Fashion: Maleigh’s Eccentric “Grandma” Style

Hey guys,

I missed y’all last week, but I hope everyone had a happy Halloween and are ready for this month of giving thanks! I love Thanksgiving, by the way. I think it is an underrated holiday and is only appreciated for the food. Some people just skip right over it and go straight to Christmas, but I am so blessed, and I use this month to really count those blessings and to be thankful for all that I have. I try to be very grateful in my everyday life, as well, but I especially am in the month of November. Anyway, let’s get to the blog!

If you follow my Instagram, you may have seen my recent post about the new series I’m starting  on the blog. Well, here it is! It’s a fashion series. It’s my first of many* series on my blog, and I am very excited about it. Each week, I am going to feature a person and their unique fashion sense. To start, I am going to do myself. I have been told many times, mainly by Hannah Hays, that I have a “grandma” style. And, it’s true. I’ve learned to own it. I never wanted to, at first, but when I was having to remove shoulder pads from most of my clothing, I realized that I truly do have “grandma” style.


Upcycling

Attached above is a brief video of Disney star, Dove Cameron, explaining what upcycling is and what it means to her. She describes upcycling as “taking any article of clothing and making it your own” and that is sort of what I do to my clothing. However, most upcycling requires sewing, if you want to add more detailed, extravagant changes to your clothes. Unfortunately, I do not know how to sew, so I can only do minimal changes. Attached is a pictorial of how I upcycled a sweater.

This super cute sweater was given to me, and it’s so warm and soft, but it had a STAIN on the sleeve. So, I grabbed some scissors and got to snipping.
This is the final result! I cut the sleeves to cap sleeve length and cropped it at the bottom. If I could sew, I would hem the places I cut, but until I learn, my sleeves will have these awkward, jagged edges, but I don’t think they alter the shirt in a negative way. Overall, I think the look turned out great!
I paired the look with this cute denim jacket and sparkly, silver Converse that aren’t pictured.
I also did a bold makeup look to really dress up the outfit.

For those who know how to sew, upcycling goes way more in depth. Here’s a video from Youtuber, Madison Fay, who uses sewing to upcycle her clothing.

Thrifting

Most of the items that people upcycle are thrifted. This is mainly because clothing from thrift or consignment stores have cheaper prices than retail prices or because most of the clothing that end up at thrift stores aren’t necessarily on trend with the style, so people transform them into something that is in style. This is kind of what I like to do with my clothes. Below is another pictorial of how I usually go thrifting.

There are several thrift stores near MSA, but my favorite is The Yard Sale Place.
Here are the pieces I chose on my last trip.
Most of the clothes on the racks are $1, so I head over to the section with the L-2X sizes. As a bigger girl, it is sometimes hard to find clothes in my size, but at Yard Sale, they have a great selection and variety of sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I go shopping, I have to try on EVERYTHING! Some clothes just don’t fir the way you envision them to, and if you don’t try them on, then you’ve wasted money.
Styling

To style something means to make it trendy or fashionable.  How you style an outfit can make or break it. Youtuber, Sierra Schultzzie uploaded a video in which she styled clothes given to her by grandmother and made them cute, modern day outfits.

After trying on an outfit she styled using her grandma’s sweater, Schultzzie said, “It’s very my style, and I also think it’s very on trend. Sometimes my style doesn’t always match up with what’s like trendy at the moment.”

Below is a pictorial of how I styled a “grandma” shirt that I thrifted.

I got this shirt from The Yard Sale Place, and not gonna lie, at first glance, it’s kinda ugly, but I saw potential. This piece didn’t require any scissors, but my end result was so cute!
First, I tied the shirt and made it a makeshift crop.

 

Then, I added this simple red tank to keep the look conducive to dress code policy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image result for ymi jeans ripped
I paired the top with some simple light, ripped jeans, and I cuffed them at the bottom.
To add to the look, I added these Birkenstock style LoudMouth “Bailey Bug” shoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the final look! While I didn’t wear the tank cropped, I still thought it was a cute look, so I snapped this mirror pic. I did minimal makeup and simply wore my hair down to complete the look.

Fashion

Fashion is subjective. Fashion is whatever you want it to be. It doesn’t matter if you wear “grandma” clothes or only designer brand clothes. It only matters that you feel good and confident. Tune in next week for when I dive into the closet of MSA visual, Emmie Leggett.

