atthestarsupabove

[atthestarsupabove]

Hey guys!!!! Just wanted to post my new blog here--it's mainly focused on my upcoming travels to Ecuador, but there's other stuff too. Take a look and follow if you want! :)

When I found myself on a plane Atlanta to England the summer before college, I felt this crazy rush of “I’m doing something only other people do.” And it’s true. I live my life, and I don’t think I’m alone in this, as if everyone else has it figured out. I talk to people like they’re smarter and more experienced and more put together than me. I don’t want to sell myself short, but I feel like this perspective is better than the alternative; assuming I am smarter and more experienced and put together than those around me. It often sets me up to be pleasantly surprised.

But yes, going to England felt more like an Other People activity than something I could actually do, so the whole process was transformative in the way I view my life. I came back on an incredible high like it was my own personal Ted-Talk-Vacation. I did something, something I didn’t think I could, and that knowledge gave me the freedom to do anything. I haven’t quite felt it on the same level since then, but there certainly have been moments–I imagine travelling to and living in Ecuador will top them all. This past weekend, though, was a little mini-moment in itself, when I went hiking and camping at Red River Gorge.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I sort of covet the lifestyle of those hiking people. I envy their ability to make casual-expressions in front of breathtaking views and nonchalantly post them to Instagram. Their ability to look hawt without showering for days mixed with their endless hammock ingenuity is a source of inspiration. They are Other People, no doubt. But as I’ve been learning lately (like when a friend told me she wanted my life after viewing it through the rose-colored glass of Instagram, lololol), social media envy is mostly about presentation; and just like we filter our selfies to blemish-free perfection, we present ourselves online as the people we want to be, and maybe not as the people we are. I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with this, but I do think it’s crucial to remember that when coveting some dream-like Instagram. It’s not real. The perfection you think is required to do what you want? It doesn’t exist.

When I was on top of a freaking mountain this weekend, and walking for ten years, and feeling like maybe I was overestimating myself, I remembered that I can freaking do whatever I want. Colton and I laughed about how people would look at us now and think “I wish I could be like them!” when in reality we were dying under the weight of our backpack and I tripped probably thirty times.

When I find myself thinking too much about Other People, I imagine them taking the selfie they just posted on Instagram. Because everyone looks ridiculous taking a selfie, and if somehow we could capture that moment, the world would be a little bit brighter. And funnier. Just imagine coming up on us taking the picture above.

Ella Ceron took this topic on in My Life Looks Better On Instagram. Chelsea Fagan is trying to combat it with #totalhonestytuesday.

(just an aside/plug, The Financial Diet published me yesterday (ahhh) and you can find my take on growing up here.)

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Man Bakes Tiny Cake Using Tiny Tools In A Tiny Kitchen

A tiny strawberry cake

Tiny Fried Shrimp

Tiny Sushi

Tiny Cheese Fondue

Tiny Pancakes

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Quito on Flickr.

Quito in Ecuador: www.flickr.com/andreaskay/sets

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USFQ|Did I mention how beautiful my University is?

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fast and the furious franchise like

The Harry and the Potter 2 Harry 2 Potter The Harry and the Potter: Azkaban Prisoner Harry & Potter Harry 5 Harry & Potter 6 Potter 7

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Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz by Trench

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why have an offensive promposal when u can do this

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obama care. obama gently kiss your forehead. obama love

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lemme see if it was any good

no delete it i look dumb

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When your roommate helps you get through a breakup

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It’s a still life water color, Of a now late afternoon, As the sun shines through the curtained lace And shadows wash the room. And we sit and drink our coffee Couched in our indifference, Like shells upon the shore You can hear the ocean roar In the dangling conversation And the superficial sighs, The borders of our lives. And you read your Emily Dickinson, And I my Robert Frost, And we note our place with book markers That measure what we’ve lost. Like a poem poorly written We are verses out of rhythm, Couplets out of rhyme, In syncopated time And the dangled conversation And the superficial sighs, Are the borders of our lives. Yes, we speak of things that matter, With words that must be said, “Can analysis be worthwhile?” “Is the theater really dead?” And how the room is softly faded And I only kiss your shadow, I cannot feel your hand, You’re a stranger now unto me Lost in the dangling conversation. And the superficial sighs, In the borders of our lives.

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So I creep on a lot of ecuador study abroad blogs/igs

and I really don’t like a lot of the people studying there this semester lolz

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“But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.”

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five (via whitelieswhitelilies)