exploring a social media-less world

This semester has been one of the craziest. Okay, it has been thee absolutely craziest. My schedule is so full that I can't focus on what is right there in front of me. When I am in one class, I have thinking about the next, when I am in the next class, I am thinking about rehearsal, when I am in rehearsal, I'm thinking of when I'll next have a meal; it's a vicious cycle.

 I chatted with one of my teachers/mentors the other day, asking for advice on this endless conundrum. She told me to simply start living in the present. Taking everything one step at a time. "There's a reason classes and rehearsals have set times, so you can focus on them while you're there." I find myself constantly planning for the next thing, that I forget to look at what is going on right now. I realize that I need to spend more time with the universe and invest in my work now, rather than planning and planning and planning to invest my time at a later date. 

So, I came to the conclusion that I need to spend more quality time investing in the present. Without mindlessly scrolling through pages upon pages of social media. I realized that social media kind of revolves around either the past (photos of last weekend, quite commonly used as "Throwback Thursday," status updates about unnecessary drama, etc) or the future (So-and-so's Twenty First Birthday Extravaganza Where 572 People Are Invited), stuff that I don't need to be focusing my energy with at this moment. I feel by ridding myself of social media for the time being, granted, I will be missing out on all the latest hype and drama, but I will be allowing myself to focus on the here and now and will feel more included on information, events, and so on because I'll have more personal experiences, invitations, and conversations. I hope that by exploring the vast land of adventure without Instagram-ing my awesome #discoveries, I can get to spend more time in the present, with good company, and overall be more productive. 

Fare thee well, social media. Until next time,

Sam

finally, an impromptu lazy evening

Once again, my semester started off with a bang! and never really stopped to recover from all the running. This week was about to be one of the most physically and emotionally draining weeks of my semester (or it might just be the most draining week of the month..I have a lot of weeks as such). There was our semesterly guest artist audition, which I was cast so rehearsals ran nightly for many hours each evening, I had a paper due, a choreography project, and a presentation in my hispanic literature class. Needless to say, I was bracing myself for a sense of being overwhelmed and without a doubt having a mess of a room--my room always is a spitting image of what my life is when I'm über busy. Of course, there was a cold front, and an ice storm hit us in the dead of the day yesterday, canceling classes for the rest of the afternoon. Because our guest choreographer was only in town until Friday, we relentlessly rehearsed and continued to learn the material. I woke up this morning to find classes once again were canceled and this evening come to discover the university has called off classes for the remainder of the week! 

I got home from rehearsal this evening and as I sat in my kitchen with all of my roommates out of the house, I wondered what I would do tonight considering I wouldn't have to awaken for ballet class bright and early as I normally would. I began to thumb through my phone and questioned the plans of my friends tonight. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I deeply needed some time to myself. And how perfect a night to do just that. 

Thus far, I have finally put together the video montage of my family winter vacation to South Beach and Key West, Florida. I plan to fill a glass of wine, read a book and some blogs, pick up my clutter, and, more or less, get my life back in the relaxed state that I belong. 

Drifting back to a little over a month ago, my parents up and decided to take a family winter vacation to "somewhere warm, for once," considering we enjoy taking a ski trip around this time, thanks to a supplier of my dad's business. So this year, due to the serious chilling-to-the-bone weather we'd been having in the Midwest, a warm climate would be a lovely getaway. We ventured to South Beach Miami and Key West, each three days, and boy was it a glorious, story-filled adventure! I have been inspired to use my dSLR for more purposes lately and decided to compile a little video of our trip. Enjoy!