what I was looking for. It's kind of hard to explain, but I feel that a tree is the picture representation of life. I'll find another time to go into detail about it, but for now, I leave you with that.

Six Word Memoir - Two

Confusion surrounds me like a storm.

This six word memoir came to me while I was studying for a bio test. I feel that this picture is a good representation of how I was feeling at that particular moment... the hazy sky (trying to memorize everything), the words lost in the cloud (not quite getting it), and the few stars (for when I actually understood what I was learning)..

Six Word Memoir - One

Movies set high expectations for love.

Writing this six word memoir was an easy process for me. Probably because I've said this before... what teenage girl hasn't?
Choosing this picture wasn't a huge challenge either. I didn't want to choose something that was too loud for simplicity is sometimes the better choice.
I know that I can relate to this six word memoir, can you?