Quality Quotes

"It only gets dark when you turn off the light. You can't bring the dark in."

True true. There's no way to make darkness, it's just an absence of light. Similarly, there's no way that darkness could ever overpower light...light always wins when it's up against light. The only way for darkness to win would be to turn off or reduce the light.

I don't feel like I'm explaining my thoughts on the quote very well (I'm way burned out right now), but fortunately it's pretty self-explanatory and y'all are smart people.

From: Notes from a fireside on a friend's blog, Insight.

Unemployment Rates

Google has a neat new feature that let's you see and compare unemployment rates. I ran a comparison between the unemployment rates in Utah, California, and the US as a whole. Interesting. You can add / remove states and counties, too!

Conference Highlights!

The Church put out a General Conference highlights video. It's great!

They also have a video entitled "The Miracle of the Holy Bible" (make sure you click the HQ)

And ANOTHER one called "An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ"

They're all really good. In fact, just check here to see all the videos the Church as put on youtube.

Quality Quotes: Acceptance and Susan Boyle

You've probably heard about Susan Boyle, who's performance of I Dreamed a Dream on Britain's Got Talent propelled her into the internet spotlight. The Mirror also has an article telling about her past, which certainly wasn't an easy one.

As for what makes us like her so much? Here's one take on it:

No matter how much we mock those we consider beneath us, it's much more satisfying to be reminded that everyone has dignity.

That's because when we laugh at someone for being a freak, we're laughing out of fear. We're laughing because we want to prove that we are not like that loser over there. If we can shame the people who don't belong, then we can prove that we do.

When we embrace an outsider, though, we're paving the way for our own acceptance in the future. Eventually, we'll all feel like outcasts, and none of us wants to be laughed at. The Susan Boyle Story suggests we won't be. Instead of fearing for our own eventual shame, we can count on society to hear what's beautiful in us. We can trust that if we just show our true selves, we will be embraced.

Whether or not that moral is true in the real world, it's alluringly true in the Susan Boyle Story. By participating in the narrative that television has constructed for her, by cheering her on and watching her video over and over, we can not only feel good about graciously welcoming an outsider, but also feel relief for helping create a world that will someday welcome us.

I wholeheartedly agree. Here's to acceptance. (Written by Mark Blanksenship, I found it at Marginal Revolution).

Conquering Fears

So it's been a while since I've posted...but I'll be ALL DONE with finals (and my first year of law school) tomorrow morning! I'm excited.

During finals I've had a lot of apprehension and nervousness. Especially for the Crim Law final that I took Monday. That test terrified me. I think these feelings of nervousness, apprehension, and terror come from the fear that maybe I'm just not good enough. Maybe I'm not smart enough, or won't remember what I should, or will make a huge mistake.

Lo and behold, today Zen Habits (a wonderful blog) posted A Guide to Beating the Fears That Are Holding You Back. It's full of great advice that I think we can all apply, no matter what our fears.

Quality Quotes: Prayer

Here's a great quote about the relationship between the scriptures and prayer.

We can and must go often and carefully to the word of God. If we become casual in our study of the scriptures, we will become casual in our prayer. We may not cease to pray, but our prayers will become more repetitive, more mechanical, lacking real intent. Our hearts cannot be drawn out to a God we do not know, and the scriptures and the words of living prophets help us to know Him. As we know Him better, we love Him more.

I usually feel the drive to pray, more strongly then I feel the drive to study my scriptures. I also often wish I knew how I could be more heartfelt when I pray. This quote really changed my perspective and helped me see the relationship between the two.

It is from a talk by Henry B. Eyring.

Fast food...

So some people ordered 14 fast food items from different restaurants and then took pictures of them, just how they were. They then put those pictures next to the companies' ads that show the food. The results are kinda gross, but not really surprising at all. But still kinda gross.

Edit:
On the other hand, Health.com did a study of the five healthiest fast food chains, and Chipotle, the BEST restaurant in the whole world, is on the list. I am addicted to that place in quite a serious way. The others are Noddles & Company, Cosi, Panera, and Au Bon Pain. I haven't been to Cosi or the Pain one, but I recommend Noodles (on the off chance that someone hasn't been there) and highly recommend Panera. It's great. Oh, and the results are talked about here, although I can't find the original resport thing anymore.

