To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart

How sad is it that our society has gotten away from old fashioned, hand-written symbols of love. Letters. I have to say, I never really cared much for them before, but ever since a few months ago, I have started to see the value in them.

I have a few people that I keep in correspondence with. Some are best friends, one I’ve never met before in person, and another I just met for a few hours through a friend last winter. The thing I love the most about letters is the peek they give me into a person’s heart. I learn so much when I read letters, as well as when I write them. Especially when I write them. Yes, they take time, but it is time well-spent.

The reason I am so adamant about this recently is because of a very special correspondence I just started with the friend I met back in the winter. Granted, it is an email correspondence, but it’s still a great one. I only spent a few hours with him when I did meet him, but he was probably one of the most intelligent and interesting people I have ever met. When I met him, he immediately started asking me questions about the things I keep closest to my heart – that is my faith and my desire to help people. It felt so good to have the opportunity to tell someone how strongly I felt about these things and to speak openly about topics acquaintances don’t usually comfortably talk about. I’m so happy I had that opportunity to exchange ideas and passions with a person who could relate, but from a different perspective than I was accustomed to. From this, I have decided that I want to be someone who people can feel comfortable talking to so openly and seriously. Add that to my list of semester goals.

My main correspondences are with those who I grew up with, who are currently serving the Lord for two years of their life. Whenever I get letters from them, I feel so happy! I love hearing about their growth, the new insights they have, and just how their life is going in general. I love it when I can hear them say the things they write in their letters as if they were right there with me. Facial expressions and all.

My last correspondence is with a girl I have never met in person. But she is one of my best friend’s sisters. She is really wonderful. It has been a while since we have written, but when we were writing regularly, I felt like I was putting together a puzzle, trying to figure out who she was, piece by piece. Which was really pretty fun! She is such a great girl, and I feel like if we were to meet each other in person, we would have a lot of fun together.

I guess the moral of this story is to write your friends! The old-fashioned snail mail way. I feel like I have grown closer to my friends through our continuous letters back and forth. I have also started making some amazing new friends, and have an outlet to tell people my feelings, in a thought-out way, so even I can figure out exactly what I am feeling because I have to put it down in words. It is great for deepening your friendship, to something that is more than just a shallow, casual hello every once in a while, which is great! But the potential of the relationship is so much more, and you shouldn’t belittle it.

Finding my Qi

Moving in a new apartment can be challenging. Trying to make your apartment feel like a home can be even more difficult. Bare walls and a sense of a temporary home never seemed to bother me before, but ever since my wonderful roommate last year who was passionate about making our apartment feel like a home, I have realized how important it is for my spirit, as well as everyone else’s to have a place that is welcoming and homey feeling.. And lucky for me, a good friend of mine just happens to be a feng shui master! Jim, who recently returned from an LDS mission in France, was taught by an ancient Chinese master deep in the mountains of France!Way too legit, so Kirsten (my roommate) and I decided to use his knowledge on our quest for finding our apartment’s qi.

We separated our front area into sections – Knowledge, wealth, friendship, family, and relationship. Wealth is the furthest left from the door, where we strategically placed our fish and a cute little green succulent.

On the opposite corner, we have out area for knowledge. We have a small stack of books on our coffee table, soon to sit between book ends, and a stack of them in a cloth drawer underneath.

In the kitchen, we have beads hanging from the ceiling. Crystals, turquoise, and some green stone beads. This is considered out relationship area, but we are roughly using the feng shui model, so it may not run completely in line. But there are no mirrors in that area! We do not want to invite a third party into any relationships we may have!

Our family section is the where the refrigerator is. We are going to post pictures of everyone’s family on there. And then on our door, we have encouraging quotes, as well as pictures. That way as we go out to face the world, we will have a positive start. We also hung pictures on twine and clothes pins, which may sounds kind of weird, but I actually really like this idea. My roommate from last year put this in our living room, and I loved it. We would clip on drawings or leaves, special notes, or anything we wanted really. It really showed a bit of each of our personalities and was so fun. Right now we have pretty ordinary pictures on it, but soon it will shine with our personalities! I know it!

I realized that decorating an apartment isn’t as scary as it seems. Actually, it was really simple.We hung a sheet I have with big flowers on it on the wall. It really brought a lot of color into the room, making it incredibly more cheerful. And then making a fun adventure out of the whole ordeal was a good idea, and I would say I grew closer to my friends.

So I love being in my home – my shelter from the stresses of the world. This may come as a surprise to all 3 of you – but I stress out so easily! It’s a problem. So having this space where I can relax is something that really helps, I’ve realized. Today when I came back home from work (which just happens to be one of the most stressful jobs there is – catering) I immediately felt all the problems melt away. I love having this sanctuary and the company of some really wonderful people.