my life list gets shorter

For starters, General Conference. Which part of that doesn't scream awesome. Two days of hanging out in my pajamas and listening to beautiful messages from the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Score. Check out some of the "highlights" here!

Ok, but also this week...I crossed two things off of my Life List!!!

1. I went and saw a movie by myself.

This probably seems like a weird thing to have on a Life List, but I've always wanted to do it. I'm not exactly sure why though, maybe to assert my independence, maybe because I have a taste in movies that doesn't always align itself with the common crowd, maybe because I am a closet film addict, or maybe because I have some sort of need to prove to myself that I can be by myself and that that's ok. Really it was probably a combination of all of these. 

So I finally did it. Last Monday, since it was rainy, and I was in a bummer mood, and I felt a desperate need to get out of my apartment, and I have been wanting to see Silver Linings Playbook for awhile now I checked my movie app on my phone, saw that my movie was playing in about an hour, and I went. Lucky for me, movies in Provo at four in the afternoon on a Monday are pretty empty. In fact, I was the only person in the theater. It was awesome. Should you ever have the opportunity to have an entire theater to yourself, do it. Sprawled out across as many seats as I wanted, texted shamelessly during the movie, and laughed with no embarrassment. Plus the movie was really good and the message of looking for a silver lining in the worst of situations was exactly what I needed to reminded of. 

“If clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying...Most people lose the ability to see silver linings even though they are always there above us almost every day.” 

No one behind me....

No one in front of me. 

In the words of our dear friend Kelly Clarkson, "Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone." At least that's what we all tell ourselves right...Anyways. I actually loved this, and if I disappear for a few hours and you can't find me, I might just be catching the latest film...by myself. 

2. I filled an entire journal.

I love pretty journals. I have a bit of a collection of them. Unfortunately, I like to look at my journals more than I like to write in them. But, thanks to General Conference this weekend and all of the notes that I took, I have now filled one. I really do love going back and looking at old things I wrote. The line in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest when Gwendolyn says, "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train" cracks me up (I am clearly feeling the quotes today...). 

I started this particular journal back in the Fall of 2011 and it is dedicated to all of my spiritual experiences and thoughts. 180 pages worth of spiritual progress in the last 2 years seems pretty good to me. 

But, another cool thing that I realized about this journal? It has a super cool Indian-esq design on it (which is probably what attracted me to it in the first place). When I was reading the inside cover this Sunday, I realized that just this summer had I traveled to the Tibetan monastery in Ladakh, India that this journal was designed after, and I hadn't even realized it. How cool is that?!?

Can't wait to cross more things off the list. I probably need to start adding more to it! 

If you want to see my full Life List, there is a tab underneath my blog header.

peace. love. and life lists.