Day without Internet

Yesterday, a horrible thing happened.  I was watching a video on Youtube, basically just wasting my time when I should have been doing my homework, when suddenly the internet stopped working.  I tried to load the page again, but the message that popped up was quite unexpected and unwelcome.  It said, "The bill for your internet has not been paid." Knowing this wasn't my fault (I am not in charge of the internet bill) I could do nothing about it.  It turns out that my roommate wants to switch to another internet provider and stopped paying the bill for our current provider.  The ladies above my apartment are planning to install the new router and let us share with them but it will take a couple days.  Anyway, my apartment is going to be without internet for the next few days, perhaps the next few weeks.  And it is going to kill me.  After the internet was shut down, the next few hours of yesterday were quite revealing.  I was having serious internet withdrawals.  I wanted the internet back!!  I didn't know what to do with myself.  After wasting my time pouting because of my loss, I decided to do my reading and play the piano instead--activities which are a much better use of my time.  However, I still miss the internet greatly.  I couldn't check my email or Facebook.  I couldn't access my Google docs which contained much of my homework.  Oh, yesterday was a sad sad day...such a tale of woe.

Saw this picture on Facebook and thought I'd share:

Music and Word

Music is power.  It has the ability to change and influence our lives.  Certain music has the power to make me hope, to make me dream, to make me relax, to make me me, to make me imagine.  At this very moment I am listening to my epic soundtrack playlist and feeling totally inspired. 

When I was a teenager--well, now that I think about, I still do this--I would turn on my music and put headphones to my ears and just sit and listen.  The music would inspire thoughts and emotions.  I would think about my life or just imagine life being more amazing.  I would see myself saving people and doing heroic acts.  Or I would imagine a new place and new people, entirely of my own creation, and develop plots and personalities to go with it. On car trips I would listen to music for hours and just entertain myself with my own thoughts and mental images.  For me it was better than watching a movie or listening to books on tape.  I was the creator and the observer.  No one, not even me, would know how the story ended.  The music led me through a story as I followed the emotions of the songs.  I have brainstormed my best stories while listening to music.

Music also makes me introspective.  As I listen memories and ideas come to my mind as they are triggered by the lyrics or sounds.  I have received many epiphanies and clarifications about life, humanity, and the universe from music. My testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ has increased many times just by listening to one song. This is the power of music.

Here are some of the songs that have inspired me...

To Feel the spirit

To Relax

To be Empowered

To Have Fun

Mormon Messages

Today in SFL 358 we watched one of the Mormon Messages and it made me realize the impact they've had on me.  Many if not all of those messages have touched my life and given me strength in different ways to continue living my life well.  Some days I reach an ultimate low - like today - with no motivation or strength to fight the pressures of the world or to tackle the stresses of life.  Homework, classes, relationships, challenges, and fatigue.  On and on and on.  What I need is a little hope, just a pleasant thought or encouragement to keep me going.  Mormon messages are often the source I seek for that hope.  They are some of the best outputs in the media.  Below are some of my favorites.  Enjoy and feel the spirit today.

Create

Patterns of Light

Moments that Matter Most

EviDANCE

Saturday I attended EviDANCE which used to be known as World of Dance.  I'm not sure if dance concerts can be considered media but I'd like to think that they do.  This concert in particular attempted to share a message to the audience.  They were discribing what dance is.  In the process they used large screens that you think are backdrops at first but are actually images projected onto a  canvas.  Each of their performances was assigned to one of four catagories.  Whimsical, romantic, mysterious, and life.  For each introduction into the catagories, the screen was used to display it.  It was beautifully done.  The message they conveyed to us was that dance can be a part of life and life can be in dance.  I'm not a huge dance fan but I think it's fun.  I've taken Social Dance 180 and I enjoy dancing around my room by myself.  But this performance was inspiring.  It made me feel like I could do great things. I cried almost four times during this performance.  While I was walking home I felt like I was on cloud nine.  Attending performances like that is like stepping into another world, escaping life and its dullness, to be thrust into a world of beauty and inspiration.  The magical combination of music, dance, and images impacted me strongly.  Before the concert even started I felt more at peace.  I was sitting by myself, attending the concert alone as I am want to do, surrounded by people I did not know.  The sound of chatter around the large room was loud and rumbled in my ears but I did not hear it.  The music in the background was what I focused on.  Playing over the speakers was music from the Lord of the Rings.  It was calm and serene.  I closed my eyes and let myself relaxed.  Every stressor and pessimistic thought lifted away from me, and I became a figure of stillness in that room full of noise.

Performances are one of the greatest forms of media and they are my way of escape. 

While I was working on an assignment for this class, I noticed that the synonym for entertainment was 'diversion' and 'distraction.'  In some ways these two words have a negative connotation but they can also be viewed as positive.  In this instance my positive diversion from life was music and dance.  But instead of making me feel wasted and dead inside like some entertainment leaves you, this distraction left me feeling empowered.

