This is where I will be working this summer. I am working as their Office Administrator. I can’t wait for the summer to start so I can live in this beautiful place and meet new people. I am excited for the challenge and about what God has in store for me there!
I don’t often check my mail box, because it seems like no one sends mail anymore.
Today I was walking through the mail room, and I decided to check my mailbox. Now, I share my mailbox with another student who either doesn’t go here anymore or never checks for mail. So ever since I got here, there have been the same letters in the mailbox. I always get excited when I open the door and see envelopes, then I realize that they aren’t addressed to me.
But today was different. I opened the door and saw the usual envelopes, but tucked in beside them was a letter for me!
Receiving this letter was a piece of evidence that somewhere out there, there is a person who cares enough about me to write a letter, print pictures, find my address, buy stamps, and mail it.
A letter says “I care about you, I have things to tell you, I was thinking about you and wanted to put it down in words.”
Text messages, phone calls and emails are the main ways we communicate right now. They are convenient, cheap and sometimes even free. There is nothing wrong with them, but think about why you text people. Is it because you need something from them?
I would be interested to know what the percentage is of text messages and emails that are sent for the purpose of asking a question that needs to be answered quickly. I am guessing a lot.
Now, I consider myself a pretty relational person, but if the only reason I communicate with people is to ask them something; then something has gone very wrong.
I am a letter hypocrite.
I love letters. I think that writing someone a letter is meaningful, personal, and it brightens their day. But do I write letters? No. A couple of days ago I made my Mom a birthday card and sent it in the mail. I had to walk all the way across campus to mail it and the stamps I had weren’t current so I had to put two stamps on the envelope so there was sufficient payment for posting. It wasn’t even a letter. It was a card with six sentences of text. This is the first thing I have mailed in months.
I think letter writing is an endangered species of communication but I am not doing anything to change it.
We all open our mailboxes hoping for a letter… not realizing that someone needs to get the ball rolling.
I text, I call, I skype, I email, I facetime, I post on facebook, I tweet, I tumble(?); yet I don’t put pen to paper and write letters.
So why don’t we write letters? In comparison to writing emails on our cell phones while we are in line at Starbucks, it seems a little inefficient to write a letter and then have to drive somewhere to mail it. Who doesn’t love multi tasking? I mean, why do one thing at a time when you can do three?
Something worth thinking about: what are we sacrificing when we put efficiency and convenience first? (I might answer this another day)
*Now, I can’t title this post “You’ve Got Mail” without mentioning the movie with the same title. It is one of my all time favourite movies and if you have not seen it you are missing out!
As a side note, I think it is ironic that the movie is called “You’ve Got Mail”, but the whole movie is about email.
This is a dialogue between Joe Fox, his Father (Nelson), and his Grandfather (Schuyler).
SCHUYLER: Cecilia Kelly, lovely woman. I think we might have had a date once. Or maybe we just exchanged letters.
JOE: You wrote her letters?
SCHUYLER: Mail. It was called mail.
NELSON: (fondly nostalgic) Stamps. Envelopes.
JOE: You know, I think I’ve heard of it. It was a means of communication before I was born.
NELSON: Exactly.
SCHUYLER: Cecilia had beautiful penmanship.
It is so lovely, so romantic that he said that. “She had beautiful penmanship.” No one would say that anymore, because no one writes letters.
Now, I think that we can all agree that when you receive a letter from a friend, it makes you feel loved. Important. Worth the time it took them to walk to mail the letter.
So in light of this, let’s bring snail mail back!
P.S. a shout out to Laura McGill who sent the letter than inspired this post. Laura, it brightened my day and made me feel loved. Thank you.
Ok, so confession time.
I have been faithfully watching The Bachelor every week since I have gotten to school. I have always been vehemently opposed this show and others like it. But I started watching it with my dormmates and now I am hooked. Every monday night I spend two hours of my life drawn into the world of Ben and the women who want to marry him (he isnt even cute). I still find it ridiculous that all of these women are willing to date the same guy at the same time. I personally wouldn’t want to kiss this guy when I know for sure that he is making out with the other girls too.
I can’t mention The Bachelor without talking about Courtney. She is one of the women on the show and she is crazy. She plots against the girls and does anything to steal Ben away from them. Including going skinny dipping with him in the ocean.
I am trying to figure out why this show is so popular.
Is it is because we like seeing other people find love? (If that is even what you can call it)
Or is it because we are coveting the life they lead? I mean they travel everywhere. They have nice meals and get to do cool stuff.
I honestly don’t know why it draws me in so much… but it does.
