In life there are many things we should to be thankful for - a supporting and loving family, honest and caring friends, health with our pulse going up and down so we never forget we have a beating heart. And this is only the beginning where we start saying our thanks.
With every day that passes by I find myself becoming more & more amazed by the differences that define us. It leaves me with one thing I am enormously grateful for - I get to do both, to give and take. To share. To grow.
When we decide to fly into the unknown it seems hard to imagine we could find a place that will fit us perfect. It is not the gain we are looking forward to. It is the loss our mind and heart are focused on.
I always say our happiness is a matter of perspective.
And here is how I define happiness and what I am thankful for - linked to my first American Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for friends who make my winter warmer, a little brighter
& longer in all the right ways;
For the smiles that came my way, either from good wine or an inspiring book or both.
They were contagious;
For the details which transformed ordinary into extraordinary & turned me into a storyteller;
For the limes & the ice - to make the best cocktails, all you need is what you have;
For the new & the courage to try;
For food - it keeps pushing us over the edges and testing our limits;
For playfulness and being fully present in the moment.
Here's to taking pictures because,
"Nobody takes a picture of something they want to forget." ~ Robin Williams;
Happiness dwells in spontaneous decisions ...
... & appreciated views.
Happiness is seeing the beauty of a place ...
... through the sparkle in others' eyes;
& knowing that what makes the trip unforgettable is the people you share it with;
Happiness is not only the things we see ...
... or the places in this world we simply have to go. So we go;
... or things we just have to try. So we do;
Happiness follows the decisions we take that make us happy ...
... & along the way we join those who share the same joy ...
... & build meaningful relationships we are thankful for;
It is us who are responsible for finding what is it that makes us happy & acknowledging the things we are grateful for.
My advice for happiness goes only this far - dare to be honest & "loud"...
... give things names - #Mr.Baltimore, put emotions into words ...
& you will see it for yourself that by writing things down or saying things out loud you can gain more clarity & become better tuned with your inner self.
Walking the talk ...
I am - in the end - thankful for all the roads that take me to places I find hard saying goodbye to ...
... and for people to whom I can gratefully say: "ThanksFORgiving".
It'sbeen over 2 months since I first arrived to the US. Before I came I had my best intentions to keep a journal; to write a blog and keep everyone at home updated. But most importantly I wanted to do it for myself. Unfortunately I didn't find time to do so earlier ...
So... Here I am, over 60 days later. Still alive and still breathing. Whenever I get a chance to talk to friends from home they keep asking me questions like "How is it there?", "How is school?", "What are you doing?", "How are the people like?", "When are you coming back?", etc.
And the questions are actually not hard... no. The answers however - are.
How is it here?
It is amazing. But then again ... I believe taking the most out of what we have is what makes us happy. The secret to my happiness is my perspective! I think I am getting the most out of this experience - whether it is hiking whenever the weather is good, playing the piano whenever I crave some time for myself, or whether I am spending time in the library JUST BECAUSE (and because I get to be around amazing people while finishing up on my assignments and drinking tea/coffee).
Those who know me from before can tell that I most likely kept my busy daily routine going. I can never be still. I need to deal with deadlines, I need to juggle with various tasks at the same time and I need to be in constant search for new challenges - I need obstacles and, occasionally I even need to procrastinate. It feels good.
First, school. You gotta love American education system: homework all the time, assignments building up one on top of another, presentations, exams every 2 weeks. And still we somehow manage to be one of many straight A students who just love going to classes. How? - Professors here know how to motivate you. Your opinion matters and you are encouraged to express it and allow yourself to be creative.
Origami cranes I did at the International Office. #work [Picture by: Karin]
In addition, one of the places where my heart lies is International Student Organisation. There is a special sort of understanding of each other that we, students from all around the world, share.
It takes a lot of courage to pack the bags and use the passport to change several time zones. Just to find some people in the "small" town of Spearfish who think alike, who encountered the same challenges and tackled all the obstacles with the same bravery as you.
But what fascinates me most is how open the domestic students are here. Great and easygoing. At the end of the day ... it doesn't matter what language you speak or where you come from. Everyone has their own stories to tell. And what I've encountered by getting to know people around here is that stamps in a passport are not even close to being proof of the experiences one has.
With every day I am more and more amazed by all the students around here.
Life shapes us into storytellers. "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." ~ St. Augustine
ISO @HomecomingParade [Picture by: Courtney Gross]
Meet & Greet the BHSU President event with international students [Picture by: Natsumi Onuki]
Walking the talk - #travel. This is what Google displays after typing in "South Dakota".
Points of interest. Ok - there I was. With the phone in my hands, making a new to-do list of all the places I needed to see: Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Crazy Horse Memorial, ...
And I did.
And I went.
Moreover, everyone who comes to such an area should experience this place as tourists, at least for a short time, so they don't miss out on the destinations Uncle Google puts under 'suggestions'.
And if you happen to be lucky enough to have great company while exploring the unknown, days will go by being much more memorable.
Quoting Barney Stinson: "Whatever you do in this life, it's not legendary, unless your friends are there to see it."
@Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota
@Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota
@Devils Tower, Wyoming
@Denver, Colorado
@Rocky Mountains National Park, Colorado [Picture by: Anna-Lena &Karin]
@Crow Peak, South Dakota [Picture by: Julia Merkle]
There is one quote saying: "I haven't been everywhere but it's on my list," by Susan Sontag. And most times we should just allow ourselves to have fun while "travelling". Regardless of where the journey will take us!
Whether it is towards the cliffs to get this "first-time-cliffjumping" checked off the list or ...
@Sheridan Lake, South Dakota, #CliffDiving
... baking a cake (and by a cake I don't mean an out-of-a-box one, but the "REAL" sugar bomb - made of eggs, butter, raspberries, hazelnuts, chocolate in bars, and lots of trial and error stories of making-of-the-cake) for someone special ...
@Courtney's sweet 22nd birthday "surprise" party
... or having a blast at getting ready for a 80's theme party.
@3rd Annual 80s Pub Crawl for Charity
There are 2 questions left to answer...
"How the people here are like?" & "When do I come back?" And the answers on both intertwine one with another. For the people here are the reason why I have no idea of when I get to come back. As I see it ... I'll just keep moving forward!
Since I came to BHSU I figured how simple life really is. There is one very wise saying that Spearfish, in all of its greatness, reminded me of; We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are.
Living life is a lot similar to falling in love: our minds don't just see a person - we see a person that we perceive. And in order to fall in love and experience life to the fullest we need to let ourselves be exposed and vulnerable.
So here I am. Falling in love. Every day. Little by little. Exposed & vulnerable.
@Badlands, South Dakota [Picture by: Julia Merkle]
Juggling one's life needs balance though. And when I fall off the hook, the inner goddess in me craves some time just for herself.
... where I have my own 'reset' button to regain - an open mind, an open heart and embrace my own way of communicating. #piano
