My So-Called Chaos

6.22.2015

It's Been A Hundred Years, I've No Idea Which Direction to Go

Life seems a little crazy right now. Everything's in the process of changing... It doesn't feel like one of those big awakenings where everything's on the verge of change and I'm anticipating and tingling for it. Instead, it feels like I know everything is going to change, and I'm just waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

I feel like I spend a lot of time waiting these days. I'm waiting to find out if this house is for real this time. Waiting to find out if this boy is for real, and if he'll get things together in time to catch me. Waiting to see how I'll feel about it all. Waiting to see what I need to do to progress in either front. So much waiting.

However, the problem is not in the having to wait for something. The problem is my attitude about waiting. It's the way I see the waiting in my own head like it's something I have to reluctantly do. Wait, the problem is with me? Crazy. Mirrors.

The waiting can be a blessing, if I let it... If I'll just change my perception of the matter at hand on all fronts I'll find that time is good. Instead of feeling like I'm just waiting, I can actively be preparing. I can be cleaning, and packing, and putting things in gear for what will come. There is time to see how I really feel about situations and their possible outcomes. The time before it all falls into place can be a blessing, because it eventually will fall into place, but will I be ready? I hope so.

Today's song isn't super relating to my situation, but it's been in my head non-stop and I have to share it. I've listened to Elle King's album "Love Stuff" so many times in the last couple of weeks I have all of the songs damn-near memorized, and I'm not sick of it yet. This is the song that keeps playing in my head, and I have to listen to it daily just to keep the earworm from playing on repeat all day long. But I don't mind-I really like it.

This week's song:

Song of Sorrow

by Elle King

Made my way to Passerman's Hollow even though it was too soon

And all the King's men say 'there's no tomorrow'

So I followed the sorrow song of the moon

Scriptures slinging and I can't seem to find my way back home

It's been a hundred years, I've no idea which direction to go

This is my song of sorrow

Weak and wide-eyed my pride is swallowed

I'm begging for my heart's last beat

And I'm repaying all the time I borrowed

So forever the sorrow song I sing

Scriptures slinging and I can't seem to find my way back home

It's been a hundred years, I've no idea which direction to go

This is my song of sorrow

Oooo, song of sorrow

Oooo

Scriptures slinging and I can't seem to find my way back home

It's been a hundred years, I've no idea which direction to go

Scriptures slinging and I can't seem to find my way back home

It's been a hundred years, I've no idea which direction to go

This is my song of sorrow

Musical Mondays is a weekly linky party where you can share songs or other music-related posts each Monday and link up with the linky. Then you can enter the monthly giveaway and visit the other music posts linked up. To join us:

Write a blog post sharing music or something music-related.
Include the Musical Mondays button (code below) and/or a link back.
Link-up in the linky below.
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Enter the Giveaway below.

Enter to win a copy of Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

This month's giveaway is going to be a book, about music, because I decided to combine to things I love-books and Musical Mondays! So you can enter to win a copy of Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield. Giveaway is open Worldwide and ends on July 1st at 12AM. Entering below agrees to all terms and conditions within the Rafflecopter.

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6.21.2015

The Weekly Round-Up: Check Out These Brave Ladies

Hello readers! If you're new here, or just new to The Weekly Round-Up, let me introduce you. The Weekly Round-Up is a weekly linky party hosted each Sunday by myself and Aubrey of High-Heeled Love where we share posts from other bloggers. Why? Well it's a great time to take the focus off ourselves and let the light shine on some other fantastic bloggers and writers out there. Sometimes when we blog, we forget that it's not all about us. I mean, we're here telling our own stories, so it's easy to be very self-oriented, but it's also great to stop once in a while and share some of our favorites.

So, take a moment and check out these suggestions I have for you to read. Who knows? You might not only find a great post that resonates with you, but you might find a new blog to follow, or a new bloggy friend. You can never have enough good friends.

This week I've decided to focus on bravery. Each post before is brave in one way or another, and I applaud them for it!

"So if any of my friends are craving to travel but are holding back because of the price- just know that if you travel smart, you can spend less abroad than you do at home with your every day routine. So go out, live your dreams and be legendary."

♥ Shane from Sea Salt Secrets writes about how these are our Wander Years. A great motivator to get out there and travel. Life is too short to stay in one place and be stagnant with our lives-go, do, see, and have memories! Be brave!

A Peek at Karen's World: I'm Trying to Be Brave. I Really Am.

"But I’m making a commitment that this week I am going to be brave. I’m going to challenge myself to try something new. This month I made a goal to go back to yoga. Well, I’m going to do that this week. Because the sooner I go once, the sooner I can go again."

♥ Karen from A Peek at Karen's World says she's trying to be brave and make changes in her life. Honestly, I think she IS brave. It's brave just to write this post and talk about your own insecurities. You can do it Karen! We both can.

"In the middle was a leather ring box that said “Love is for children.” I laughed out loud. He and I are constantly calling each other dumb for falling in love, or stating the famous Black Widow line, “love is for children,” in response to “I love you.” It’s an inside Avenger’s joke and I was really, really happy that he brought who we are into the proposal. I should have known he would anyway."

♥ Allie from Sincerely, Bugs has such a sweet proposal story! I love how her ~~boyfriend~~ fiance made it personal too, and I especially love that their little bit of personal is nerdy. Geeks unite! Congrats Allie! It's brave to move forward with heart.

