Lots Of New Experiences

I have had a lot of pretty significant experiences over the last month, so I thought I would take a moment to reflect on what I learned.  I guess I will start with the first experience since my last post and work forward chronologically.

First, I hyperextended my elbow snowboarding in Tahoe 3 weeks ago.  Luckily, it was at the end of the day, but it hurt like a mother.  It is still healing up and it has really hindered my ability to work and play.  I have broken 31 bones and had many more sprains, dislocations, etc., so I have experience being temporarily handicapped, but it is such a pain trying to do everyday activities.  Lesson learned:  I am not a young man anymore, so I should probably slow down and not do crazy things as much.  It has also made me very grateful to have functioning limbs most of the time.  I love to play guitar and drums, which I haven’t been able to do with my arm hurt.  I am just happy it is only temporary because I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t play instruments or do outdoor things that I love doing.

Second, I have been working on a music video for a rap artist in Reno, and I showed him the final product while I was out visiting family.  He absolutely loved the video and was jumping up and down and shouting while watching it because he was so excited.  It made me realize that I love doing film projects and I should be more ambitious about trying to step up my film productions. 

Third, I was in Denver for a conference for my new job.  I am working at BYU, but there were people from all over the country at the conference and I was one of two LDS people out of 200+.  During the sessions, almost everybody was watching the clock, waiting for the next break so they could go smoke a cigarette.  Then, as soon as the day’s sessions were over, they would all go to the lobby bar and get hammered.  It made me realize how grateful I am to not be dependent on substances to try to make me happy.  I am not saying that people who smoke and drink are bad people, but I could see how they have become slaves to their addictions.  Several people gave me a hard time for not going along with everyone else to drink and smoke, and some kept pushing me to try a drink, but I stood my ground.  I told them I like being in total control of myself and by using substances, I would not be in total control of myself.  By the end of the week, I had actually earned the respect of some of the people who had previously been giving me a hard time.  I learned that it is important to stand firm in your beliefs, even if you stand alone.  It sounds cliché, but if I had given in to peer pressure, nobody would have respected me or my beliefs.

Fourth, my new job is giving me some really great opportunities to not only do what I love, but to help others find the joy I find in expressing myself through the arts.  The position I have is fairly unique and it was actually created just for me to cater to my skills and experience.  The group I work with puts together conferences for teachers to come learn new art concepts/techniques and implement them in their classrooms.  Since I have a background in media arts, that is my main area of focus.  The idea is that these teachers will then focus more on molding a “whole” student rather than just focusing on the core curriculum and teaching to the test.  The teachers who have been implementing more art activities in their classrooms have seen, on average, a 40% rise in students’ standardized test scores.  It just goes to show that art and expression are important in creating a “whole” person.  I hope that when I have children, I will be able to create an environment that encourages them to express themselves.  It also made me realize that I need to keep up my artistic pursuits and finish some of my projects that have been sitting half-finished for a long time. 

I am very grateful I have had all of these experiences in such rapid succession.  I have been pretty busy lately, but I have learned a lot.  My hope is that I will be able to remember what I have learned and keep adding to it.