Individuality

Individuality, noun:

1.	the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, that distinguishes one person or thing from others; sole and personal nature: a person of marked individuality.

2.	individualities, individual characteristics.

3.	a person or thing of individual or distinctive character.

4.	state or quality of being individual; existence as a distinct individual.

5.	the interests of the individual as distinguished from the interests of the community.

6.	Archaic. state or quality of being indivisible or inseparable.

I am fervently hoping that most of you already knew the definition of “individuality.”  I just like to be precise, and make sure we’re all starting on the same page.

The gym I attend always makes for excellent people watching.  In my people watching, I have had the fortune of espying someone quite unique — she is an upper-middle aged woman who under normal circumstances would not be nearly so interesting to watch.  However, in this instance this woman wears the same attire to work out in (at least every time I have seen her she has worn the same thing).  Her attire is bold, and I would guess says multiple things about her personality.  Its a bright red leotard with bright blue long sleeves.  Basically it looks like a gymnastics outfit.

I am not in any way negatively judging this woman.  On the contrary, I admire her boldness.  Whats strange to think about though is that this woman most likely does not view her choice of gym clothes as worth the stares she receives and coolly ignores.  In a lot of ways, she strikes me as a woman who has fully embraced her “individuality.”  Its a beautiful thing, and something to be admired.  I believe everyone aspires to be unique, to set themselves apart from the pack.  Yet, I would also say that most of us fall short of that aspiration.  I am not saying that clothing is entirely indicative of a unique personality.  I think it is just obvious when someone is completely comfortable with who they are, and it is that kind of confidence that inspires my admiration.  Getting to the point where your individuality is not inspired or influenced by external forces has to take a lot of soul-searching and maybe even reaching some form of enlightenment.  It is that which I aspire to — an overall inner peace with who I am without losing sight of things that I know I can improve.

I love working out…:)

I can dance if I want to

My good friend wrote this, and I thought it was absolutely beautiful.  I wanted to re-publish it here because it is how I feel today and how I want to feel most days.  Enjoy 🙂

ya know those days..
those days immediately after you’ve met someone interesting,
or accomplished a lofty goal,
those days when the world is shiny and new,
those days that a song you’ve heard a thousand times before,
suddenly feels like the first time you’ve ever heard those words..

and you feel like no matter what,

you’ve made it.
you could almost burst into tears because of all the magic you’ve experienced?

today.
today.
today.

today is one of those days.

i haven’t necessarily encountered anyone spectacular in particular, (we are all spectacular)
and goals have been accomplished,
but not necessarily lofty ones. (but aren’t they all lofty?)

Howevs..

as i walked through windy windy capitol hill today,
i wanted to kiss the street for all the knowledge it has given me,
i wanted to hug everyone i passed,
i feel so happy so lucky and so full of the magic that has been following me around lately.

maybe it’s because i’m surrounded by green walls.

so. as for my to-do list today.

.remove paint from ceiling.
.paint kitchen (purple fruit. oohhh yeah.)
.dance a lot in the process.

Haiti

http://www.hopeforhaitinow.org

Haiti is a country enduring a particularly heinous disaster (in case you have been living under a rock).  The Republic of Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.  On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 a 7.1 earthquake hit near the capitol of Haiti in Port-au-Prince.

Here’s a little info to put the size of the earthquake in perspective:  “On the Richter scale, the magnitude (M) of an earthquake is proportional to the log of the maximum amplitude of the earths motion. What this means is that if the earth moves one millimeter in a magnitude 2 earthquake, it will move 10 millimeters in a magnitude 3 earthquake, 100 millimeters in a magnitude 4 earthquake, and 10 meters (33 feet!) in a magnitude 6 earthquake. So when you hear about a magnitude 8 earthquake and a magnitude 4 earthquake, you now know that the ground is moving 10,000 times more in the magnitude 8 earthquake than in the magnitude 4 earthquake. The difference in energies is even greater. For each factor of 10 in amplitude, the energy grows by a factor of 32, so a magnitude 8 earthquake releases 1,000,000 times more energy than a magnitude 4 earthquake. It is no wonder they do so much more damage!”

http://simscience.org/crackling/Advanced/Earthquakes/GutenbergRichter.html

In other words, Haiti was hit with something absolutely massive that is for all practicable purposes unfathomable.

From what I can gather, this earthquake was completely unpredictable, and completely terrifying.  An entire nation was blindsided.  I’ve learned that in Haiti most schools are in session in the afternoons.  The earthquake first struck at around 4 in the afternoon, leaving hundreds of school children trapped in their schools.

From any perspective, this is a tragedy.  An entire nation is in trouble, and I only hope that all the relief efforts under way will bring some measure of assistance and support.  Right now its all about immediate relief, which is vital, but I can only imagine all the rebuilding that has to be done.

If you have faith — pray; if you have anything (time, money, expertise) — give; if nothing else, try to wrap your mind around what has happened and let your understanding influence your future actions toward others.