Gratitude

What has been going on in my life in the 7 months since I've written? A lot. I keep meaning to blog more, I really do...but it just seems like each time I am in the mood to write, I have nothing to say, and every time I need to get my thoughts out on paper, I have no time to do so. 

Anyway, I am just updating to say that I failed my 100 letters of gratitude challenge. Instead, I am using the month of November to write 30 letters instead. I think this is a more manageable goal; I only have to write 1 letter per day. 

There are so many people that I am grateful for this season (well really all seasons, but you know what I mean). I have currently written 8 letters, and they cover a wide range of people that have made an impact on my life: rabbis, youth advisors, teachers, friends. 

Though it's sometimes stressful to fit my letters in when I have so much going on academically (#midterms) and extracurricularly (#overcommitted), once I sit down and actually write out my thoughts I have found that it puts me in a better mood. 

The end! 

10,000 Roses

In the spring of my junior year of high school, I began searching for a monologue to use for college auditions. Somehow I came across the play "The White Rose", which chronicles the arrest, interrogation and ultimate execution of a group of University of Munich students who distributed leaflets protesting the Nazi regime at the height of World War II. They called themselves The White Rose. I might add that none of the students were Jewish. I lived with that piece for the entirety of my senior year. My friends could tell you that this piece meant a lot to me. I felt such deep appreciation and connection to Sophie Scholl, who at 21 years old felt so strongly that what was happening was wrong, and died advocating for the basic   human rights of others. 

Today, I am proud to say that my school has a White Rose Society of our own that educates others about human rights issues affecting our world today. Today, 10,000 roses were passed out around campus to represent the number of people killed in a single day at Auschwitz. 

The White Rose Society's message could not be more timely. Along with the roses we passed out is a message drawing parallels between what happened in WWII and what is happening in our world right now in 2016. I am attaching a picture of it below. We say "Never Again", but do our actions reflect our words? 

Twenty

Well...I didn't blog at all in 2015. That's upsetting.

Oh well, it is now 2016 and so much has changed since the last time I have blogged! Perhaps I will post more often this year (one can hope), but the reason I am writing now is because today I turned 20.
Yep. It's crazy isn't it?!? As of 1:43am this morning I have been alive on this earth for 2 whole decades, 20 years, 240 months, 7300 days, and a lot of hours. I have learned and grown a lot these past twenty years, but one of the biggest things I would like to work on is gratitude.

Too often I find myself running myself ragged and bogged down in the hectic nature of every day life. I have decided that it would do me good to be more mindful of the small things in life...and more specifically the people who make the small things in life occur (though those small things are often big things).

This year I am making a goal for myself to write 100 letters of gratitude to 100 different people who have made an impact on my life. I am hoping that it will be a way to not only practice gratitude, and celebrate the joys in life, but that it will help me reconnect with those I have lost touch with over the years (there are many people I would like to thank).

Obviously, I am sure I will start off with the people that are a part of my current daily life...but as time goes on, I am hoping that this project will provide me with the opportunity to reflect on those whose paths have crossed mine in years past as well.

Basically, I am writing all this out now on my blog to keep me accountable. Fingers crossed I follow through! I really think it will be a rewarding/fulfilling experience.

Now on to the next chapter.....