The “When I Need Inspiration” Playlist

1. Surprise Yourself-Jack Garratt

This reminds me that even I can surprise myself. My life is not all the way planned out, which allows for self growth and discovery. I can prove myself right and wrong. This song is a “go to” for when I am lacking confidence in my abilities.

1. Oh my Love-The Score

The main reason this song is on the Inspiration Playlist is because of its beat. No matter the weird “funk” I’m in, this song can give me another burst of energy. The word”love” alone can remind me that whatever my problem is, which caused my lack of inspiration, is tiny compared to the world around me.

1. Rivers and Roads-The Head in the Heart

“Rivers and Roads” remains to be my all time favorite song. I’ve listened to this song in my super happy times and in the not so happy times. Listening to it, however, reminds me no matter what is going on in my life, I will get through. I’ve made it this far.

1. First Day of My Life-Bright Eyes

This song reminds me that EACH day is a time for renewal. Every day can be the first day of a new life. Although this song is about a woman stepping into a man’s life changing it for the better, the meaning of the song can relate to anything. Anything or anyone can unexpectedly and positively  affect your life , so it reminds e to keep my hopes up.

1. Hold on-Rivvrs

When I really need inspiration, this song is perfect. It has an uplifting beat, and it cannot help but rid me of all my negativity. Everyone is struggling, so all we can really do is hold on. We will get through whatever is happening, so “free yourself, and give into the fight. Know that it’s waiting for you.” Whatever you heart is holding onto, it’s coming. Hold on:)

1. When I Get Older-Wild Party

This reminds me I am still very young. When I feel like my life is over because of a comment I heard, an event, anything, I forget how much more of my life I have waiting for me. There are so many more experiences and  people waiting for me in the future. If that does not inspire you, I don’t know what will.

1. La Foule-Edith Piaf

This classic French song has a lovely tune, despite it’s sad ending. The song tells a story of a crowd (la foule) shoving a man and a woman together. As the woman falls in love with him, the crowd begins to pull them apart. This song, with it’s folky tune, reminds me how anyone or anything can come into your life, without any expectation.

1. Time Machine Invention-Cloud Cult

This song is very interesting, and I did not realize all its meanings until listening to it several times. The song says, “I waste so much time worrying, I forget to live my life,” and “The next destination is always right now.” It’s about a man wanting to build a time machine, so he can fix all his mistakes from the past. Then he realizes that if he lives in the moment and puts all his effort in what he does each day, there is no need to go back in time because right now will be the past soon enough.

1. You-Go-Keaton Cobblers Club

I love ukuleles. How can you not be inspired by the sound of a ukulele? Although this song is super quirky with a ton of metaphors and no explicitly stated meaning, you cannot help but feel a little bit happier and inspired after listening to it.

1. Screen-Twenty One Pilots

I have this song memorized to every last word. I would sing and rap to this song with my brother and best friend in the car over the summer, so it brings back a lot of happy times. The song also talks about how everyone is broken at times. We all have issues, so you’re not the only one. It’s comforting.

I believe that the results from my Strengths quest were very correct in identifying my top 5 strengths. My results were the following:

1. Harmony
2. Positivity
3. Maximizer
4. Futuristic
5. Developer

I am very proud of what this quiz had to tell me. It is assuring to know that you do have many strengths and can use these to help others and humanity.It is very easy to remember all the good things about yourself instead of focusing on the bad. The three strengths that stood out to me were harmony, futuristic, and developer.

I believe my life long goal for myself and for the rest of the world is to find harmony. I want to find harmony within myself, with the surrounding environment, and between all the people I know. Every day I strive to find peace and spread peace by smiling at strangers, keeping my negativity to myself, laughing as loud as I possibly can, and giving off good vibes. Although this is always harder than it sounds, I try to make it my goal when I wake up in the morning.

Futuristic is most definitely one of my most prominent strengths and traits. I am always planning. In fact, not having a specific plan of the specific day or even of my future gives me anxiety. Planning out my future is basically one of my favorite things to do. You’d think I was graduating next week if you saw my plan I have written out for myself. I am always thinking of the future. Although this can become an issue when I lose my sense of being present, being futuristic motivates me to work hard and stay determined to accomplish all my goals.

I attempt to make the most out of every situation, which is why I agree with the maximizer strength. This is difficult a lot of the times because I am perfectionist, so when things do not go exactly the way I planned it, I cannot let the situation or time go to waste. I am usually able to shake it off, remind my self that nothing can be perfect, and try to adjust my plan to allow it to work. This happens a lot, so I believe I am starting to be really good at making the most out of every situation and not wasting anyone’s time. Since I would like to run my own business someday, this is a very good strengths to have.

Ronda Christie

With the 25 minutes I spoke with my photo project partner, I was surprised to find out so much of who she is. Frankly, we both realized after our short conversation, how similar we are. Ronda is a theatre major but adores every form of art. She struggled to find within which art form her true passion lies, like myself. She decided on theatre based on advice from her role model and high school teacher. With a little nudge, she made the decision to follow her passion of acting and playwriting, which is depicted in the photo above.
We decided to take her picture of reading her favorite play script, The Glass Menagerie, on the red chairs because not only are they unconventional, peculiar chairs, they are red; red is the color of passion. Ronda believes her passion to be theatre because it is an interactive form of art that allows people from all backgrounds to explore another side of themselves and enter into a different character. Her future plan is to start a theatre program in an inner city that focuses on movement and exploring one’s own movement.
Both Ronda and I are unique people, and we are trying to be as different and unconventional as possible. We value the company of others because being alone allows our brains to think too much, which is not always a good thing. Ronda and I are following our passion to wherever it may take us and are living our life without ever forgetting why we are living it.