October (In a Few Words)

The third month of my time at MSA has drawn to a close. Although October had the consistency of frozen oatmeal, it seems as if I typed my September post only days ago. I feel like this is rather consistent with the majority of the population, though.

Nothing catastrophic occurred during October. I did not spontaneously explode into a million specks of tragedy. I did not succumb to a mysterious disease of the mind. I did not wake up and find myself stranded in an ocean infested with pizza-shark hybrids. But the month was, indeed, a month. I woke up every single day, and then I went back to sleep (for the most part). And can you believe that I was up to my old tricks? Yeah, I spent those thirty-one days respiring and digesting like an absolute crazy person. And, guess what? I even let my blood circulate.

Gasp.

I apologize for the horrors presented in the paragraph above. I promise that I will now attempt to keep my audience in mind. By the way, I would like to thank each and every one of my viewers. You guys read words, and I find that super cool.

But, enough jokes aside, October did prove a pleasant surprise at points. I found the weather most exciting. Since I despise exceedingly warm temperatures and sometimes think of the sun as my antagonist, I found the sudden change in weather quite glorious. I know that I will miss the sun when all of the trees seem dead and decrepit, but I do not care at this point. Summer lasts literally ages compared to other, better seasons. And although the natural world can be oh so decadent during the warmer months, it can be even more flavorful during the fall. The earth flaunts its last bit of flora before the frost, and the trees fade in satisfying shades of color. Later, the leaves pepper the ground like little freckles. I am especially fond of the yellow leaves because they seem so acidic, like lemons. Anyway, pieces of my favorite kind of weather accompanied October, and I hope it lingers. I hope no absurd flashes of warm weather puncture it either.

October had a theme of beauty. More so, it had a theme of fighting to feel this beauty. Life, although apathetic to the strife of the individual, seems as if it seeks to ruin you. It seems as if it seeks to corrode your skin and your mind and your appreciation. We all exist in such an elaborate painting of existence, but the paint feels cracked and muddled at some points. At others, the paint seems to glow. When running is smooth and the road is even smoother, everything exists in a bright and yellow fashion. But feet fall flat and sink into cracked concrete, and the sky flings wrath down in the form of lashing raindrops. The trees relinquish their leaves which saturate the ground like deferred dreams. But living means appreciating this instead of solely trusting in the sun and its light and its happiness. You can not think of the world with a smile only when it treats you well, as living is a fight to feel filled with beauty. Living is a fight in itself, but it is also a fight for possession of appreciation.

All in all, October has been a month, indeed. I have compared this year’s situation to last year’s quite a bit, and I see evidence of growth. I hope this trend continues.


Wednesday’s Fun Fact:

You are an individual with a ton of potential.

(:

Banana Bread smacks. That was irrelevant but…

Okay, so I’ll be honest with you: podcasts make me so happy. They are genuinely my not-so-guilty pleasure. And recently, I found this amazing  podcast. It’s called Unfinished Thoughts and it’s on Spotify and Apple Music. When I tell you this podcast slaps, it S L A P S.  All it really is is a look into the mind of a normal teenage student. The speaker is named Gael (I’m pretty sure you pronounce it gay-ell) and he just talks about what’s on his mind. Sometimes he speaks for almost 20 minutes, sometimes he speaks for barely 5. It all depends on what kind of day he’s having. It’s a very easy to relate to and it genuinely makes you feel less alone in the world. It’s so good and I highly recommend listening to it if you like podcasts.

That being said, I really wanna make a podcast. Like, I have ideas, and they’re all really cool. The only issue is financial stability. Who has the money to buy a computer, a good quality mic, AND an editor. That requires moo-lah that I, as an American citizen, am not in possession of. I have expenses to pay and food to buy. But I am still so in love with the thought of making and producing my own podcast. Like, bro!! My own, personal, creative baby that I can make and produce and edit in real time!!!! That sounds like a d r e a m.