Anna in Wonderland: Being Your Authentic Self

"But, the reason Ingrid's video had so much of an impact on me was because like Ingrid, for a long time I felt as though my authentic self had to be hidden, like there was something wrong with it. Like Ingrid, I had a role carved out for me before I was even born and it takes a lot of guts to live your real life. Sometimes people will be hurt along the way if you live your life honestly, but you have to ask yourself, is it worth it for you to hurt people temporarily (most people will come around to who you are in time) or continue hurting yourself (and possible even other people along the way) forever just to protect them?"

♥ Anna from Anna in Wonderland digs deep and tells us why she was so moved by Ingrid Nilson's coming out video. It's so brave to be able to share your deepest and most real stories, and I love that she shared it with us.

"It's in the giving in, that turns out to be the greatest reward. There is something of a relief in admitting defeat and knowing you can put it away as you move on to something better and more fulfilling. I find it amusing how one will hold onto the impending disappointment, as if holding on will make it any better. It won't. Don't fool yourself. The sooner you give in to the changes that need making, the better."

♥ Ashlee of Painting Bliss wrote about how difficult it is when you don't feel like your art is going right, but how you should follow your gut instincts and move on if needs be. Man, I think this can all be related to other things in life too, can't it?

What are your favorite posts this week?

The Weekly Round-Up

How this works:

Follow your hosts Miss Angie at My So-Called Chaos and Aubrey at High-Heeled Love.
Write up a blog post sharing some of your favorite posts this week from other bloggers.
Add the Weekly Round-Up Button (code above) and/or a link back to your blog post.
Link-up with our weekly linky party on Sundays.
Visit other party-people to see what posts they liked this week!

6.20.2015

Saturday Spotlight: The Importance of Planning by Emilie Lima Burke

Wake up. Pee. Brush teeth. Get dressed. Head to gym. Spin. Come home. Shower. Then what?

It is true for most people that we have a routine. Every (week)day consists of a pattern of things we have to do. If you’re anything like me, though, it’s the small details that get you caught. I hate when I have to get to the post office, dry cleaners, or bank, and I can’t seem to remember it- until after they’re closed, of course.

For this reason, I’ve joined the community of men and women who swear by their planners. I first started using a planner meticulously in my sophomore year of high school. My then-PE teacher required us to write our assignments down every day for a the second quarter as a way to earn extra credit. Being the Type A student I am (I mean, you don’t get to Princeton without it), despite the fact that I didn’t need extra credit, I decided to go for it.

You see, up to this point I did not write down my assignments because I could keep it all in my head. I was 15 years old. I had school, sports practice, and a fast food job. In the grand scheme, it wasn’t that much on my plate.

Despite not having much on my plate, every once in a while, things still fell through the cracks. I did sometimes miss an assignment or forget to study for a quiz. I’d remember a shift that I had offered to cover at work, but I didn’t remember to bring my uniform to school. It wasn’t all that time, but it was often enough. When Ms. Soltis, then, opened up this challenge, I was excited to get on board.

Just like that, things changed. I stopped forgetting things. This is important to note: Some things still didn’t get done. It wasn’t, though, because I didn’t remember to do them. It was because I was too busy or something came up. Things weren’t falling through the cracks. I was able to plan for them now.

Here I am, over six years later, still swearing by a planner.

The thing with planning, though, is that there is no right way to do it. Over the years, I’ve tried so many different planners. I’ve used a Bloom Planner, a Lilly Pulitzer Planner in multiple sizes (examples here), the free ones that show up at your door, and lots others along the way. There is only one, though, that I’ve felt has given me the freedom and flexibility to accommodate all the different parts of my life. That is my beautiful Erin Condren Life Planner which you can see below.

A photo posted by Emilie Lima Burke (@emiliecreative) on May 9, 2015 at 6:08pm PDT

What makes planners really unique is the way they give you the power to organize your life. The EC Planner, as you can see from the picture below, gives you the power to categorize your life into three boxes. The planner comes organized in Morning, Day, and Night. Those, though, are not my needs. Instead, I customize it, based on my needs for that day or week. Usually, I use To-Do, Blog, and Work, which I use to keep track of both school stuff and work stuff.

A photo posted by Emilie Lima Burke (@emiliecreative) on May 11, 2015 at 5:24am PDT

You’ll notice that here I’ve added some embellishments to my ECLP, like the hedgehog paper clip, and washi tape in the pages. It’s just a little flair that makes it more exciting for me to plan. This gives me the opportunity to be both creative and organized in the same location!

My planner has become a place for me to not only be organized but push myself to be creative on a regular basis. For example, if I make a page design that I don’t love, I only have to put up with it for a week. Then it’s on to the next one!

Here are some of my favorite planning guidelines to help you be the best planner you can be:

You are never wrong. Your way of planning is your way of planning. We can always try to be better, but that does not mean you were wrong.
Make it suit your needs- don’t try to fit your planning style into theirs.
There are tons of etsy shops that make planner stickers that can help you truly make your planner your own. Do it. Forreal. Find and customize however works best for you!
Plan every week at the same time. Maybe you’re a Sunday night planner. Maybe you’re a Monday-gal. Whatever the case, find a day and time that works for you and stick to it every week. Rome was not built in a day.
It should be something you want to do. Don’t do it because you have to. Planning should be helping you. If it’s not you might want to reevaluate your system.
Sometimes you fall of the horse. It’s okay to brush it off and get back on. It’s not just okay- it’s expected. Sometimes you’ll miss a week. That’s why there’s always next week.

It seems to me like a lot of those tips could also apply to life… hmm.

This post, The Importance of Planning, is written by Emilie from EmilieLimaBurke.com, where she blogs about her transition from college into the real world. Her blog topics include crafting, saving money, and going on new adventures.

Want to learn more about how I plan? I’m excited to announce that I’ll be starting a planning series on my blog! You can join in on the fun! or subscribe to my email list below.