“Look at you. You’re young. And you’re scared. Why are you so scared? Stop being paralyzed. Stop swallowing your words. Stop caring what other people think. Wear what you want. Say what you want. Listen to the music you want to listen to. Play it loud as fuck and dance to it. Go out for a drive at midnight and forget that you have school the next day. Stop waiting for Friday. Live now. Do it now. Take risks. Tell secrets. This life is yours. When are you going to realize that you can do whatever you want?”

Louise Flory

Facebook Reflections

Today I was considering facebook, and what it has done for us. ...More accurately, what has facebook done for me? The answer is: NOTHING. For me, facebook results in--ironically--less face-to-face interaction and more depression and envy at the seemingly glamorous lives everyone is leading. The truth is, the way we present ourselves on facebook is completely idealized, and for the most part, an incredibly inaccurate portrayal of who we really are as people. It's unfortunate, but at this point kind of unavoidable. I'm not getting rid of facebook, I'm just trying to keep these things in mind before I go comparing my life to anyone else's. Also, I love stalking you through your photos, and I'm not about to give that up. Haha. Anyway. One other thing that keeps drawing my attention lately is the kinds of things people say when they're trying to stir up controversy. Some favorites are political and economical opinion, obama-bashing, conspiracy theories, passive-aggressive posts clearly targeted at someone specific but not named to give the illusion of generality, and gun rights.

Since when did facebook--a social networking site--become the platform for rants? An interesting idea, for sure. My best guess is that we're trying so hard to portray a very specific and unique vision of ourselves that we feel it necessary to outrage others in order to stand out. It's no longer adequate to simply be as we are...we have to keep posting more and more sensationalized material in order to feel like an individual. Definitely strange.

Also, I would like to mention that the two most controversial things I have ever posted about are...

Mangos

and

The importance of education, especially as an American woman.

Both were met with varying degrees of outrage.

Also, also, any time I have ever posted about famine, drought, food scarcity in developing countries, or public policy concerning any of these, I'm fairly certain there has only been one person to notice or care: Morgan.

In conclusion, we are incredibly, incredibly self-absorbed. Every one of us. Surprised? Me neither. I'm working on this myself.

February Resolutions

February Resolutions:

1. Stop reading into everything so negatively.
2. Let go of that awful facebook habit. Fully move on.
3. Get my shit together for school. Seriously this time.


Also, true story:

Yesterday I was wearing TOMS (I know...), and the top of my foot was showing at the end of my jeans. As I walked past an especially reflective piece of glass in the library, I thought, "whyyy did I wear white socks with these shoes??" Oh wait, that's just my super pale foot :/ Time for some sun.


Love, Jennifer

Thought Catalog

Thought Catalog is my new favorite thing, because I love beautiful writing more than most things in life. Also, I am terrified of my BioChem exam on Tuesday, and am letting my fear paralyze me rather than studying. That. Here are some of my recent favorite articles.

The Things I Left Behind

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Coldplay

Don't Wake Up Alone On A Saturday Morning

Things A Person Is Not

Wide Open Spaces

Things You Will Never Get Back

I Collect Homes

And especially,

What Moving On Is Like

One of those melancholy nights, I guess..

portraits

Sometimes I really miss this project. I would love to do it again, except one photo for every day of the year with other people as the subject. 365 portraits. I'm currently suffering from a lack of beauty in my life... if nothing else, a self-portrait taken every single day caused me to slow down and take however much time was necessary to see things in a new way. I miss the appreciation I had for how much beauty that lies undiscovered. Eh. The real question is, how could I find 365 people willing to be photographed?