Aftershocks

Last week I learned the true meaning of the phrase, "The show must go on." Five minutes before heading to our first dress rehearsal for The Last Night of Ballyhoo, I got a phone call from my mom. She very tearfully told me that she had to put my dog to sleep that day because of how sick she had gotten.

I've had my puppy, Jazzi, since the sixth grade, and we were always together whenever I was home. She was probably the smartest dog I've ever met. She never learned any tricks and she couldn't be let outside unless she was on a leash or else she would run away. Most would blame this on stupidity. I stick to the idea that she was just too smart to do the stupid things we tried to get her to do. She knew there was no reason for it.

Anyway, I had to go to rehearsal right after the phone call, so I dried my tears and shuffled to the theatre. I

There You Are, Sitting in the Garden

When I think of the days of the week, I associate each day with a color. Does anyone else do this? Here's how mine breaks down:

Monday = Blue
Tuesday = Green
Wednesday = White
Thursday = Purple
Friday = Red
Saturday = Black
Sunday = Iridescent

I don't know why this happens, but I can remember thinking about it all the way back to the second grade. Wednesdays were piano lesson days...white. I hated Wednesdays.

Last night I went to UK's library to study for the GRE. Libraries are so cool. I love visiting campuses and seeing their libraries. They are all so unique. Some of them are small and cramped with dim lighting and an "old" smell. Others are open and bright with lots of windows and comfy chairs. Whenever I visit another college campus, it makes me thankful for my own. Although I sometimes get frustrated and complain about my university, it's a community that I feel very much a part of. When I visit other campuses, I feel like an outsider. It's a community that I don't belong to. But it's always fun to go see what other campuses and communities are like.

It's interesting to walk through a library and take a look at what people are working on around you. One guy is sitting before a giant spreadsheet. A girl is disregarding her homework and surfing facebook. Another girl is reading what looks to be a Shakespeare play. Several groups are meeting in different corners to go over a project or presentation. Everyone's working.

I can't help but think about the thousands of students that go through that library each year. Each of them are studying for something...studying to obtain some degree that will take them who knows where. The future biologist. Accountant. English teacher. Nurse. Social worker. They come from all over into a concentrated  community for four + years and then spread out once more to pursue their careers. They get up every day, go to their jobs, come home, sleep, repeat.

And it's so intriguing to think that people have such a variety of interests. I couldn't in a hundred years imagine getting excited over numbers or math problems. But other people find that kind of thing utterly stimulating. Someone else wouldn't dream of getting up to speak in front of people every day, while others relentlessly pursue careers in teaching, motivational speaking, or politics.

God has wired us all so differently. I'm so thankful to him for making us all unique. I mean, what if no one desired to be a doctor anymore? The world would fall into utter chaos and we'd probably have another sweeping epidemic of the Black Plague on our hands. And yet, thousands of students across the nation are desiring to help others when they fall sick. It's a beautiful thing.

Thank you, God, for your creativity and orderliness. You and you alone sustain our world.