Beings that all I have for this podcast is dreams, let me share some of them with you, the broader audiences of Mississippi:

  1. I want to make a sci-fi one set in real time and space, but in a different reality. Like, I want to make the listener feel as if their listening their life in another timeline without it actually being their life. I know it sounds confusing but I read a book called Radio Silence back in 8th Grade and I fell in love with this idea almost immediately (go read Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. It is a younger audience book but the story is SO GOOOOOODDDDDDD).
  2. I would like to make a podcast in which I just speak. Not in a narcissistic or attention seeking way. I just would like to have an outlet where I can tell people about stuff that happens in the life of a random 16 year old child and feel as if I’m making someone else feel less alone in the world, ya’ know? Also, it could help preteens understand what they’re entering into when they become a teenager because the movies don’t do it right. Out of my 16 years on this earth, I don’t think I’ve ever had a pillowfight with my best friends while Heroes by David Bowie played in the background. WHO DOES THAT???????

aNYWAYS, yeah. My dream is to make a podcast and I’m kinda salty that I’m broke.

My love for Scenic Photography

Being a student at the Mississippi School of the Arts takes hard work and dedication. Often I find myself not being able to the things I love; one of things being photography. I found my love for photography ever since I got a camera phone honestly. I love taking pictures of the cloudy sky, the dewy day after it finishes raining, or simply just a beautiful flower.

According to Wikipedia, scenic photography is also known as landscape photography shows spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Scenic photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Scenic photography is done for a variety of reasons.

Here are some my favorite scenic photographs:

 Intergalactic Mullard Observatory, Cambridgeshire
Intergalactic Mullard Observatory, Cambridgeshire , Photographer: Justin Minns
 Autumn in Ashridge Hertfordshire
Autumn in Ashridge Hertfordshire Photographer: Justin Minns
Photographer: Valda Bailey
A dreamy sand dunes photo focusing on pink foreground flowers
Photographer: Erin Babnik

Okay, so now I think you understand my fascination with scenic photography. The endless opportunities you can create with scenic photography with just the base of the beautiful earth. I mean I know when I feel upset, overwhelmed, or I even just need to relax. I go outside of my house and sit down on my drive way and just observe my surroundings. I take a deep breathe and I meditate. I instantly feel at peace with the world as if we are one.  The beauty of nature is a underrated form of art and I believe everyone should just sit outside and fully take in the beauty of nature. The inspiration you feel is as if your past ancestors or your guardian angels are in conversation and you can feel their presence. I hope i’m making sense, probably not I don’t know, but back on topic with scenic photography.

Last year in my digital media class the assignment for our final exam was to create a photography show and OF COURSE I decided to implement my  personal scenic photography. So here is the photography show I submitted. I hope you enjoy.

WARNING: These pictures look nothing of the quality above I am just a beginner with a starter camera. So please judge lightly lol!

Stephyne Weathersby Photography Show

 

            Brief Information about the photos in case you’re interested   

  The first two photos I featured were the pictures I took while I was at the cabins lat year with my family. It was probably 30 something degrees outside,but it was a sunset and I had to capture the moment. In the first photo presented in a slideshow I tried to make the view of the sunset the main point but with a sub view of my cousin looking at it. The second photo is similar to the first considering they were taking at the same location.

For the rest of the photos that are shown are from my vacation I took last summer. For the vacation I went on a cruise to Montego Bay, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Mexico. The third picture is when I was in Montego Bay, Jamaica on a tour bus and it was the view of the city.

  In the next picture I was still in Jamaica; however, this is probably one of my favorites. Even though it is blurry you can see a clear sight of a tree with springing pink leaves. 

The fifth photo shows a picture of a hill in Montego Bay and where loose goats were roaming free. The tour guide said, “Even though you don’t see the owner doesn’t mean their not there. If you try to pick one up you see someone come after you.”  I thought the story was entertaining so I took a photograph of the view to describe it.

The next three pictures were placed in Cayman Islands which was the second place I visited on the cruise. The picture of the sea turtles is when I was in a animal museum. I saw all kinds of live animals like alligators, snakes, and etc. The sea turtles caught my eye because I never saw one in person before, and I thought they were so beautiful. In the picture that I took of the sea turtles were bunch together and their shells look like rocks dazzling in the sun. The next picture, features a mamma chicken and her chicks trailing behind her which I actually saw outside the museum. I thought this symbolize family, and since I was there with family I thought it symbolize the trip pretty well. The last picture I took in Cayman Island was the picture of the ground. If you look closer you can see an iguana and a pink flower that stands out through the grass.

The last two sets of pictures I took were in Mexico. While in Mexico I didn’t  explore the city but I did go on a private beach. These pictures feature the sky of the beach we were on. All the photos I edited with same technique I added more color and lowered the lightness slightly . I tried to make this set of pictures more colorful.

