Who's a fan of Jack's Mannequin? Well, in case you didn't know, here's a little bit of a history. Jack's Mannequin is the solo project of Something Corporate's lead singer, Andrew McMahon. I find Andrew to be extremely inspiring because he is a leukemia survivor who has fought to get to where he is today. The leukemia even changed his singing voice, but he continued to pursue his dreams all the same. Andrew even used what he learned from his experience to start his own foundation for leukemia research and write inspiring hit songs like "Caves," "The Resolution," and "Swim."  Here's a clip from the documentary "Dear Jack" that Andrew has out about his amazing journey. I think after watching this anyone will feel inspired from Andrew's strength and music. Enjoy!

"Dear Jack"

Kudos to Amy Slaven for showing me this awesome film!

Sorry for the lack of entries over the past few days, I've had quite the hectic week. I'll try and do better this week, promise! 

Anyway, on Thursday I went to a Jason Derulo and B.o.B. concert. Now, I don't consider myself a "super fan" of either of these guys, but I felt that it was important for me to experience my first "on campus college concert,"  so I proceeded to jump on the bandwagon and go ahead and buy tickets like everyone else. I guess I didn't know much much of a commitment following the crowd was, because when my friend Bryan and I showed up the morning the tickets went on sale, we had no idea the line of students was going to wrap around the entire student center.  Long story short, we stood in line for about 2 and a half hours so that we could get floor tickets for ourselves and three friends. We ended up being pretty close..

Not the best of pictures, and at a little bit of a zoom, but still...not bad! Anyway, the concert was great but the thing that really made an average show into a great one, was the people I shared it with. I have the best friends in the world! The people you meet throughout your life and experience things with really do make the biggest difference there is. Without friends, experiences mean so much less. 

The Second Entry

Well now that I'm all hooked on this blogging thing, I am reminded of another blog that I want to share with you guys. Has anyone heard of the Post Secret project? It's something that's been around for a while, but just in case you're not familiar with it, consider today your lucky day because I'm about to show you!

Post Secret is an ongoing community art project created by Frank Warren that encourages people from all walks of life to mail in their anonymous "secrets" on postcards. You know..the words we're not supposed to tell anyone else, the thoughts that are never supposed to come out of our heads...those secrets. This project dares to go against everything that is socially acceptable and actually ASK people to share the most revealing, most candid parts of who they are. The best part about this project is that there are absolutely no limitations or restrictions placed on the types of secrets that are accepted. There are secrets that will make you laugh, secrets that will make you feel sad, secrets that will make you angry, secrets that will appall or offend you, sweet secrets, repulsive secrets, and every other kind of secret imaginable. Every Sunday morning, a new batch of secrets is posted on the website for the public to view. There have also been several books of postcard secrets published that are available for purchase at any local bookstore. The site even works with the Suicide Prevention Hopeline to reach out to those who need more help than posting an anonymous secret can provide. What a cool thing.

This Sunday when I was checking out the new secrets as usual, I had a thought. Why are people so interested in knowing the secrets of others anyway? I think we can all relate to the Post Secret project because it is very real. Everyone has secrets, and there is something comforting in knowing that other people have them too. There is something interesting about when people are given the opportunity to become anonymous, suddenly all their shame flies out the window. Post Secret is one of those rare circumstances in which a person can reveal an aspect of their true identity that they may otherwise be ashamed of, to the world. The reason Post Secret is so popular is because people love the feeling of being able to relate to those strange and shameful things that we call "secrets." What if a complete stranger's anonymous secret had the power to make someone feel less alone? Or make them feel less embarrassed? Or ashamed? What if that secret had the power to change someone's mind about a decision that they had been on the fence about for months? What if a secret had the power to save a life?

      

What if a secret inspired someone to tell the love of their life how they feel?

Just think..the possibilities are endless! Check it out, see if a stranger's secrets make a difference in your day, and maybe, if you feel brave, submit a postcard and see if it gets published...then, if it does, don't tell anyone :)

Have a great night!

What is this even about?

I've always kind of wanted to start a blog, but I never have quite gotten around to it. I guess I never really found a good enough reason. I did have one of those Xanga pages back in middle school, but I don't even know how to access it now and it's kind of a phenomena that died with the times. Anyway, when my Journalism 101 class received an assignment to start and keep a blog, at first I didn't have the slightest clue what to choose as a theme. The instructions said to relate the posts to our "dream job," and that was my first issue with the assignment. I've never really had a "dream job." In fact, I'm a sophomore in college who still does not know what to do with her life. I've only just recently chosen a major, and I'm not even 100% sure about it. I think eventually that I would like to become a middle school guidance counselor, but I found out that in Kentucky and Ohio in order to earn a degree in counseling, one first has to get a teaching license and teach for three years prior. I never really imagined myself becoming a teacher considering I've spent the vast majority of my life thus far dreading the moments that I'm forced to sit in a classroom, but the more I think about it the more I realize that maybe going into education wouldn't be all that bad. I've always liked to write, so I would definitely choose English as my area of expertise. Maybe helping kids learn to love literature and become better writers for a little while would prove to be pretty rewarding...

...So anyway, a little sidetracked there but on to answer the title of this post which is what is this blog even about. When I was pondering over this assignment and trying to come up with some ingenious idea of my nonexistent dream job, all I kept coming back to was the thought of "I don't really know how yet, but all I really want to do with my life is something where I'm going to exemplify compassion and help make a difference in the lives of others." With that thought came the idea of creating a blog in which I record the little, tiny, usually insignificant things that I notice in my life that make the biggest difference. I don't know about anyone else, but in my experiences I've found that sometimes all it takes to make a day 100,000 times better is something positive happening when you least expect it; and this can occur in a wide variety of forms. Whether it is a newfound hobby, stumbling upon a fantastic new song, having an unplanned conversation with an old friend you've all but lost touch with, receiving a smile from a stranger, or having the pleasure of witnessing an act of random kindness. I think that if we only paid more attention, we would see that these tiny "differences" are happening all around us each and every day, and I would like to begin to take the time to notice them. This is kind of like a school project with greater value to me than originally intended. A project in which I not only HAVE to hear your ideas and experiences, I WANT to hear them..and want others to hear them as well. I am genuinely interested in getting the ball rolling on this thing. May I challenge you?

Here's a little something to start us off with:

Look what I ran across on the internet this morning- it's a short film sponsored by Liberty Mutual's Responsibility Project starring Tate Donovan that dipicts a father's incredible journey to find a lost teddy bear for his son...pretty sweet...check it out!

Tony <<<

Hai un buon giorno.

(You have a good day.)