Chicken soup for my own soul

Here's my question: what is the mysterious ingredient in chicken noodle soup that makes it so magical? Like really, with all this sickness in my body I have come to wonder how it is that this simple soup contains tangible comfort and solace. It must be widely acknowledged as a powerful force in the universe. I mean, there is an entire series of books devoted to Chicken Soup for the Soul.

I have this friend who makes "Magic Soup," often from scratch, that is here signature of service. First off, how cool is it to have signature soup to give all your sickly friends. Secondly, I can attest that it is delicious and warms the very cockles of my heart.

I also wonder if there are comfort foods in other cultures that are held at such high esteem as our American chicken noodle soup. In a quick Wikipedia reference we learn that our wonderful soup could actually have an anti-inflammatory effect . Man, I love my Campbell's chicken noodle. It's so good that even Andy Warhol wanted to immortalize it.

21

My 21st year was definitely the best yet. I was blessed with the amazing opportunity to stay with a wonderful family and explore Chile with my magnificent friend who resembles Lady Gaga (at least according to Chileans). I slaughtered the Spanish language to natives, rode horses on the beach, admired expert graffiti, cried on 100 year old elevators, and learn an entirely new level of courage from going to a foreign country alone without knowing the language. Life changing.

I also helped my family move and rode down the Al-Can highway with my parents and one of my favorite people in this universe. He and I walked on a glacier, rode the train, watched sea lions, and endured constant companionship for five days. It was quite the bonding experience. I'm glad he can stand as a witness to my Alaskan life.

School has been wonderful. I've decided to be more open with my philosophical opinion only to discover that I've convicted my professors to think I may be smart. Wonderful trickery. I got to learn more about the bizarre depths of love and even was privileged to date a zombie. He was quite the gentleman. I have the most awesome circle of friends and am never left wanting for deep conversation or unshakable loyalty. We made epic music videos, melted crayons, watched a million years of LOTR, and even played paint twister. I can't imagine life being more fun or feeling more loved. Choir people are where it's at (ignore the poor grammar, I wanted to add some swag).

I became close to amazing people. My friend of epic proportions has put up with so much from me. She and I have danced our lives away at the Killers concert and at Maroon 5. Adam Levine totally sang to us and I count that as one of my greatest accomplishments. She has inspired me in a million ways. My other epic friends have stayed up all night working with me, have painted themselves entirely white for a basketball game, have watched and giggled at Castle, and have never been afraid to call me on the phone to close the distance between us. What extraordinary people.

Also worthy of notation is that I achieved my unpredictable life goal of meeting a General Authority, Elder Cook! He just randomly showed up at my ward (it was a random appearance for me, too) and I was able to shake his hand afterward where he told me he had liked philosophy when he took it in college. I may have chased him down the hall to catch him, though. Classy.

I got to play with my baby nieces and feel incredibly honored that they remember me. And I feel closer to my family than ever. I'm deeply grateful that I could call anyone of them at any time and feel a deep sense of love.

In conclusion, my twenty first year was beyond fantastic, the best case scenario in every way.

Taylor

Today my sweet brother drove up just to spend a few hours with his sick sister. He helped me get my car checked at the dealership and then hung out with me while we waited. For some reason, I feel most lost in the world when it comes to car maintenance. It helps that he's an expert. We ate those new fancy cooler ranch tacos (which will probably be my new constant craving to replace my need for cheeseburgers) and he told me crazy adventure stories of him almost dying in a spontaneous whim of fun. We owned the packed Fun Park with our arcade skills. I have no idea how he can remain oriented with those airplane games, I got dizzy watching. And he has fastest reflexes of the West and scored some 300 tickets just by hitting the button at the right time. We walked away victorious, he with a jumbo tennis ball and I with a Groucho Marx mustache set. What a wonderful few hours with the greatest brother.

The problem with sickness...

