Wonderfully Busy Life and All that it Entails

So, I haven't written in a long time. Life is so busy! Gah, it's ridiculous! But I don't want to talk about my busy life... I want to explain it in detail, but I won't put anyone through that type of torture, so here's the shortened version instead. Enjoy!

I don't know what's been going on with my mind, but I feel so much calmer and more at peace in my life than I've felt in a long time. Honestly, I don't know what to attribute these feelings to. I thought it might be church, but I don't think it is. Maybe it's because I'm back on a schedule; I know what is expected of me and how I can accomplish it. Or, it could be this new yoga class I am taking.

My yoga class is pretty awesome - it's called Kundalini Yoga. Last week, we did meditation, a few basic exercises, and learned about the first chakkra. It's not like normal yoga; I would actually term it a self-compassion, -knowledge, -understanding type class since the whole goal is to align and come to peace with our emotions, minds, and bodies. I am fascinated with it and absolutely love the class. I thnk I talk about it as much as I do psychology, lol, which is quite something.

So I've been practicing the techniques and different "poses" at home, and I think it's really starting to change my understanding of myself. It's wonderfully crazy! I just want to share my excitement and joy with everyone I meet; they should all learn how to totally and completely relax without any thought.

I am also taking a beginning guitar class this semester. I don't know why I waited so long to take fun classes... they are the best! Anyhow, my guitar teacher is pretty awesome and I'm trying to learn the different notes and chords right now. You know how they say learning a new language helps you with your first language? Well, I'm hoping that the same principle applies to instruments. I've hit a road block in my music. So, I went out and bought some new piano books (one is the Keith Urban Defying Gravity CD for piano!) and am hoping those will help along with learning the guitar.

In other news, I was called to be class rep for my institute class, which I am still nervous/excited about. I get terrified in front of people and I forget what I want to say, so hopefully, I will be able to get over that sooner or later. Preferrably sooner rather than later... I already have enough anxiety and don't need any more to add to the stack. But I also hope that I'll be able to be a good class rep; I want to get to know everyone, which is a huge struggle for me, and I want to really grow and learn from this experience to help me become a better me. (cheesy, I know, but it's true).

Last thing I really want to address is my research project idea. I am fascinated in self-compassion. I want to know what it is, how it affects people, and how it relates to other areas of life. So, my research project is either going to be one of two things: first, it might be how self-compassion affects aggression levels (which would be a way fun study, and later could be used practically). Second, it might be how self-compassion affects self-control/self-regulation (this one could be a bit more practical later down the road, if my prediction is supported by the data). I'm really excited for this project, though I'm not sure if I will enjoy reading as many articles as I've already gathered, lol. It will definitely be a lot of work. But, if I carry it out over the summer or next fall, it will be awesome!

Oh, I actually lied. That wasn't the last thing I wanted to address. I have one more, and that is my possible summer internship. I finally got my personal statement written and submitted. Now, all I need is my college transcript and 2 teacher recommendations. I'm sad though, because I want my neuroscience professor to do one of the recommendations, and my cognitive psych teacher to do the other one, but they're married! So, I think maybe I'll get my social psych teacher to write one instead. Hopefully, I will be posting that I get the internship soon.... unless I don't, which I guess would be okay 'cause then I could do my research project over the summer instead. But I'm hoping everything works out!

Now, that really was the last topic. I shall be drifting off to sleep soon, so... until next time.

Dreams & Music

I had the weirdest dream last night. For some reason, I was in a pool that was just deep enough that I couldn't touch the bottom and I was playing water basketball. Strange, I know. I knew some people there. A few friends and this one lady from a class at school. Every time I got the ball, I would start sinking and I couldn't move as fast as usual. I dunno... I think my mind's a pretty messed up place. Maybe that's why I'm not so afraid at looking into other people's minds. I'm pretty sure not many are as strange as mine.

Artists I'm in love with at the moment: Love and Theft, Keith Urban (obviously), Nickelback, Daughtry, Maroon 5, David Cook, Bryan Adams, Lady Antebellum, and Lonestar. I'm just as surprised as you are that over half of these aren't country. I did not realize that there was so much good music out there!

I've decided to create a homework playlist too. It has new-pop-classical piano songs on it. I'm hoping this will help me concentrate better. If not, then at least I'll get a new taste of music, right?

Reading has become one of my least favorite things to do. I used to stay home on friday and saturday nights to read a book. Now, I don't even want to pick one up. Textbooks have ruined this for me. I don't want to spend my time reading them or any other book for that matter. Sometimes I don't mind, but that's only if it's for two classes... the other 3, I dislike a lot. Two of those classes are interesting, but the textbook is badly written. The other one, I love the teacher, lectures aren't too bad, but I'm not really interested in the physical components of psychology, so it's not enjoyable for me to study for that class.

I went and looked up what my dream meant earlier. Supposedly water symbolizes some thought in my unconscious wanting to come out... the struggling symbolizes that I have some sort of inner conflict that I'm making a bigger deal of than I should... the basketball symbolizes teamwork and that I may need to ask for help with current problems... and friends symbolize that I think relationships are important in learning about myself and that I need to lean on those friends more. I'm still skeptical about dream interpretations, but I found this interesting, nonetheless.

Why is it that I'm so interested in learning about how my mind works? Is it because I want to learn how other minds work as well? Or is it some sort of self-discovery process? I dunno... I guess I'll just go with it and not question anything for the time being.