i use level soap

Every morning I wash my face. It's something that I always do. I usually use Level soap, but no matter where I am, I always wash my face. It makes me feel clean, yeah definitely, but it makes me feel calm because I start the day of like I do every other day. It keeps me in a line, in rhythm, in routine.

My whole life is a routine. I just posted on my morning motions. That is exactly what I do every morning. It almost never differs. Then I go to school, come home, watch some ESPN, eat dinner, do some homework and then go to bed. It's my routine.

Sometimes I go to bed, crawl under the covers, and have a sense of emptiness. Almost like my day was unfulfilled. Think about it, I didn't do anything to better myself or my life. I just went through the motions of my day. I do it five times a week, for 9 months out of the year. It's my routine.

This summer, I had no routine. No restrictions, no plans, no obligations. I went with life. I went with every opportunity I got. I made the most of what it was I was doing right then. I was always doing something new. It was almost like I was outside of my comfort zone...constantly. I had more experiences in those short three months then in my high school career combined. I lived intentionally. I never gave way to a routine.

If you constantly surround yourself with the same thing every day, your sense become dull. Only new experiences can sharpen your senses and let you view the world and God's creation in new ways.

God is always talking. I believe that. I think that as humans we fail to always listen. I think that our everyday routine allows us to just go through the motions of the day, not paying attention to what God is trying to say. Our senses become dull, not aware, we stop living with intention. It becomes a charade.

Are routines bad? No. Not entirely. They can give us a sense of accomplishment and comfort. They allow us to enjoy the people and the places we are at now, everyday. We never have to detach that. We never have to leave to go do something new. That allows deeper relationships and a huge understanding of your current life. When your always on the move, always experiencing new things, you can't go very deep. You always have to break connections, losing that ability.

I think that the solution is to try to find how to have new experiences, sharpen your senses and listen to God, in a routine of your life. I don't know how to do that really. I'm still trying to figure that out. I don't think that simply giving a good helping of prayer and bible reading into everyday will help, because the way I pray, what I pray about and the way I look at the bible, won't change. I will run into the same problem. My senses will become dull.

The way we look at God and the world and our perspectives need to change. Our world changes everyday and our faith needs to follow that. If we catch ourselves in a rut, in a routine, our faith and views won't change.

I don't know. I'm just trying to figure it out. I didn't go very deep because, I haven't thought about it very deep. Maybe you can continue the conversation and go farther.

If you read this far then you should go now to my good friends blog. He just started it and needs a little encouragement. I've read some of his stuff and its great. The link is to the left as Andy Telenko.

sounds in the morning

A few heavy breaths

A rustle and a turn

My dad's soft voice

'It's time to get up'

A moan

A loud shift in the blankets

A silent count to three

One...two...three

One last sigh and a lift out of bed

I'm up

The sliding of my feet

The creek of my door

The spray of the shower

The pounding of the sink

Up and down, up and down

I'm clean

Doors open

Doors close

The dryer is pried

A zip of the zipper

The clank of the belt

I'm dressed

A few generic greetings

'Good morning'

'Good morning'

A flip of the paper

A swig of the glass

I'm out

The skid of my feet on concrete

The clack of the car door

A turn of the key

And a blare of the music

A rev of the engine

The roll of the tires

Damn, I'm late

Montana?

So, at least I'm trying. At least I'm blogging again. It might not be very frequent but hey, I'm a very busy man. Not really actually. My afternoons are full of ESPN, playing football with Sean and Paul and thoughts, key word thoughts, about doing my homework. So, I guess I could write more.

Just like this past summer, I here the road calling my name again. This time, there are a few more possey members. Actually, they're all coming. Shortly after I finish mowing the Shay's lawn, I will hop in the car with three of my closest friends, Sean, Paul and Matt, and push for the North. Destination, Bozeman Montana.

I love Montana. I'm not really sure why. It's slow there. Not bad slow, but a calming slow. A slow that reminds you that life doesn't have to be hectic. I get to take a break when I'm out there. Be in a new place. I get to leave school and whatever back home. That's always a wonderful feeling.

I'm exciting to see my brother. I don't know why I always have a good time when I go up to visit him. Maybe I like him because he's in Montana or maybe I like Montana because Montana has him. I don't know but I can't remember ever regretting going up there. I'm super stoked and can't stop thinking about it. I think it's essential to take a break and let God calm your heart and clear your mind. I think that it's important to do it alone, true, but I also think that fellowship with people close to you is important too.

Hope you have a good week end.

to Friday

I'm Creative Writing class. I'm not a big fan of it. We are critiquing each others work. I'm not a big fan of that. I just took a physics test last block and have a calculus test next. I'm not a big fan of those. I didn't eat breakfast and I'm feeling quite hungry. I'm not a big fan of this. Today is Friday. Huge fan.

Today is the day that all things troublesome are beckoned to be temporarily disposed of. Sharply at 12:35 today, my world shifts, for that instant represents liberation. Liberation from the duties that await me Monday through Friday. But toady, oh today, my worries melt and my passions are revealed. I know that today, it's okay to be whatever I want. There are no expectations. None, until Monday, when the eternal cycle of Monday through Friday begins again. And then I will wait for Friday.

So here's to it; here's to Friday, here's to the agony of the week already over with and to the agony awaiting us next week. But most of all, here's to you and I enjoying our Friday.

Shady's back..back agian

Wow...I'm writing a post. I haven't done that in a long time. I'm trying to get back into the gist of things. School has been on for three weeks and I'm now just getting the hang of it again. Maybe that's a bad thing. I mean, this whole summer I went out and just experienced life. Every opportunity I got to go and do something, I did. I didn't let myself get into a routine. And I think that I learned a lot from that. My teachers are beginning to tell me that I need to start planning for my future because without planning it now, it will never become anything good. I disagree because how can we know what we are suppose to for our lives now. I didn't know what I was doing the next week, even next day my whole summer and I experienced everything to the fullest. I wasn't ever looking forward, worrying about what's next and that lead me to live in the now. And I think that because of that I was able to listen to God more clearly. My life wasn't cluttered with the future or routine or planning, It was just the now, the here. I don't want to waste away my senior year in high school, a huge year full of opportunities, trying to figure out what my life is going to look like next year. So, I'm not. I'm going to live here and now, and trust that my life will be just as exciting next year.

I'm not really sure who still reads my blog. Maybe my brother, my proverbial brother and a few others on occasion. It makes me wonder if I should even start blogging again. But then I got this funny feeling that maybe I should get a Mysapce, and realized how much I actually hate them and need to start blogging again so that I don't fall into the dreaded hell hole that is Myspace. That's probably a little over done, but You get what I'm trying to say now, right?