Phoneless

I usually consider myself not addicted to my phone.  On any given day I check my cellphone maybe once a day for text messages and missed calls.  I talk on the phone maybe once every two weeks and text maybe five times a week--and that means only five text messages per week.  I'm notorious for not answering my phone and responding to texts.

I carry my phone for two main purposes: 1) clock, and 2) emergency calls.  I do call my family every once and a while, but other than that I avoid it.  I do not like talking on the phone.  I prefer speaking face to face with someone if at all possible.

The downside to my neglect is I miss out on invitations and people stop texting me because I don't respond.  I perpetuate the neglect of my phone.  And sometimes, I don't care.

However, I had an enlightening event this past week that opened my eyes to my dependency on my phone.

I was visiting my sister and my nephew Jonathan on Tuesday.  Jonathan loves to play with my phone so I gave it to him to carry around.  He laughs every time he presses the buttons and a red screen comes up.  It says 'to unlock, press ok, then clr.'  It's the only reason I allow him to play with it.  I'm pretty sure he won't press those two buttons in the right order and accidentally call someone. I love watching him giggle every time the screen pops up.

Eventually he lost interest and left the phone somewhere and I left without it.

It took me a while to realize it was gone. I went back to my sister's and we found it in the diaper bag.  I was so relieved and also shocked that I actually missed my phone.  All my talk about how I don't need it was a lie.  I use and need it more than I thought--even only to tell the time.  I don't know how people lived without the ability to contact others whenever and wherever they wanted.  Phones are one of the greatest inventions and has changed humanity forever. Never the less, I am glad I am not completely dependent on it.  Too many people are addicted to using their phones and neglect things that are more important, like personal interaction and basic appreciation of their surroundings.  I see too many people walking around on campus, talking on their phones or texting, while completely ignoring the people and the world around them.  They become self-centered and consumed by their phones and transmitted conversations.

Imagine Dragons

I promise, I am not obsessed with dragons.  It's just a coincidence that my first two blogs have to do with them. I have to admit, I did read a lot of fantasy books when I was a teenager so perhaps I am.  But lately I prefer to read dramas, weird but yah.  Anyway, I'll move on.

Imagine Dragons, if you do not know, is a band.  And I am obsessed with them.  Their music is peppy and fun with a unique sound and voices. When I hear their music, I can't help but be happy. I love listening to them.  If you haven't heard them before, you should give them a listen.  They came out recently with a CD which includes several of their most popular songs, like 'It's time' and 'Radioactive,' and some refreshing new ones which keep getting stuck in my head.  I think my favorite of the newest songs is 'Bleeding Out.'

Music is an escape for me.  I turn it on when life gets too overwhelming or when I need at extra boost to get something unpleasant done.  I listen to it when I clean the dishes or when I work on other monotonous tasks.  It helps me relax and enjoy life more.  Sometimes when I'm extremely stressed, I put on some of my favorite, calming music and just sit, listen, and meditate.  When I'm feeling melancholy, happy music is the best medicine.  But sometimes when I'm angry and depressed, I turn on music that matches my mood and even that consoles me.  

Music has power, people.  It can be great good in our stressful lives. But beware, it can also evoke emotions that can hinder your happiness.  Don't listen to things that make you want to hurt someone, behave rashly, act inappropriately, or go against what you know to be right.  Limit or completely rid yourself of music that endorses sex, promiscuity, violence, depression, anger, and revenge.  There is a plethora of good music out there; you just have to sort through the slush pile to find music that is worthwhile.

Imagine Dragons was a diamond found in the rough.  I came across them while exploring music on Spotify and have listened to them constantly ever since.  Let happiness and excitement begin!

Here There Be Dragons and Devotional

Today I attended the first BYU devotional of the semester.  I closed up the reference desk where I work and headed to the Marriott Center.  I was quite excited and pleased to see so many people walking along with me.  Sister Samuelson and Brother Samuelson  spoke and what intrigued me most was Sister Samuelson's speech.  She told us about old maps and how in areas where the topographers hadn't explore or where they encountered danger, they drew a dragon along with the words "Here There Be Dragons."  She went on to talk about the "dragons" in our lives which are those things which terrify or tempt us.  She told us to mind our dragons.  If they be temptations, avoid them.  If they be irrational fears, face and explore them.  As we come into this new semester, we will be faced with dragons.  There will be places on our  maps that are unexplored, dangerous, and unknown, marked with the words, "Here There Be Dragons" but we must be brave and face them with caution.  Half way through her talk, she spoke of media and mentioned how it can be used for good or ill in our lives. Media can be used to extend our knowledge and enlighten our minds. It can share good messages and be a useful tool.  But media can also be our dragons, those things which tempts us, and we can use it for ill.  So, my peers and happenstance visitors, beware of your use of media and choose it wisely because you may find a quite unfriendly dragon in your path and it's not going to be Toothless or Puff the Magic Dragon.  Be brave and stay away from those treacherous regions.  Proceed with caution.  Beware. Be aware.  Because Here, in the media, There Be Dragons.