Zen Buddist Purification Sutra

All the evil karma, ever created by me since of old;
on account of my beginingless greed, hatred, and ignorance;
born of my conduct, speech, and thought;
I now confess openly and fully.

One day I want to be comfortable enough with myself to do this. To be at peace with my dualistic nature and be able to admit my faults and flaws, openly and fully, to others.

Frowny Face = Frowny Marriage

A study found "that how much people smile in old photographs can predict their later success in marriage...the results indicate that people who frown in photos are five times more likely to get a divorce than people who smile."

Just remember, correlation doesn't imply causation.

Tweenbots!

A really cool project! I love the little guy, even though I've never met him. And probably never will. And yet I still am referring to him as if he were a person. And was male. Probably just because it is the cutest thing since...puppies. Even cuter than babies, and with much less clean-up!

Missionary work

A few days ago I read about Obama easing some US restrictions on Cuba. What I didn't consider when I first read this post was how this is a step towards missionary work in Cuba.

There are still a number of obstacles to sharing the gospel in Cuba, both in the (many) existing US restrictions and in Cuba's own policy, but this certainly is a step in the less-obstacles direction.

Redefine Service

About a year ago, BYU started a campaign called "Redefine Service." It's all about reaching out to others and taking advantages of the little opportunities to help others that surround us daily.

I really like the whole concept and I especially like the video. It's really good. It's on the redefine service page.

Obama Nominates EchoHawk to Dept of the Interior

President Obama has nominated Larry EchoHawk, my Criminal Law Professor (whose final I'm taking in a week...) to be Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs for the Department of the Interior. It's been a long time coming...the vetting process has gone on for months. I loved his class and am confident that he will serve our nation well.

The official announcement is on the white house website.

New web address

Hey! Just wanted to let you know that this blog is also now available at spinningintocontrol.com (or even at www.spinningintocontrol.com). The old address (spinningintocontrol.blogspot.com) still works, too, so you've got all sorts of options.

Challenges and Choices

Here's a great quote from Elder Hales' talk from last week's general conference.

Our challenges, including those we create by our own decisions, are part of our test in mortality. Let me assure you that your situation is not beyond the reach of our Savior. Through Him, every struggle can be for our experience and our good (see D&C 122:7). Each temptation we overcome is to strengthen us, not destroy us.

This quote really causes me to shift how I look at things. I think it's easy to see external challenges (like losing a job or a loved one) as a helpful part of this whole life thing, and challenges we cause as just bad choices that we'd be better off without. However, we're really not expected to be perfect, and one part of life is overcoming challenges that are a result of our choices. They too are an opportunity to grow and improve.

I think one reason this idea might be uncomfortable to some is that they think that if we say this then people will just go out and make bad decisions and justify it by saying that they're just growing. I really don't think that's too much of a problem, but don't really want to go into explaining why I think this here. Talk to me or send me an email if you want to hear my thoughts about it.

Which is Worse

Which is worse, pride or sexual sin? - A very interesting post on Junior Ganymede comparing talks by Jacob and President Benson. I agree with his conclusion.

If you don't take care of yourself...

If you don't take care of yourself, who's going to?

This past year I've learned a great deal about the importance of taking care of myself. It's easy to forget to do it...often we move so fast that we don't even take the time to examine ourselves, we don't even know what our needs ARE. I've found that while taking care of myself helps me feel happier about my life and where I'm going, it's far from a selfish endeavor. When I take care of myself I'm able to lift others and see the world through new eyes. As the saying goes, "you can't draw from an empty well."

So, how can you take care of yourself? The following activities have really helped me:

• Express yourself. This has been the biggest way I've been able to take care of myself. Being totally and entirely open someone who cares about you (or with a number of people who do) is the most helpful, but if you're not in a place in your life where that's an option, journaling and blogging have really helped me recognize my needs, and at the same time, fulfill many of them.
• Have your feelings. Don't be afraid to feel your innermost emotions. Thinking about what's going on in my life and how I feel about it while being REALLY honest with myself has helped me do this.
• Do activities that help you feel. I don't know if this category makes much sense, but listening to music or reading books that express others emotions has helped me feel and acknowledge my own emotions. Watching some movies has helped me with this. Basically, I think my professor summed it up pretty well when she talked about the arts.
  
