Stop and take a breath

29.04.15

It's finals week already; words cannot describe the incredible shock that has overwhelmed me when I say that. Previous years I am counting down the days until I finish my last exam or hand in my last piece of coursework, so that it can be summer already. Oh how the tables have turned. I would almost prefer that school continued its been that enjoyable but none the less my time at college studying abroad has almost come to an end. It's a bitter sweet feeling, I am excited to see my friends and family at home, drive my car, sleep in my bed and cuddle my cats but if I was able to hop back on a plane the following week I would be more than glad.

Although that would be perfect I know that it's definitely not realistic. I am also fortunate enough to have put the work pedal down the past couple of weeks and managed to finish everything with time to spare; which is some what of a stark contrast to any other year that I had finals. 

I look at this week as an absolute gift, time for 'me time' and although I would love for my friends to be finished already and to spend it with them, it's nearly more beneficial to take the time to myself and appreciate this year here.

I took a walk out along the rim trail tonight and found my favourite spot at the edge vacant, got comfy on the bench and sat. I have no idea how long I sat there but in no time at all it had went from a beautifully bright summers evening to darkness, I was left with the streets below as my only light. 

We tend to focus solely on the negatives and shine less light on the positives and the good times that we have had, I can confess to doing this in the past for sure. I mean this in the sense that when we for example, have only a short length of time left of something then we tend to focus only on the fact that we have that short time and not on the fact that yes we have this length of time and look at all the cool things that we can do. We are only human and its what we do but do you ever just take the time to sit and just sit?..... Think. Be thankful. Grateful. Happy. Live in the moment.

I did tonight. I sat on that bench, unaware if anyone was around me or what was happening but I looked at the exact place that I was sitting; mesmerised by the perfectly beautiful little town that I was watching over. A town that was only a name to me this day last year, exactly four days ago on 24th April 2014 I received an email to say that I had been placed in Fort Lewis Durango Colorado. 

Durango

I obviously had the Fort down as an option since it was somewhere that I felt I would fit in, with all the outdoor activities and small community vibe it just so happened that other people happened to think the same and placed me here. What a difference a year can make, I never knew that I was embarking on one of the most excited,testing and rewarding adventures of my life and hopefully not the last.

If you haven't already figured out I am quite the sentimental person and when it comes to experiences and magic moments I really am a sucker for making notes and doing my bit to cherish these moments in a form I can only feel is fitting... words. So that if it manages to reach even one person, that they will benefit from it in a way that helps them make a decision. In some sense what I am trying to portray is the message that when decisions, life, school, the little things, the big things etc get all too much for you to handle, taking a step back and breathing, be thankful, be relaxed or don't think at all. Just appreciate what you have done to date and know that no matter what you have to do, everyone has the ability to make the right decision; "No decision is the wrong decision because everything happens for a reason."

Good luck x

Beer advertisement project

For our advertising class, we were asked to choose a beer from our given company and redesign their logo. I was given EPIC brewery company and I choose from their wide selection of beers; they have a brainless series and I decided to work on two of the five flavours; Raspberry and cherry.

Magazine article project

09.04.15

Where to next?

Article text:

"Traveling is no longer a word solely used for exploring the world, instead it is now a stage of life. It’s a journey to explore who we are as a person, although as deep and profound as that sounds it has an element of truth, we spend so much time in education being told what is correct, what is considered wrong and what we should do; that we end up being an assortment of narrow minded students all doing the same as each other. Do we make decisions based on our friends or as long as our future boss would prefer we did? Do I really want that? And am I choosing this to make myself happy or to make someone proud? Are we taking the time to consider what we even want from life anymore or are we all just getting caught up in the rat race; life? Traveling can take you out of your comfort zone, it puts you in an environment that requires you to behave off of your own opinion. I have always heard the phrase ‘going to find myself’ I never knew the real meaning and decided on my own interpretation; “distancing yourself from what you know is common, your friends, family, job and college, these are all distractions and factors that can cloud your opinion, once you have none of these factors to rely on or distract you; you then revert back to your own instinct.” All these components can blur our judgement and we end up just being another sheep in the crowd that just follows the herd, that is life."

In my recent digital media class, we were asked to choose from three magazine options 'Good' 'Spin' and 'Architectural Digest' then we were asked to choose a relevant topic (person, event, place, thing, idea, issue, cause) for the subject matter and design a two page spread that would grab the attention of the reader and make them want to read on. 

I seen this as my golden opportunity to work on something I really enjoyed, something that I was completely passionate about and would gladly spend all my time working on it. Traveling! 

I love to express myself through my writing and even though I post my work on my blog I almost feel as if I have it hidden from the real world, like my college friends and people that I spend a lot of my daily life with. This was my chance to show two of the things that I am truly passionate about, writing and traveling.

If I got the opportunity some day to write and design for an outdoor, adventure or travel magazine, lets just say that I would be one happy girl. (Fingers crossed)