Other embarrassing things I like: Hello Kitty, Rereading books millions of times, cheesy highschool movies (Bring it on, Mean Girls, etc.), old pop music, school supplies (seriously I just bought a pencil sharpener and it was wonderful), and many other things.
I love having things to look forward to.
I enjoy knowing what comes next (I hate surprises, remember?) and when there are good things coming up, I just get so excited.
The next couple weeks are full of exciting things.
Tomorrow I have my first real midterm. (I say real, because I had an online midterm last week) It is for my business class, and I have been busy studying and reviewing my notes. Then at night a bunch of people are watching The Bachelor. Cheesy, I know, but it sucks you in.
Then on tuesday, (also known as Valentines Day) a bunch of girls from my dorm are going to see The Vow at the movie theatre. It is a romantic movie (obviously). It is going to be so great.
On wednesday, there is a girls night at school for all the girls who live on campus.
Sorry to cut this short- library is closing. More on my exciting life tomorrow!
P.S. tweeted for the first time in a million years. It is actually embarrassing that I have all of these social media sites and never use them. Fail!
So, to start this off.. let me tell you about how much I value bobby pins. I have them everywhere. Every pocket, every purse (which is a lot, although that is another story), every drawer in my life has at least one bobby pin in it.
I just love them. I feel safe when I have lots to spare, it’s a very good feeling.
So, imagine my surprise when I learn something new about bobby pins.
I was chatting with my friend Iona and she mentioned the proper use of these fantastic objects.
“You know that the straight side goes up, right?”
What??? No I did not. All these years I have been using them wrong. I have been putting the straight side down.
I tried it the “correct” way, and it was fabulous. My precious bobby pins have become even more precious in my eyes!
So the other night I was studying at my desk with my macbook pro open and my water bottle open beside it.
I bet you know where I am going with this.
I stood up to unplug my cord, and I knocked over my water bottle onto the keyboard. The screen went black. Needless to say, I was pretty upset. I took it to a computer store, and they said they could fix it for $1500. A new macbook pro costs $1300. Ridiculous. I sent it home to Ontario to the computer guy who fixes my parent’s computers.
So, for the next week.. I am without a laptop. I am currently in the library at school, using the iMac’s they have here. The keyboards stick and they are slow. But I am thankful they are here. Because it’s better than nothing.
The night it happened, I was upset. Why does this have to happen to me?
…But I am trying to put a positive spin on this. It is just a computer. As my friend said..
“It’s not like someone died.”
Exactly. If this is my big problem.. I really don’t have anything to cry about.
It is totally a “first world problem”. I don’t know if you have heard about them, but they pretty much compare the ridiculous “problems” we have, with the real problems in developing countries. Like not having clean water, shoes, and access to education.
It really puts it into perspective.
I am really trying to be patient and to not worry.
“Can anyone add a single hour to your life by worrying?”
I am hoping that not having a computer for a while will make me appreciate what I have. I mean, I have a phone that basically acts like a computer. I can use it to go on the internet and check my email. I can even videochat with people.
This situation has also made me realize how much I used my computer to be lazy. I would sit for an hour looking at stuff on pinterest. Is that really helping me be productive? I would watch movies on my laptop instead of going to bed on time. These are all time wasters. I am going to commit to being a good steward of my possessions.
I don’t want my laptop and phone to be distractions from real life. They are communication tools, not replacements for the real thing.
—me.
(via tellemeoncemore)
Hello out there…
Today is my 10th day at University. I have had a full week and a half of school and living in community with new friends. I have found it full of new adventures and full of opportunities to grow. I feel like I am growing out and growing up.. but also shrinking down and in. I definitely did not move to BC to “get away” from anything or anyone.. but I think that I thought I would be different here. And in some ways, I have had to change.. but I am still me. Good things and bad, I am the same. It’s like that quote..
“Wherever you go, there you are”
How I cope with this realization is remember that even though I feel the same, I can change.
”Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
Sometimes I feel myself trying to bend my character to the mold of commonality. I try to fit in.. I try to disappear so I don’t stand out. I don’t want to settle to be like everyone else. So my goal for now is to be willing to be shaped.
My name is Lindsay and I am Twenty Two years old. I am about to embark on a very exciting journey across Canada to Beautiful British Columbia. I am starting University on the ninth and I am nervous but thrilled that I get to start a new chapter of my life. I love books, vintage things, fashion, beauty, God, nature, friends, family, my dog Hudson and things that sparkle. I overanalyze things and I don’t like surprises. Sometimes I dwell on the past and it drags me away from the future. This is me. This is the record of my now and my next.