3 months at mississippi school of the arts

With there being one more day after today of October, I thought this blog post should reflect on my stay here at MSA. The time has flown by, and I would love to share what it has been like.


First off, wow. Coming here in August was magical. Yes, I was filled with fear. Yes, I was awkward for a few days, but MSA became a second home to me. August consisted of orientation, and finding out who would be my friends throughout the year. It was me getting used to being around people all of the time. It was me appreciating the support given to me here. I’ll admit, I didn’t have a rough few months like most. For some reason MSA was a great fit for me- it just worked. At the end of August, my personality began to spill out. People encouraged me to be the sarcastic, and sassy person that I am.

Then September rolled around. I believe this was around the time I got my hair cut past my shoulders. I took on a different fashion sense, but I did not dye my hair. That’s the thing about MSA, it allows you to experiment with who you are. I would say that I discovered important things about who I was during that time. When I would leave MSA, I would want to come back quickly. I would miss my friends, and celebrate when I returned.

October was (and still is) a busy month. It was filled with big projects (for me) such as writing 3,000 words for a story. The most relevant thing was Artoberfest, and that is happening this week actually. There was much work put into this Haunted House. Even at the last bit of October I have another big project. So yes, it has not only been a fun month, but also the most hectic. 

All in all, my time here has been wonderful. I have met the most amazing people, and have been challenged to do my best. This has been the best decision I have made so far. With that being said, if you are an upcoming junior wanting to be a literary, apply! Seriously, I encourage you to look past your fears of being away from home/new people, etc. If you want to be at MSA, then you have to start working on your portfolio. Give it your best shot, and be authentic. I hope that if you get accepted, it will be as enriching of an experience as mine has been!

 

I almost wrote a mafia book on Wattpad…

So, yes. The title is true. Way back when Wattpad was popular amongst us fanfiction enthusiasts, I attempted to write a book. For those of you who don’t know what Wattpad is, it is an app/website of writers from all over the world who make stories on just about anything. Some of the genres listed on the app are: Adventure, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry (a new genre to the app), Romance (of course), Science Fiction, Short story, Teen fiction, and Thriller. It’s a pretty diverse range of stories you can read. Personally, when I was younger, I loved reading fanfictions. Yes, I used to read stories about one direction and mindless behavior (don’t judge because I know you or a family member has too!).

Though I would love to reminisce on all the stories I read, I won’t…or will I? Yes, yes I will actually. This will lead up to what possessed me to try to write a book.

My taste in stories was quite broad on Wattpad. I’ve read almost from every category, though I didn’t read to much out of the horror/thriller genres. I mainly kept my interests in romance, teen fiction, and supernatural. I read some stories that would blow a lot of mainstream novels out the water. There is something different about these stories, something that mainstream novels don’t have. They’re raw and unfiltered; they hold nothing back, and they explore worlds never thought of. One of my favorite books, surprisingly, falls under historical fiction. It followed the story of a man and woman falling in love during a time where woman were to be married off rather the modern day exploration of love by free will. This story was a series (thank God!) and I hope it is adapted into a physical book one day. By any chance the author of this book, Robert Their, sees this post (which he probably won’t) just know that your books are amazing and deserve more recognition! If you are interested in reading, the entire series is still on Wattpad and they’re free!

After reading all of these books, I drifted onto the dark side of Wattpad, this being the land of mafia books. I’m not going to be ashamed of reading them because those were some of the greatest stories I ever read, but it led me down a dark path. I’m totally being dramatic, but I did have a sort of infatuation for the Italian mafia for a while. The glorified romance, nail-biting drama, and heartbreaking deaths had my head in phone for weeks. I caught multiple neck cramps, but it was worth it. I fell absolutely in love with these stories. My all time favorite, Luciano, brought me into the world of Faith, Liam, and Rico. I won’t give to much away, for I want you to go an explore this world for yourself, but just know these three characters were my entire life at one point. Before I dive more into that, I’ll talk about why I thought I could write a mafia book of my own.

My love for these stories out ruled the rational part of my brain that knew I couldn’t write an entire book. My tween heart ached for this story, but I had absolutely nothing to write. I couldn’t copy the other books, so I had to come up with a concept cool enough to read. Truth be told, if your story doesn’t have over one million views…it was less likely to be read. Now, I didn’t care TO much about the views, but I did want people to read my story. This plagued my mine for so long. I had the perfect title, The Don. I figured I would write a love story between the don of a infamous mafia family and a lonely girl seeking for revenge of the murder of her parents by a rival family. But, if you haven’t guessed already…that idea had already been done and executed. I was so frustrated that I gave up on the story and threw away my dream of becoming a writer. Little did I know that one day I would be at an arts school for writing!

