The Beauty of Escaping Reality

“Life goes on, it gets so heavy; the wheel breaks the butterfly, every tear a waterfall. In the night, the stormy night, she'll close her eyes. In the night, the stormy night, away she'd fly and dream of paradise…” -Paradise, Coldplay

I had one of the best summers of my life this year. Now, I’m in college, so you might think that I had some awesome internship in DC. Or that I did a mission trip in Central America. Or went backpacking across Europe. Or went to Disney World. But no. I did none of these things. I did things for the good of my own mental health. I did things that I wanted to do. I did things that made me happy. This summer, I lived. Just lived.

Less than two weeks after my classes ended, my two best friends, Lorene and Katherine, and I went to Virginia Beach for the weekend; something we had been talking about doing since we were sophomores in high school. We left bright and early Friday morning, and lounged around on the sand for 2 days straight. We passed time by reading books, taking hundreds of pictures, getting attacked by spiders, crabs, and raccoons, catching gnarly waves on our boogie board, and trying to figure out who it would be to get married first. It was the perfect way to kick off a fun-filled summer!

I talked about this in my last post, but at the beginning of the summer, I pierced my cartilage and dyed the underneath of my hair bright pink. It was crazy! It was spontaneous! It was… fun! I’ve always liked doing things to change the way I look, even if it’s not just that one moment. I like to go through my closet and recreate the outfits I see on Pinterest. I also like learning new things to do with my hair (the newest thing is making a braided headband!). It reminds me of being a kid and playing dress up with my mom’s old bridesmaid’s dresses.

I’m usually lucky enough to go to a single concert every few years, but this summer, I went to TWO! A little over a year ago, my friend’s dad bought us concert tickets to see our favorite band, One Direction, at The Verizon Center this summer! And what was even better? They were floor seats! I’m talking, close enough to get noticed by 3 of them and end up on the jumbo-tron! By the end of the night, my voice was gone, my throat was totally dry, and I was exhausted! But it was easily one of the best nights of my life! The second concert was completely spur-of-the-moment, something I’m trying to get better at. My friend asked if I wanted to see my other favorite group, Big Time Rush, (I got a thing for boy bands, okay?) at Jiffy Lube Live! We got cheap tickets, picnic food, and a blanket to sit on. We were surrounded by girls and boys half our age, but we were the ones dancing around and singing at the top of our lungs the entire time! It was so fun to act my shoe sixe rather than my age for a few hours.

When I was in high school, I joined a wonderful social network called Tumblr. Through that site, I met one of my current best friends! The only problem? She lives in a completely different state! After months and months of arrangements, it was official: she was going to take a train and stay with me for a few days! After I picked her up, we walked all around DC, taking in the sites, and, of course, taking as many pictures as possible!

The perfect end to the perfect summer was taking a trip to Illinois. My dad was in the military, so that meant that every 3-5 years, I had to leave all of my friends, pack up, and go to another place. While I’ve only lived in a few places, O’Fallon, Illinois is the place I consider “home”. My mom’s family lives there and that was where I really feel like I grew up. My mom and I set out on a road trip. We drove through rain, fog, winding roads; it even took us an hour and 2 states to find a hotel for the night! But the trip was totally worth it! I played countless rounds of Bananagrams with my family (I totally beat my cousin!), went to my first rock show with my best friend, and ate my body weight in delicious food.

But it wasn’t just the big things that made this summer unforgettable, it was all of the little things that held it all together. I went to my first baseball game in years this summer. I met some of the Latter Day Saints missionaries with my best friend, who was about to go on a mission herself. I didn’t have to wait in crazy long lines at Kings Dominion. I was able to put in some creativity by doing DIY projects from Pinterest to add a little character to my room.

Doing all of these things was a perfect escape from reality. This past year I have suffered immense heartache, incomparable loss, and battled an eating disorder. While these things have made me stronger, being surrounded by constant reminders gives me moments of weakness. Sometimes I need a little distraction, something to keep my mind off of everything.