Whats Your Ripple?

"Years ago it occured to me that most people are like their favorite body of water. There are Ocean people, who find beauty in the overturning of things, always moving but always ending up back on the sand. There are Lake people, who ... (See Morehold) great depths and are serene. There are Pond people, who are ambitious and appreciate the power of man to conquer anything...even the landscape. There are Swamp people, full of mystery and unconventional beauty. Then there are Swimming Pool people......who are chemically and smell funny. I have always been a River person. I grew up near a spiderweb of rivers as a kid, and I looked for arrowheads and animal footprints along their banks. I live next to the haunted Cape Fear River in Wilmington. That fluid forward motion is soothing to me, and it's a rhythm I find strength in. A river doesn't go back. It just finds a new bend to pool up in for a little while. " -Hilarie Burton




In Oregon you can pretty much count on one thing almost all year round, water. Whether it's coming up from the ground or down from the sky Oregon is a very wet place to be. You must either learn to love the beauty itself and what it brings to its surroundings or you will eventually be driven to relocate. Growing up in Oregon, relocating without the accompaniment of my parents wasn't an option, so I learned to love it.


No matter where in Oregon I lived I was always at least an hour from the nearest ocean, and it was never a place that I wanted to visit often, it was cold and windy, and you were more likely to get a burn from the abbrasiveness of the sand against your skin then the sun (not my idea of fun). I love the ocean, but I'm not an ocean person. When I was younger I almost drowned in a lake and have since then shied away from all bodies of water where I couldn't see and/or touch the bottom. So while they are lovely to look at, and if there's a boat you can find me on it, I'm not a lake, pond, or swamp person either. That leaves me with two options and one can be elminated with no real thought to it, swimming pools are out because I'm allergic to chlorine. So, that brings me to rivers.


In Portland I had the Columbia River, in Bend there was the River West, and in Eugene, where I spent the last 12 years (prior to moving to LA) I had the Willamette and McKenzie rivers, plus every stream and creek that you could want! I found a love in hiking, and if when, I went hiking, there was some river-like body of water that I could cross then it made the hike even better. There's a great perspective one gets about life, nature, and yourself when standing in the middle while an unpredictable force rushes around you. Nothing stands in the way of a river, rocks, trees, islets, the water finds a way around them all. Anything that enters the water with rough edges won't stay rough for long. All that come to the water are refreshed. Though the surface may look calm, never take for granted its determination to stop at nothing and for no one. Yet, even as the river rages if you look along its banks there are always places where the water is calm, settled, restful. There's no mistaking about which way the river is flowing, and even if it were to dry up its existence would not go unnoticed. I look at the 'life' of a river and I see my own, I see what I want people to see from and in me.


I want to be a force to be reckoned with, but approachable and inviting. I want to be full of words of encouragement, refreshment, and peace. I don't want there to be any confusion about the direction that I am moving and I dont want to be discouraged by what's in my way, no matter the size. When my time is up, I don't want my existence to go unnoticed.


I AM A RIVER PERSON. What type of person are you? (and whatever that type, make sure you're proud of it!)

Better Than Yesterday

We hear old men say, "Those were the days...". Old women talk about the times prior to crows feet, laugh lines and stretch marks. We've all heard the phrase 'the good old days' and chances are we've all, at some point, believed (even if for a moment) the old days were the good ones. However, no one has successully invented a time machine for us to go back and relive the so-called "glory days" so we better start making the most of our futures and we better start doing that today!



Art Buchwald said it well when he said, "We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was and would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time."


I'm all for holding onto good memories and learning from mistakes. I am very much in favor of giving recognition to how someone got their start and praising them for their success and determination despite the let downs. However (and especially for those who live their lives in the spotlight), if they are going to continue to grow and move forward then who are we to get hung up on a point in their career and define that as their best? Should that not be for them to decide? I would want that decision to be mine. I have favorite moments in the careers of my favorite celerbrities but if I classify those moments as "the best" then I have condemned even the dreams they have yet to dream to defeat. I have also gauranteed that I will miss out on something nothing short of brilliance. (I hope you still aren't lost on what inspired me to write this, and if you are, well the inspiration isn't as important as the message itself.)


If I had to choose one motto for my life it would be 'the best is yet to come'. My past was great, the old days were good, but I have to tell you it keeps getting better. And if history is any indicator, it's going to keep getting better. If we live our lives with the attitude that we've already seen the best days (for ourselves and those around us) then what are the rest of them for?


"You should chase whatever excites you. Be confident and take risks." Make your tomorrow better than yesterday.

(originally posted on the SoGoPro blog, but i decided to post it here also so that more would see it!)

"It's 3am...." -Hilarie Burton (savvy?)

Occasionally I find it ironic when someone you have never met seems to be inside your head! Case in point, Hilarie Burton's latest blog posting on SoGoPro.com. (if you still haven't checked it out please do!) 