I thought this would be a cool little post about me and a part of my life that I never really shared with the world. Wattpad was my safe haven for the longest time, and even now when I need a little escape I will turn to the app. I hope you enjoyed reading, and if you have ANY story suggestions on the app, please let me know!

 

from me to you

“If someone were to walk a mile in your shoes, what is something they’d quickly learn?”

If someone were to walk a mile in my shoes, I think they would quickly learn how hard it is to function with bipolar disorder. I’ve never talked about what it’s like being mentally unstable (loll) in my blogs, so I figured I would go ahead and discuss something I’m very familiar with.

Bipolar Disorder is defined as “a mental condition marked by alternating periods of elation and depression”. To simplify that by a LOT, it means that my mood changes drastically for no reason. I want to clarify that just because you have mood swings, that does not mean that you have BPD. Everybody has mood swings.

BPD is a lot more than just being happy, then sad, then mad. It is SO much more than that. The lows are extremely low and it’s so hard to get out of bed. Being in a low is like feeling a gaping hole in your chest for no reason. The highs are extremely high as well. Which can be a good and bad thing. You’re in a good mood but it also causes you to be irrational and spontaneous. Don’t get me wrong, being spontaneous is not a bad thing when you’re not doing anything too crazy.

Bipolar Disorder means going through therapist after therapist after therapist. It also means rarely finding friends who understand what it’s like and how to deal with you. It’s so hard to surround yourself with people who know that sometimes nothing is really wrong, but something is wrong. Like, nothing happened to put you in this mood, but this mood sucks. BPD also means feeling trapped inside your own head.

I can remember spending nights curled up next to my mom just bawling my eyes out because I wanted out of my own head. There would be mornings when she’d come into my room to try and wake me up and I’d just start crying because it was already bad at six in the morning. Those were the days that I stayed in bed all day. I wouldn’t watch TV, play on my phone, go out and talk, or anything. It’s absolutely miserable when you feel miserable for no reason. There’s no way to fix your mood because there isn’t a problem in the first place.

With BPD, I tend to feel everything a little more deeply; which can be a good thing, but also a bad thing. When I’m happy, I’m exhilarated. But when I’m kind of sad, I can literally feel a hole in my chest. I feel every emotion deeper than people without Bipolar Disorder.

It used to really offend me when people would be like, “oh my gosh, Brianna, you’re so bipolar!” I always took this as an offense because they said it like it was a bad thing. It made me feel insecure about my brain because it doesn’t work the way other peoples’ do. But now, after lots of counseling and personal growth, being called bipolar as a joke doesn’t offend me because, yeah, I am bipolar. And I don’t think it’s anything to be ashamed of. Now, the only thing that upsets me when it comes to BPD is people fake diagnosing themselves just because they’re hormonal teenagers. Mood swings are extremely common for people our age. If you think you may have BPD, don’t go around saying, “OMG! I’m so bipolar hahahaha” but instead go to a mental health doctor.

Having Bipolar Disorder definitely isn’t easy. I feel kind of bad for everyone that puts up with me because I know it’s kind of hard sometimes. But it definitely makes me appreciate those who stick around even more than I already do.

Okay that’s enough personal sharing for one day.

Peace out girl scout 🙂

psychology facts that may or may not be true

i found these on google so what are you expecting? i don’t know if they’re true or not but they sounded cool, so.

Holding hands with someone you love can alleviate physical pain as well as stress and fear.

i 100% believe this because there’s just something relieving about holding someone’s hand that you love.

Falling in love has a similar neurological effect as getting high on cocaine.

and I oop-

Opposites don’t attract. You’re more likely to be attracted someone who looks and thinks the same as you do.

my soulmate is going to be SO annoying then.

You can’t multitask.

it’s literally impossible (at least for me it is)

Your most vivid memories are wrong.

oh noooooo.

Your favorite song is probably your favorite because you associate it with an emotional event in your life.

okay, yeah. i see this one being true.

