Let's Face it.

Just a few minutes ago, after twenty-three years, I discovered a fear of mine that I had never thought of before: a fear that is very prominent in my life.

People always talk about the fear of rejection. When I hear that, my mind instantly runs to the idea of fear that others will reject us. However, have we considered the vice versa scenario of this fear? Is it possible that we may be holding back in our relationships because we fear to reject another?

This is a real problem in my life. 

Growing up, especially in my dating life, I realize that I have really missed out on opportunities to form friendships and create meaningful experiences with people because I fear to disappoint. Example: Turning down a date because I was not interested in the person romantically. Recently, I have discovered that this fear is ridiculous and a little too apparent in my life! However, without knowing it, I have been learning to overcome this fear. The other day, I received a text from a man who I believe is interested in me romantically. Before, I regret to say that I would have probably ignored the text. However, I decided to face the music (what does that phrase even mean?) and accept the fact that I might be rejecting this poor boy. So I responded. And surprisingly, nothing happened. We had a nice conversation seeing how each other was and then the conversation ended. And I didn’t have to reject anyone!

No matter how scary it is, my goal is to keep working on having sincere interactions with people without the fear of rejection. For me or for someone else.

This is a note from Heidi.

Make it a good life!

Life Albums. It Should Be a Thing.

So, I was messing around in Photoshop and I ended up making an album cover...for myself. Basically, if I had an album of my life, this would cover it. I'll put some of the steps I took while making my magnificent masterpiece:

1) I just started with a very centric photo of my with a black and white filter. Flattering...I know.

2) I put the photo into Adobe Photoshop, cropped cropped it, added text, and changed the brightness, contrast, exposure, etc:

3) I messed around and tried a lot of different techniques and effects. I honestly don't remember what I did for this one. Kind of interesting, but I thought it was cool:

4) After adding basically just lines, boxes and some other things, I completed my mission. Ta-Da, the finished product:

 Pretty cool, huh? Maybe we should all make Life Albums. We can all be famous, we can all create something unique to contribute to this grand world we live in.

This is a note from Heidi.

Make it a great week!

The Birthday Creeper

So, my birthday has come at last. On the glorious morn of my special day, I was going online to probably google a recipe or something of that nature and this is what I see:

How does Google know my birthday?? I had to find the brute that was behind this. So, I clicked on the lovely picture. To my surprise, it took me to Google +, which I NEVER use. I got an account years ago for a class assignment and I hadn't looked at it since. But, lo and behold, there it was, December 18th, my very own birthday for all of the online world to see. I do not recollect putting that there! This is a minor example, but it is incredible what information is on the internet that we may not be aware of. Careful everyone! Don't put anything online that you wouldn't be comfortable having the forty-year-old creeper down the street get ahold of. Wait, would there be any information that fits in that category? . . . you get the gist. 

This is a note from Heidi.

Make it a great day!

Being Well-rounded is a Service

So, I'm a college student: in regards to finals week...well, let's say that sleep and food are my long lost friends right now. BUT, I've been thinking about how lucky I am to be in school and to be, as the scriptures say, "learned". Education helps us to be well-rounded people.

We need to be well-rounded to make a significant difference in this world of people who need our influence. Let's be well-rounded, huh? Let's learn all we can about how this world works and about how people work! Let's learn about relationships and how to effectively communicate. Then let's use our knowledge to help others.

This is a note from Heidi.

Make it a great week!

Hallelujah For Hard Times.

I have been hitting this leg against EVERYTHING this week. I realized when I looked at my many battle bruises that together they formed the shape of a cloud with drops of rain falling from it.

It may be hard to see sometimes, but there is beauty in our hard times. We might just have to look at them in a more creative way. But we are made as creative beings. We have the power to change the way we think. We have the power to think positively.

This is a note from Heidi.

Make it a great week!