Wise Words

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." 

- Mahatma Gandhi

Relay For Life

Last weekend I participated in Relay for Life at my college. My housemates and I had a booth where we did purple manicures and face paint as people walked along the track. 

It was a simple gesture to show our support for cancer victim and survivors. It often seems that efforts like this aren't enough to make a difference. Yet, seeing all the different people from our campus community come together to love others, gives hope to those in need.  

Someone is looking out for me

As a college student, I tend to get caught up in the details of my life. Homework assignments, papers to write, social engagements, club meetings, classes, scholarships, applications, more classes, rehearsals, going to the gym and finding time to eat meals, all consume so much of my time. This can feel awfully overwhelming, but on a morning when I felt particularly stressed, the universe left this message in my inbox:

The real reason your brain is so large, Jasmine, compared to most of the other blessed creatures dwelling in time and space, is so that you can vividly imagine all the exquisite, exciting, and enthralling details of your heart's desires; not so that you can figure out who you need to meet, when you need to meet them, where you need to be, or how you're going to pull it all together. 


Your brain's not nearly that big. 


But mine is, 
    The Universe


p.s. Actually, that's just one of the reasons, Jasmine. Some of the other reasons are so that you can take notice of the miracles in your life, feel the joy when you visualize, and, of course, so that you can laugh at yourself whenever you temporarily forget these things. Ha ha.

Its nice to know the Universe is looking out for me.

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A Poem By Maya Angelou

This poem was inspiration for the title of the screenplay I am writing in my screenwriting class so I thought I would post the whole thing.


I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hillfor the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard

Can you see the bird? 

on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Passion

I've always thought it was important to have passion. Whether thats passion for a cause, passion for people or passion for an activity. People who are passionate about something are engaging, interesting, and energizing, because they've found something bigger than themselves to love.

To me, I'm passionate about my faith, my artistic and theatrical endeavors, and making the world a better place. But what exactly does it mean to be passionate about something? Is it simply to love something to an exuberant amount?

As Easter was a week ago, I've been reflecting on the way christianity portrays the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The crucifixion is usually called the Passion of Christ. Why passion? This word is clearly being used in context that I don't usually associate with passion. So I looked up the etymological roots of the word.

Passion comes from the latin word passus which is the past participle of the word pat, which means to suffer. The Passion of Christ refers to Jesus's suffering. Yet, Jesus suffered out of love for the broken world. With this new definition passion becomes a mix of love and suffering. To be passionate about something must mean you love it enough to suffer for it.

So what are you willing to suffer for? What are your passions?

Happy Easter!

Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless. ~Charles M. Crowe