The Power of Sitting Alone

General Conference was this weekend and I had a unique experience. For both morning sessions of conference, I was able to sit alone in my apartment and watch. At first I felt a bit self-conscious that I had nobody to watch it with, but then I made the conscious effort to make the most of my time. And my friends, it was amazing. Let me tell you why...

I cried. I focused. I paid attention to the promptings of the Spirit. It's not that I don't do all of these things when I watch conference with other people, but when I was by myself the effects of General Conference were magnified. Magnified for the better.

Thanks be to God for the time we live in. I am grateful for the strength I receive daily from this restored gospel.

Inspiring Music Fueling Gospel Understanding

This morning in my New Testament we talked about II Peter, where Peter teaches us about many sacred, important things. After my class, my mind was flooded with inspiration, with curiosity and with the desire to continue learning about the different virtues listed in II Peter 1:4-9.

As I sat down, here in a comfy nook of the Jesse Knight Building (JKB), I turned to my music to cancel out the distractions around me and focus on more what the Lord had to teach me. I turned to this song,

It filled my soul with the Spirit and was the springboard for me as I learned more from the Lord for the next little while.

Good music, like this, can be SUCH a STRONG, POWERFUL tool. I love inspired music that helps me feel connected to the Heavens. 

Maybe You ARE A Skinny Minnie. =D

Are you ACTUALLY fat? Or has the media, your entire life without you even realizing it , taught you a lie? Maybe you are a "Skinny Minnie" (as my Grandma says) and not a Plumpy Pete. Humor me for a sec and think about this....

So this post has been something that I've been meaning to write for about two weeks now. In my textbook, our reading was all about media affecting our idea of what is normal beauty and body type is. I'll tell you some things from this reading that helped morph my self-concept from back from a Plumpy Pete to a Skinny Minnie. And no, it isn't because I lost weight. =D Read on. =D

pg. 364 of Children, Adolescents, and the Media, Strasburger, Wilson & Jordon

Since 1920, the BMI (Body Mass Index) of Miss America beauty pageant winners has slowly decreased and decreased! People, are you seeing this?! The average BMI of Miss America is about 18.8%..."which signifies undernutrition" (Strasburger, Wilson & Jordan, pg. 363). NO these models aren't seeming skinnier because the studies have compared them a significantly obese American young woman. These models ARE undernutritioned and in reality ARE NOT the norm. 

"Two decades ago, the average American model weighted 8% less than the average American woman; today, she ways 23% less." (Strasburger, et al. pg. 363). Ahhh! And that was back in 2000! Where in the world are we now?!

Today, between the beauty pageants, TV shows, magazines and commercials, these ladies are scary skinny. And we subconsciously compare ourselves to them. Since this reading and subsequent lecture, I've realized how hard I am on my body image and how I think I am fat, but I'm not. All these years, I just have been comparing myself to the fake norm that I have seen through the media. Yes, our normals are all different; skinny, plump, short and tall and we all have our struggles. BUT what we perceive as normal weight is skewed to be much less then what it actually is.

We all can be a little bit better. But how about for today, you accept yourself for where you are right now. :D

"start where you are...God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work with you. All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and trust in the Lord." 

-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2015- 

"It Works Wonderfully"

God loves YOU. Promise.

The Radio & Stressed Out

I've just been struggling lately you guys. I've been struggling. I'm working on it and reaching out the resources that will help me do better. I guess it is part of life, everyone's life. But you know what? It's okay, I'm okay, it will all be okay. 'Cuz that is what has always happened and what will always happen. I just need to keep on keeping on.

Media connects to this part of my life because lately I have made an interesting observation. I have realized that when I'm not doing emotionally well, I don't want to listen to the radio or music in general. I don't understand why, but that just is how it is. Any thoughts as to why?

Also, I am reminded of a promise our bishop gave us yesterday at the end of our ward musical fireside. He promised if we are looking for happiness or peace in our lives, we can turn to the hymns of the restoration and there will be help, happiness and peace to be found within listening them.

I LOVE this gospel. I LOVE that no matter what is going on in our lives, the gospel and Church leaders and the Spirit can give us direction. I love it! :)

Girl Meets World

We've been coding Girl Meets World for our Content Analysis project. It's interesting to compare that to Fuller House. I'm really appreciating the lack of sexual references in Girl Meets World, as especially compared to Fuller House. But in both, I am disappointed to see the adults depicted as stupid and dumb. Is there such a thing as a TV show that depicts real life accurately???

Don't Be Hatin': Fuller House??

So don't be hatin' on my following perspective, okay??

I grew up watching and loving Full House. This past weekend it's follow-up sequel, Fuller House, came out on Netflix. I was SO excited to see the old cast reunited and have a new TV show to watch.

But as Dr. Coyne from my BYU media class has told us, I really am more critical of everything I watch and listen to now! And Fuller House is no exception.

Fuller House still is counted as a family TV show, but I'm only through the fourth episode now, and without fail, there has been sexual innuendos, objectification of women and dumb-downed roles/capabilities of both the grown men and women in the series.

This puts me in a real weird spot for me. I guess a hard spot is a better description. Do I keep watching Fuller House and ignore it? Or do I just stop cold turkey and flip back on my Fixer Upper instead?