• Avoid activities that make you numb. There are a number of activities that can numb us to the world around us and stop us from feeling our emotions (or put us past feeling). I've noticed that watching some movies and playing video games do this to me. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do these activities, just avoid doing things in order to escape stress or other emotions you feel, but are trying to escape.
  
• Serving others. Being there for others and helping them helps me connect with myself.

What needs do you have? What's helps you connect with your emotions?

Friendliness

I usually spend most of my days (weekdays at least) over at the law library. Every so often I go to the main campus library for a change of scenery. One thing that's always surprising to me is how not friendly people are over on the main campus! I mean, I'm sure that lots of them are friendly once you get to know them, but I when I pass people they either avoid eye contact, or when eye contact is made they immediately look away. I'd never really noticed it before, and can now see how transfer students think that BYU is too big.

I think the biggest difference is simply the number of students. The law school has 450 students, so even if although I don't know everyone's names I recognize just about everyone and so I'm used to smiling at people and having them smile back. The main campus, on the other hand, has around 30,000 students. So there's more at the 2nd one. Yeah. So what can we do?

Smile at people when you pass them.

Say hello. Or at lead give them a head nod. Or a friendly wink.

Don't avoid eye contact. Especially if they smiled at you! Makes them feel a bit awkward.

I'm not saying that not smiling, avoiding eye contact, or passing silently are really bad things. I'm also not saying that you are anti-social. I am saying that a little bit of friendliness can go a long way.

Procrastination...

So I have a lot of studying to do for finals, just like pretty much everyone else who's in school now. I find that while it's hard to concentrate and focus, the hardest part (by far) is STARTING a study session. Once I'm going I actually do a decent job. I really wonder why this is...if studying isn't so hard once I'm doing it, why does my mind resist doing it so much?

Zen Habits has a post of 10 ways to beat procrastination. It's interesting that 5, 6, and 9 all have to do with starting the project.

Attractiveness Survey

So a friend of mine did a great attractiveness survey (here are the results). It was interesting, especially because some questions were asked to both guys and girls so that you could compare results. There were 386 results, so there's some validity there. 94% self identified as LDS/mormon, so keep that in mind when interpreting the results.

One thing that I thought was interesting was about what men thought was attractive in a woman. Both men and women were asked a question regarding this picture:


Women were asked to "Click on what initially attracts MEN to this woman (in YOUR opinion)".

(brighter/warmer colors = more people clicked there)

Men were then shown the same picture and asked to "Click on what initially attracts you about this woman (OR if you are not attracted to her, don't click)." Here are the results:
So, while this picture is obviously dealing with something physical (as it is a picture...), it seems that women thought that the physical aspects were more important to men then they actually were, where men focused more on the smile. Why do you think this is? Would it be because the men are a little different audience than the norm? Are men not being honest in their responses? Is this evidence that advertising has had an effect on women and made them insecure? Other thoughts?

Flag Football.....

So we're in the flag football championships...we had a game today...and we won! We're 6-0, and we hope to keep our undefeated record, because it's single elimination so if we lose we're done. It's really really fun. Interesting thing is I'm playing two positions that I've never played (offensive and defensive lines) and I REALLY like them. A lot.

On a more random note, we play on turf instead of real grass, which really gives you like rug burn...or carpet burn? I forgot what that's called...anyway, it gives rug burn or carpet burn type wounds to you if you fall, which are really annoying. It's especially bad because as a rusher I dive a lot, so below my knees and my elbows gets all hurt, and the hairs get caught in there and it's just not fun. So...I shaved those areas. And now it weirds me out every time my jeans rub against my legs, which is a lot. And I don't even know why I'm posting any of this.

Object Permanence for Infants

Here's a cool video about object permanence. At six months old, when the baby can't see it, it doesn't exist. Even if they saw it covered. By ten months, babies realize that things just don't disappear.