Blog @ Melilyn.com

Archive for August, 2007

This is an archive and may contain old or out-of-date content. Check the date; things may have changed since the time of the original posting. Conversation is allowed on older posts, but be aware that they will not come to my attention as easily.

Relax.

Lately I’ve been finding myself really stressed out for no reason… to the point of snapping at people when they really didn’t deserve it. It’s not even like life is really all that awful right now. I just have a bad habit of getting myself into a tizzy.

I’ve been learning how to relax. Not just my body, but my brain and my emotions as well. This is what I do to relax.

1. Music. This is seriously the key to unwinding… for me, anyhow. Grab your iPod, CD Player, or heck, the closest radio, and put on music you love. It doesn’t even have to be relaxing music… I’ve been known to fall asleep to some hard rock before. Worship music, soundtrack music, screaming kids with dreadlocks, whatever it takes.
2. Find something to occupy your brain. If you put your mind on something else, you won’t have time to over-analyze everything else, now, will you? Pick something repetetive and methodical… like the Solitaire game that’s on every PC, or doodling on a sheet of paper, or crocheting, or painting your toenails. If that doesn’t relax you, find something to challenge your brain. Immerse yourself in a problem of mediocre importance. Me, personally, when I hit that point, I code a website or a layout. It’s not life or death, but it takes my mind off of life’s little annoyances.
3. Take a walk. Get out. Go look at something else. Take that music from step one with you. If you’re not into walking, get in your car and just drive. Pull your old bike out of the shed and cruise the neighborhood. Just get out and absorb the change in scenery.
4. Completely clear your head. Everyone does this differently. Some people will get into full-on meditation to clear their head… some people just need to lie in their back yard and look at the stars. Think about God. Think about nothing at all. Just clear your head.
5. Have a heart-to-heart with your best friend. Even if you just end up giggling about something that someone said to someone else, or drawing reeses pieces in a tree and saving it for later (okay, so we’re weird), sometimes a friend is all you need to relax you and get you out of your slump.
6. Do something artistic. You don’t even have to be artistic for this! Get a piece of paper and some crayons and just scribble! Write a book/story/poem/song. Doodle. Draw all over the entire road with sidewalk chalk.
7. Take a nap. Sounds lazy, but a lot of people get stressed out when they don’t get enough sleep. Take a little nap. It’ll probably unwind you pretty fast.
8. Just worship. I’m not even particularly good on this one (today’s confession), but it’s probably better than everything else put together. Just take your focus completely off yourself, put it on Him, and watch everything fall into place.

I guess that’s all I have for now. For some reason, I was thinking about this on the way home from the lake. We went to Sulphur today, which is where we’re planning on having Sukkot, just to scope it out and spend some time swimming. After we ate lunch, I was waiting for a while before I got back in (that’s just the way I was taught, thank you!), and ended up just sitting on the shore, just letting the waves wash over me… just letting everything drain out of my head. It’s the most relaxed I’ve been in quite a while… and it was absolutely lovely.

So what do you all do to relax? Anything? If you all don’t speak up pretty soon, I’m going to have to start up another de-lurking week. Also, what are your plans for Sukkot? We’re camping with some friends of ours, but I’m a little disappointed because the only other “youth” will be my sister, who is fifteen, along with a fourteen year old and an eleven year old. That’s the one thing I probably miss about Sukkots in the past… all of the youth. Oh, gosh, though… I’m not even really youth anymore!

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Other People’s Problems

I’ve got a question for you all this week, and it’s about other people’s problems. Whose problems, you may ask? Anyone’s.

I’m personally one of those people who tend to be a worrier. If I know something’s wrong, I worry about it… even if it doesn’t really concern me. Couple that with an overactive imagination, and you can see why I tend to list a lot of fears on those email surveys. Anyhow, that’s besides the point. I know a lot of times my moods are situation-based… meaning, I could be having a great day until someone I care about starts crying, and then I worry about them for the rest of the day.

Along with that, one of the few good qualities I can tell you about myself is that I’m a good listener. I’ve always been told that… most likely just because I tend to be a quiet person around certain people. Who knows? But this means that I’m constantly hearing other people’s problems (which is fine, seriously) and then worrying about them.

Am I the only one? Do any of you do this too, and if so, to what degree? Does it bug you for a minute and then go away? Does it keep you up all night, depending on the severity of the problem? Or do you kind of shrug it off, thinking that your own problems are quite enough for you, thanks?

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Nostalgia and Community

Nos • tal • gia – noun – a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one’s life, to one’s home or homeland, or to one’s family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

I was really really bored last night while waiting around on Yahoo, and so I was passing the time looking for something in one of my old email accounts. Old email accounts, by the way, are the best time capsules ever. In the process, I started reading some old emails and taking a quick trip down memory lane. It was like reliving the past… something I tend to be overly good at.

After that I pulled up my old Xanga (now that’s a riot and a half…) and was looking through some old entries… and then, just before I got off for the sake of needing just a little bit of sleep before I had to go to work, I found myself over at the Internet Archive looking at the entries for Transitionalstate. That, by the way, was James’ idea. I forgot about the IA.

I miss T-state. I really, really do! I honestly haven’t found a forum with that level of close-knit community since then. I mean… people have met on this forum and gotten married (Sonny and Jessie, Grant and Adrienne), and I’ve met quite a few of the friends that I’ve had for… well, since T-state. I really, really miss it.

I’ve been thinking a bit about community. T-state had it. Why? What was it about that particular group of people in that time and in that place that seemed to click? Seriously, it really was the most drama-free forum ever. I can remember one member getting disciplined and… well, he shouldn’t have been on there in the first place.

Why can’t communities in real life work this way? Perhaps it’s because we don’t see each other face-to-face. Perhaps, in real life, it’s not just friends and more friends… it’s friends, family, and more ties and loyalties than I care to think about. This is, once again, delightfully vague. I’ve just been in a bit of a funk the last day or so, for many many more reasons than just this.

Some days I wish that we could bring back certain elements of the past… and some days I’m thankful that I’ll never have to live through those particular trials again.

This post is part of The Erulynsky Blogathon
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Back! Did you miss me?

I’m back from Texas, and let me tell you… besides the fact that I had the worst stomacheache ever (ALL weekend), I had a fantastic time. It was relaxing and crazy all at once, and none of us got much sleep, but it was all well worth it. The best part of the entire weekend was sitting by the lake just after sunset, singing. Honestly, that’s all it takes.

Anyhow, I had a great time… it was cool seeing James and Ashley again, and getting to meet some new people, and just hanging out and having a good time. That, and Dallas is cool.

I think LB and Shawna were cheating on that blogathon by the way. BUT that’s okay, because I didn’t really want eternal glory anyway. I’ll settle for the best advice I’ve gotten in a long time, and a picture that… well, you’ll see it when she lets me post it.

That’s all for now. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to catch up with, which really shouldn’t be done at one in the morning (never, EVER watch the over-emotional twelve-episode season finale of a show you’ve been loyally following religiously for at least six months, after not getting much sleep all weekend… because you’ll find yourself sitting at your computer sobbing because your favorite character just got stabbed!). Yes. I still watch LG15…

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I got to touch an iPhone!

Nerd alert. Nerd alert.

Hey, guys! I’m in Texas right now, having a blast. I’m sure you’ll get the full story when I’m coherent enough to care. But one thing I wanted to say (mostly for LB’s sake)… I really did get to play with an iPhone the other day. And I will say… they’re just as nice as they look. They had to drag me out of the Apple store eventually. Oh, it was nice.