The type of music, you listen to affects the way you perceive the world.

i listen to the most broad spectrum of music soooo

Romantic love is biochemically indistinguishable from having a severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

that’s terrifying 🙂

The brain treats rejection like physical pain.

i 100% agree with this. that pain in your chest after being told no hits a lil different, lol.

The average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950’s.

lollllllyeahthisisdefinitelytruelllllllll

A hug longer than twenty seconds will release chemicals into your body that make you trust the person you’re hugging.

no wonder i don’t like hugging people that much, lol.

People are more honest when physically tired. This is why people confess things during late night conversations.

that’s why i drink coffee, bud. never catch me slipping!

Chocolate discharges the same chemical into your body that is produced when you start falling in love.

this is why i’m in love with almond joys then….

Crying makes you feel better, reduces stress, and may help to keep the body healthy.

well i cry almost everyday so guess who’s gonna live to be 103?

Writers are 121% more likely to suffer from bipolar disorder than those working in uncreative fields. 

me and my oldest brother both suffer from bipolar disorder and we both work in an artistic field, so i definitely believe this.

Women generally prefer men with deep husky voices because they seem more confident and not aggressive.

yes ma’am!

The people who give the best advice are usually the ones with the most problems.

lol, ME.

Women have twice as many pain receptors on their bodies than men, but they have a much higher pain tolerance.

we’re obviously the superior sex. i said what i said.

It is possible to die from a broken heart. It’s called Stress Cardiomyopathy. 

darnnn.

On this day 17 years ago…a star was born

Today is my birthday!!!!! Ahh yes, the day I’m reminded of me getting older. Though some people don’t dwell on their birthday, and see it as any other day—I am not one of those people. I love my birthday, and it isn’t anything selfish hearted. My birthday is the only day out of the year that I ever feel truly loved. I know how it sounds, but it is the only day where I’m reminded that I am loved. I want to explain myself here, so sit back and enjoy this very long explanation. Warning!! I tend to tell a thousand stories while trying to tell just one.

So, I’ll start by explaining my love language. I know you’re wondering what that has to do with my birthday, but it will make sense in the end…I promise. My number one form of love language is reassurance; I need reassurance.

I often overthink and make scenarios in my head when things happen. Someone could bump into me by accident, and I will think about it all day and ask a million things about it; Did they not like me? Do I know them? Have I met them before? Did I do something to them? Was that revenge for something I did? What did I do? Did I bump into their shoulder? As you can see, I overthink everything, even the smallest of things. I’ve been burdened with this for quite some time now. I think it may have derived from years of bullying, but it honestly could have been from anything. I lost a lot of confidence and gained a lot of insecurities during that time in my life. I didn’t feel wanted; I didn’t feel loved. It took a while to come from such a dark place, but I can happily say that my confidence is fully restored, and those insecurities are no longer present in my life. But, today isn’t a time to reminisce on sad memories, but to embrace a life celebration.

Back to my love language, I need reassurance. It is simply for peace of mind. I will run my mind to many places when a simple act of reassurance will soothe my mind. I am a complex person of sorts. I often feel I only experience true love from my family. I’m not complaining over that because I love my family with everything in me, but I desire love from outside my family. I’ll admit that I’ve never had a real relationship with anybody. Love of any intimate kind is completely foreign to me. With friendships, I’ve had many fail, and when those failed I realized that I was never truly loved by those people. The amount of people who “love” me is very limited in my life. Now, I don’t want to negate the people who do love me, and trust that I love them with all my heart. I just feel sometimes that I only have myself, and no one truly loves me. It’s sad to say, but I’ve learned that it’s best to own up to my feelings and realizing that they’re valid. I’m learning to embrace every aspect of my life.  I’ve felt this way for as long as I can remember, but I’ve always suppressed my feelings. I’ve come to realize that as I grow older, I don’t want to feel this way. This is why I value my birthday so much. I get messages from some of my closest friends and family that remind me of how much I mean to them, and it just dawns on me that even when I feel the least loved, there are people who love me dearly. These messages remind me that love surrounds me no matter where I am. One of my goals for this new chapter in my life is to learn to love myself. I no longer want to live in fear or absence of love. I want to surround myself with nothing but love; love from myself and from my loved ones. I manifest this onto my life!

This post, though it isn’t much, means a lot to me. I’m slowly learning to admit my feelings and let them out my mind rather let it sit there and burden me. I know some might not read through it all, and that’s perfectly fine, but I do ask that you read this next part.

