All The Best, Jess

In a world that makes me feel temporal You calm any fears of being erased While in turn allow me to wear a small tattoo of a semi-colon, only on the days I need to remember Sometimes I draw a heart Made out of a treble and bass clef, an homage to a love that won’t let me down You allow me to remind myself of how much I've changed as I reread my old journals; i could have sworn at least my handwriting had been constant On the days I cannot fake being cheerful I can write with one of you who can, somehow nothing is as sad written in green Here's to all the doodles you let me draw, one connection I have to a grandmother I have never met And to a world that would only exist right now If you weren't around to get me to put it down in words I am grateful that you remind me To take a load off And sit down with my head on straight-- you do not work well upside down And though your ink may spill or run dry Your creations last longer Than anything I...

Last night I was part of a discussion for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' new "Come Follow Me" program with my boyfriend and a few of our friends in our ward. (For those of you who are not members of the Church, a ward is similar to a school--it's a group of people who live within the same area. We also have stakes, which is like the school districts of our church. Just so we're all on the same page.) We were studying John 1 in the Bible, and in our discussion started talking about how we follow Jesus Christ and listen to the Spirit. We are all students at BYU, and we remarked how easy it can be sometimes to become casual with our religion when we're somewhere where the majority of the people we associate with have the same beliefs as us--which is something I had never really experienced before, having grown up somewhere that was predominantly Christian, but not predominantly LDS. As we discussed this, I realized how I viewed it could be expl...

1. If you feel like you are at the edge, I promise you that rescue helicopters are coming. Though the winds buffet and threaten to knock you over, you can remain on solid ground and eventually you will be found and things will be okay. 2. People who want to make things work will work with you. While it is imperative that you work to improve and make up for your own mistakes, functioning relationships of any kind are two-way: You cannot keep blaming yourself for not being perfect if that is what someone expects--you are allowed to have room to grow. Along with this, the other person or people are imperfect too. Always look for the good in others, but if they only criticize and/or belittle you, DO NOT STAY. You deserve better. 3. Without adequate food, water, and sleep, you cannot be productive. This is not a pick one or two and you're good thing. You need all three consistently. Please take care of your physical self or your mental, emotional, and spiritual self cannot progress...

I am six months old and my parents realize I am content with the TV muted and the stereo on I am two and spinning around the room to Toy Story songs I am three and I am learning the words to Primary songs I am three and I learn that sometimes songs are sad, and I love them anyway I am four and singing nonsense words to a made up melody I am five love my music class I am six and nearly crippled with stage fright I am seven and there's a note after the Primary Program to "the little girl in the red dress" I am nine and writing lyrics in my free time and at recess I am ten and told no one likes my voice and everyone is only pretending I am ten and singing at my family reunion to Taylor Swift's "Love Story," shaking through applause I am 11 and my music teacher has convinced me to sing in a competition I am 11 and I realize that there is a power in being onstage I am 12 and choir is my favorite class I am 12 and learn that sometimes ...

When I was little, I dreamed of being a superhero. I could never figure out what my name would be, nor could I ever decide on just one power, but I knew I wanted to be one. As I got older, that dream didn't really go away, thanks to Marvel, but it changed slightly: I didn't necessarily want to be a real life superhero (although if that happened I still wouldn't complain...) but I certainly wanted to play one onstage or onscreen. The shift had as much to do with my passions as it did with the way I viewed the world. As I'm sure most people remember, when you're really young you see the world as utterly limitless. Nothing is impossible, and you are the sole star in your life. Your world is small, and so the earth seems small as well--changing the whole world is easy. By the time you've "grown up" (for these purposes, become a legal adult and left home for school) everything is different; your worldview is entirely different. You realize the list of th...

Perhaps you've heard this phrase used sarcastically, as I did throughout my senior year of high school. Perhaps you never have, and for that I am grateful, but you read this and immediately assumed it meant something negative. Perhaps you saw this and thought nothing of it because it's fairly simple and just another abstract blog post title. Whatever you thought or didn't think, I have a lot to say about this statement. As I stated, most of my experiences with this phrase were pretty negative--a teacher would say them as a way of discounting something that caused a challenge, basically saying "get used to it, life isn't served to you on a silver platter and you just need to make it work." Which, yes, is true, in some ways at least, but I think that's an awful thing to do to such a potentially wonderful phrase. Because welcome to life! There are so many things you've yet to experience, and sure, some of them are awful and will do their best to brea...