(and i quote)..."3am. Insomnia is a bitch, my friends. But even as tired as I am, there's something mystical about being up when the whole rest of the world is dreaming. The quiet is pure and you have to really know yourself to be able to sit around in all that silence. There was a time when I would play the radio or leave TVs on, just to have distracting racket to keep me from being too much in my head.

"But right now......things are good right now." (this isn't even half the blog, so again, please go read the rest of it!)

(here was my comment...)

3am would be considered a "normal" bedtime for me, however most people who know me are trying to tell me its anything but that. And its true, to be awake when the rest of those living in my time zone are sleeping takes a subtle strength that I think we sometimes take for granted.

Dave Tyson Gentry said, "True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable."  I believe this saying also holds true for being comfortable with ourselves. Not everyone can do it. 

My favorite time of the day is the hours when everyone else is sleeping (dont get me wrong, I love the hours when the rest of the world is awake too!). Those quiet, uninterrupted moments are the ones when I am most creative, and therefore most productive when it comes to what I love to do, write. They're also the moments that I am free to get lost in a good book with a blanket and a cup of tea. 

I am glad that staying up to an "ungodly" hour came with breaths of fresh air and excitement for you Hilarie! I'm also glad that I am not the only one! ;p

xo

Brandi

Hilarie, in her blog, also mentions the winter being the hardest season of creativity because of her love of the sun and all the green that the warmer months bring. I love the sun, afterall I am moving to LA, so if I don't then I'm in trouble, however there's something about the winter that speaks to me. Everything, on the outside looks...dead, almost. Stores close earlier, the sun sets sooner, there aren't any leaves on the trees, or flowers growing up through the cracks in the pavement. Life seems to be at a standstill for the most part. People are driven indoors where it's warm and dry. And it's during this season that I love to breathe life into the lifeless so to speak. Nothing will ever take the place of the inspiration that I receive from the sun beaming on my face and life in full swing around me, but I can say the same for that of winter as well.

Do I Have to Pick Just One?

I read this blog written by Hilarie Burton called "Many Best Friends". (if you havent read it and would like to go to www.sogopro.com and click on "blogs". you wont regret it.) She opens the blog with this statement:

"I have a lot of best friends. People tend to tease me about this habit. Some say you can only have one best friend. But my life has been so divided up into separate little chapters, that it's hard to pick just one. It's a little like trying to pick your favorite film or book character of all time. I mean, what kinda book are we talking about??? Biography? I'm a sucker for Edna St. Vincent Millay or Carson McCullers. Novel? The Spaulding brothers in Dandelion Wine. Or Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Or hell, I'm still a geek for Anne of Green Gables. I can't pick. Same goes for my friends."

Do you ever have that problem? You know the one where someone asks you to name your favorite movie and you name off your top five because you cant pick just one? Or you name your top movie according to genre? So where then did this notion came from, that we can name only one "best friend" and that everyone else comes in at a close second? Honestly, if we cant name our all time favorite movie should we be able to narrow down our "best friend" to one person? I think not! A "best friend" is not that one person that you happen to stumble upon and for the rest of your lives theyre right next to you(though that does hold true for some). People come into your life and will either stay for a time or stay for life. Regardless of the length that time isnt wasted and shouldnt be taken for granted!

I lost touch with my best friend from the second grade. But I have the pictures and the notes that proves she existed! I recently got back in touch with my best friend from high school, and its like we never missed a day even though its been a few years! I have a best friend now! And you may be asking what makes them the best in their own right, and heres the answer. A "best friend" is someone that brings out the best in you and drives you to be the best version of yourself. I don't think that's a one man job, for anyone. Some will need your compassion above everything else you have to offer, while others will need your determination or your courage. Each of them saw something in me worth believeing in and that faith remains unmatched!

Hilarie goes on to say, "...I have made more best friends in different places. And in my opinion, that doesn't diminish the importance of any of the friendships that came before."

Life happens, we move away, we grow up and/or grow apart, but that doesnt change the fact that they were there, with you when you needed them the most. The majority of the people that are in my life now werent a decade ago, and those who were ten years ago arent now. Life happens. Yet, it's good for the soul, both yours and those you talk to, to take time and recognize the "bests" in your life. You can never go wrong with remembering how blessed you are and being thankful for that!

Hilarie ends her blog with this..."If your friend isn't "The Best" then what's the point??"

There is no point. Now there is a difference between being the "best" and being "perfect". I dont have any perfect friends(and if youre looking for one im sorry), but I do have the very best friends in the world! They tell me the truth when I dont want to hear it and hold me while I'm falling apart. They make me laugh when I've spent all night crying and tell me it's going to be okay even when it isnt. "We (both) laugh really loud and rant and go off on tangents and LOVE it."  I couldnt have chosen better friends if I had been able to hand pick them myself.

My "best" will always be "them". It will always be plural.