...is that my brain gets so bored! I actually really love school purely for the fact that I feel intellectually edified at the end of the day. I crave learning. My favorite Internet activity is hitting the random page button on Wikipedia. I need school for sanity.
Yet when I'm sick, I'm at a loss for an attention span wide enough or long enough to make a difference in my intelligence. Not feeling well has quite the effect on my ability to absorb information. And I hate it. It should be impossible for me to be bored, especially when I'm in the middle of the semester and have so many extra avenues of study I've meant to pursue for so long. But no. No mental capacity for you. Just stare and sleep and wonder when you're going to be able to efficiently wonder again.
Yep, this is probably my greatest dislike of illness. What an interesting thing that the body has so much power to limit the mind. How happy I will be when my inner nerd will be able to prevail in my life once again!

Oh February

What an exciting month! Am I right? It's everyone's favorite. We just adore the unpredictable bleak weather, the increasing difficulty of school, and the emotionally charged Valentine's Day.
Yeah, no. I have to see February as a month of growth. It seems that life is either boring and you feel without direction, or all of the challenges you could imagine pile on. Which is better? I think both are about equally uncomfortable, but at least with challenges I have opportunities to expand my character.
One attribute to focus on is gratitude. I really do believe gratitude is synonymous with happiness. I have a new goal (not a very original one) to start a gratitude journal. I journal my life anyway, but I think starting my day with a perspective seeking gratitude will help me avoid the tethers of entitlement and escape the habit of taking things for granted. I may or may not post entries on here. Sometimes it's a good feeling for your gratitude to be out in the universe.
The one thing I want to say I'm grateful for at this moment is my sweet little nieces that I was privileged to see for a bit this weekend. Harper is holding Gammy's hand and looks up at me, waves, and says, "Hi, Manny." Just a little recognition out of nowhere means a lot. I'm so excited to be an aunt to those two little girls who are bursting at the seams with personality. I adore Harper and Ivy. That's what I'm grateful for at this moment.

This is Hope

Growing up in Alaska, I had the privilege of singing in the Alaskan Children's Choir for four years, or so. My talented sister had participated before and wanted to experience choir also. The song that most impacted me was called The Inscription of Hope. It's lyrics were taken from a fragment of writings found in a cellar in Germany, where Jews were hiding during the Holocaust. If you listen to it, find a version that is sung by children. It's straight up incredible. This is what hope is:

Inscription of Hope

I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining.
And I believe in love
even when there's no one there.

And I believe in God
even when He is silent.
I believe through any trial
there is always a way.

But sometimes in this suffering
and hopeless despair
My heart cries for shelter
to know someone's there.
But a voice rises within me saying,
'hold on my child
I'll give you strength, I'll give you hope
Just stay a little while.'

I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining.
And I believe in love
even when there's no one there.

And I believe in God
even when God is silent.
I believe through any trial
there is always a way.

May there someday be sunshine,
May there someday be happiness,
May there someday be love,
May there someday be peace.

Am I Really 6 Years Old?

Here's a quote everyone knows:

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man.
Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

 Guilty as charged. The health thing just stresses me out. One reason is because I don't even really know what healthy is anymore. But mostly it's because I know no diligence. I don't know how to say no to that thing that I totally know is bad for me, but has instant benefits. I've known for a long time that sugary things make me feel particularly terrible. Does that stop me? Nah, who needs to feel well in the long run when I can taste sweetness now, am I right? This quote reminds me of how easy it is to lack a long term sense of vision. And health is the most elusive vision to have. It's easier to see a vision of a long term career or personal accomplishments. But health means I have to start doing stuff right now and be committed for eternity. I'm too afraid of commitment to sign up for anything for forever. I definitely can't give up stuff that gives me instant gratification. Sometimes I'm convinced that instant gratification is the only thing that's real. How's that for a confession. I totally lack a perspective of endurance. 

You know that scenario where they put the little kid in the room with the marshmallow and then tell them if they can wait fifteen minutes before eating it they can have another one? I'd eat it right in front of them before they even finished the instructions. 

Now if the obligation is based on relationships, I follow through without doubting it. I can do my job and my school work just because I want to uphold a respectable person's expectations of my task at hand. But I have no responsibility to myself. It's a weird thing. I can't figure out how to care for my own sake sometimes. It's growing on me, but I'm nowhere near my peers who are running marathons and volunteering their time for a million little things. I think that may be one reason why I'm so chaotic. Why care about my own world when I can be so involved in the interesting world of others?

(That post evolved in a curious manner, now didn't it?)