Day #8148 - Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful

And not just the weather, either. Life seems to be in chaos-mode, full force lately. I haven't been able to write here in a while because last week all of my finals were due, and I can now happily say that I have finished my first semester of grad school. All in all, I think it went really well. A bit overwhelming at times, but I really was interested in most of the material, which always helps the time go by faster. I thought semesters flew by in undergrad, but at least those were broken up by sorority dances and football games and weekends going out. Living and taking classes at home kind of made this fall semester go by in one big blur.

Unfortunately, even once I did have the time in my schedule to start blogging again late last week, I didn't feel like I had much to say (or really, had anything I wanted to share with the rest of the world). They've sort of been black cloud days you could call them. Our fence was blown down by the crazy wind a few days ago - this is now the 2nd time in 4 months and since it's so cold, there's nothing that can be done about it until spring. And that's just the tip of the iceberg with things going wonky lately. It's sort of felt like the entire world has been turned upside down.

But then I got to thinking about the most recent episode of Bones. Not one of my favorite episodes, mind you, but there was a metaphor they used in it a few times that I really like. A while back, scientists invented a pair of glasses that turned everything people saw through them upside down. However, after three straight days of wearing the glasses, the brain turned the images right side up. Then when people weren't wearing the glasses, the world looked like it was upside down and it took another three days of being glasses-free for the world to right itself again.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it's easy to get lost in the chaos that seems to inevitably come with the holiday season, whether it's related to the holidays or not. But the important thing to try to do, if you can, is to take a step back. Close your eyes, try to take a deep breath. Things may feel like they can't possibly get any worse, but in time, with some luck and belief in the power of positive thinking, I honestly believe that the world will right itself again. It may not look or be exactly the same, but you'll be able to tell up from down. There is a British poster from WWII that reads "Keep Calm and Carry On" - I suggest we try. In time, things will get better. They have to.