Who knows, I still need to figure it out. But here is my vent for the day.

Thanks for reading! :P



SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT?! Who needs to be showing cleavage in their kitchen/dining room area???

Studio C & Roommate Bonding

So Friday night, my roommates spent probably about an hour just sitting around and watching Studio C skits together. For the average onlooker this may seem normal for a girls' apartment, but for us, it was a big deal. You see, one of my roommates ever spends time at home, or if she does, she is just working on homework. And another struggles with depression, so to get her to interact with the other three of us is like pulling teeth sometimes. So as we slowly gathered one-by-one around our TV, it was pretty stinkin' happy.

And BTW, most of those Studio C skits are HILARIOUS. I am grateful for those skits that perpetuated our roommate bonding last weekend.

On a side note, so we were watching the skits on YouTube on our TV. And that sneaky YouTube company, they have it set up it so if you don't touch any buttons, it'll automatically play the next video like 10 seconds later! So it gets super addictive to hard to turn it off! :P It definitely now makes me reflect on the reinforcement schedule theory!

Peace & Happiness > Social Media Time

So about two weeks ago I made a conscious decision and made a specific goal in regards to my social media usage. You see, I am very prone to just take the random extra minutes I have throughout the day and just pull up my Facebook feed or browse things on Instagram. But those few extra minutes are easily prone to turn into 10, 30 minutes. And especially before I got to bed at night, if I open up any platform of social media as I'm laying there in bed, I'm a goner. It'll be an hour later and I'm STILL on Instagram...and I can't even really remember what I did for that whole hour.

So least to say, you can see what I wanted to change something. I've been trying to clear my mind and stay more focused on more important things throughout the day, so this is why I set new social media goals. I set the goal that I will only get on social media every Friday. I have also allowed myself to get on once in a while to post something happy I have found or to check my ward Facebook page. But besides that, I've done pretty well at staying sober from my social media-ing.

And you know what?! It's been WONDERFUL. Instead, I've re-established a love connection with the Family Search app for iOS! In my random minutes of down time, I flip out my phone and I go to the record hints and connect them to my ancestors. And shoot, did I get more done in one week of this then I had in probably the past three months. 

That being said, it's not just the happy genealogy work I'm getting done, but I realized something very happy yesterday. The past two weeks have just been SO much better for me emotionally. I'm able to focus better, my life is falling into place and just the internal me is so much consistently calmer than really ever before. So as I was being thankful and wondering why the change these last two weeks or so, I realized a most-likely connection. My social media sobriety. =D I know it's not just the sobriety, but I do believe it has seriously played a role in it, and for that, I am VERY grateful for the little ways (like this) that the Spirit teaches me ways to improve my life and make me happier.

Church, ADD & Airplane Mode

Living in Provo and being a YSA is a surely a unique experience. In general, the people here are more talented, prestigious and spiritual then if I were to go back to my singles branch back home. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging, just simply observing.

As such, I would hope that we as BYU population would be more immune to the distractions of our smartphones during church, but sadly I have noticed that is not the case.

So I have ADD, so having my phone on me during church just is a no-go because I get SO easily distracted by it. So within the last six months or so, I took a challenge to keep my phone on airplane mode for all three hours of church. And wow. I like who I have become since then; more attentive to the Spirit, more eager to listen to the teacher and more able to engage in socializing with those around me.
That being said, this experience of my own has also made more aware of others' media choices during church. Instagram, Facebook, eBay, surfing the internet and texting. WHAT THE?! I think the most alarming thing to me is the possibility that these said individuals are just no longer entertained by the speakers or the teachers so they just pick up their phones and go AWOL with their spiritual learning. I'm a worrier, and I worry for them. 

I know that these last days, the days that precede the Second Coming of the Lord, are not and will not be easy to live in. And being not only physically present, but also spiritually and emotionally present when we attend church and church-related activities alike, will help us strengthen our spiritual armor. It is SO hard for me to see many wonderful, amazing people choosing their phone instead of airplane mode and spiritual enrichment. 

So I guess a good question for you readers is: how can I help these said individuals?

New Posts & State of Union Address

Hello All!

So it's been a long time since I have posted anything on here. I think it is because I have found other creative outlets the past few years. So for an update on my creative life can be found on Instagram @trickleintoflood .

In other news, I'm going to use this blog for my writing assignments in my Media, Human Development and Family class with Dr. Sarah Coyne at Brigham Young University. I get to blog once a week about my different experiences and feelings about media in my life and in general.

Last week I actually sat down and watched President Obama's last State of the Union address. I have felt for a long time that I need to be better at keeping up with the news and politics in the United states, but I just really haven't got around to it. So sitting and spending one hour of my time was a repentant effort of mine to be more in the loop.

Watching the State of the Union address made me think, especially because of what we have been studying in class. Though the audience was very select to be in the House, listening to the speech, the viewer still was able to feel very involved. As the speech continued, the camera men made sure to show the audience very frequently and name who they are and what their position is.

It just made wonder about how the American population reacts to this, and who is actually watching it. I also feel a little bit more motivated to be more involved because of my experience watching this address. :p