the small significant life of jo

I am very sensitive to people and find myself hearing the life stories of strangers, acquaintances, and close friends almost daily and will gladly be late for class to hear what they have to say. I find meaning in almost every interaction I have with someone. I love reading and rarely read and generally have three books "in progress." I love going to the cinema and purchasing the overpriced whoopers and coke... although I have recently given up coke. I was doing it for others, but am finally doing it for me and it feels much better. I trying to become empowered and find everyday has its challenges. I love umbrellas and do not own a single one unfortunately. I have no idea what my first one will look like, there are so many to choose from it can be overwhelming sometimes. Green is my favorite color and no matter the hue it seems to always be pleasing to me. I am very excited for watermelon season because I can never get enough of it...but it has to be just right...you can feel it when you are eating it. something about the sound of a guitar is soothing to me and I can listen to someone play for hours and I am not exaggerating. I love going out to eat, I think it provides an atmosphere for good conversation. I can talk your ear off on almost any subject, but sometimes I do not feel like talking at all... go figure...I must be human or something. My eyes do NOT change according to my mood, they change because I change the color of my clothing which enhances my eyes. I rarely fill out the about me section because if someone wants to know things about me then they should get to know me. I started writing in my journal for the first time, well I have never had a good journal writing habit but I am going to try this time. Anyway, I do not like making corrections in my writing, if i misuse a word...I figure out how to use it if I wrote it in pen. I feel like I need to do a lot of growing up right now and I am not exactly sure how to go about it, one day at a time I guess. I do not have this overwhelming feeling like I am not doing something with my life, it is just peaceful, you can be better type feeling. I have brief moments where I struggle but come to an understanding of things relatively quickly. My mother once described my temperment perfectly saying, " you get mad and have to let it go through your system, and within 15-20 minutes you are rational to talk to again." I calm down quickly on the rare occasion I actually get frustrated, but things are tending to get harder as I get older. I have had to remind myself just who I am and what I stand for and to be strong as I clarify it for others. I decided writing is very therapeutic for me and I hope to continue with my journal. One flaw I have found within myself is I tend to concentrate on the negative side of things to often, I have to allow myself to remember all the good things that have come from a particular situation as well. I am working to improve on this. You know...one evening a group of friends and I decided to to play "you ask a question and you have to answer" game, which eventually progressed into name five things you do not like about yourself and then we will get to five things we enjoy about ourselves and about others participating. I did not have much to say on the flawed part because I was at a point were I was happy with myself, although when I was younger I never liked my nose. Now, I honestly love it, one time someone told me I was a classic beauty and I believe my "flaw" made that comment true. I was at a wonderful point at that time and have realized to be at that same place I have to work very hard to achieve it. Someone great once said, "if you are not going up hill, you are not progressing." So there we have it, the most difficult, scary, trying times in our life, can often times bring us the most reward. "What to do when adversity strikes? There is only one thing to do. Stand steady and see it through. Stay steadfast, constant, and true. The real tragedy in the whirlwinds of life comes only when we allow them to blow us off our true course." David S. Baxter - Oct. Gen. Conf 2006 So there you have it. I have to work to be better and that is what I am going to do. I must be inspired to inspire to be inspired.