To Morgan,

on this day 17 years ago…a star was born. A beautiful, bright star who was created to bring light to those around. This star has seen darkness, but has also seen the brightest of days. For as long as this star shines, peace and love shall remain in its life. This star will point its points in all directions and reach for those around. This star will warm the hearts of others and continue to do so for as long as it shines. When that star doesn’t shine anymore, be reminded of its warmth in those that it reached. Take this into the new journey ahead, and be reminded of it daily. You are beautiful. You are happy. You are loved. Forever and always.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I’m glad to be at MSA during the next chapter of my life, and I hope that for anybody who has felt this way, you find peace and happiness. Remember that you are loved and will continue to be loved, Forever and always.

  • I will drop this lovely picture into the post. This was my favorite picture I took at 16! I wonder what pictures will surface at 17…hopefully no bad ones…LOL WHO AM I KIDDING??? I DON’T TAKE BAD PICTURES HAHAAAAAAAAAAAN! (totally kidding here guys…or am I?…)

 

 

Art Students: Should They Go For Something More Practical?

I know I usually do a casual blog post in between two topics, but since I was late with the blog on white privilege, here’s the topic that won the last poll— enjoy!


Can art students have a practical job in their field?

A contributor for accreditedschoolsonline.org, Kelsey Brow, wrote an article entitled, Practical Art Degrees That Challenge the Starving Artist Myth in which she creates a guide that combines the artist’s life with a viable career.

Brow writes, “Many people envision an art graduate as the struggling painter or frustrated sculptor who is living on noodles and crackers. This vision of the “starving artist” is far from the reality of those who choose practical art degrees. Those who want to be able to find a good job and make a living upon graduation can choose degrees that allow their artistic side to shine while giving them a good paycheck and job security. This guide focuses on those degrees that offer aspiring artists the best of all creative worlds.”

In the guide, she describes what makes an art-related degree practical and provides different jobs in the art field, as well as pros and cons to those jobs. She focuses on visual and fine arts, so for those of you going into that field, you should definitely read the article.

However, for those of you, who are going into theater, writing, film-making, instrumental, or a different art form, there is a project called Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP).

SNAAP is an online database created by the Indiana University Center for Post-secondary Research that surveys arts alumni on their field of study. The project provides research that dispels the “starving artist” myth in that many artists actually have successful careers.

SNAAP works by teaming up with arts high schools and colleges and administering their surveys to graduates.

According to their website, “SNAAP defines “the arts” and “arts alumni” broadly, to include the following fields: performance, design, architecture, creative writing, film, media arts, illustration and fine art.” Here is a chart that displays the results of a survey SNAAP took of arts graduates within the last 5 years. They surveyed 17, 000 graduates.

The survey showed that finding a job was not as hard as people make it out to be. They also provided a survey that showed whether the arts graduates were happy in their jobs.

Thoughts from an art school student

As a student at the Mississippi School of the Arts, and as I prepare to go to college, I have this HUGE fear that I won’t be successful in my career. Writing is such a competitive filed to go in to, and my whole life I’ve been told: “There’s no money in writing,” “It takes so long to make it big… most writers die before they ever receive fame,” “Have you thought about law school?” or “You’d make a great teacher; there’s no money in that either, but at least you’ll have job security.”

People often fail to realize that the “starving artist” stereotype began in the Romanticism era of the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s 2019, artists are doing more, and there are more opportunities for us to thrive, so it’s time to get rid of that myth.

People also often assume that to be successful in the arts industry, you have to be well-known or famous. That is absolutely not true! There are so many talented artists out there who many have never even heard of, but are not starving, in debt, or struggling financially. However, if fame is what you seek, it is harder to do that nowadays because everyone’s trying to make it big, but if you are pursuing a career in any arts field, as an arts students, I would just tell you to just hang on to your passion. That is what drives you even after things fall through or big breaks don’t happen. You really do have to have some tough skin to go into the arts, and be ready to face criticism, but never let that discourage you from doing what you are passionate about; let push you to be better.

If you want to write, write. If you want to sing, sing. If you want to dance,  dance. Do what makes YOU happy. I mean, don’t throw practicality out of the window completely, but don’t be disheartened by the misconceptions.


Poll time!

The next blog post topic choices are:

  • Feminism & Equality of the Sexes
  • Fashion
  • Should Trix Stop its Discrimination and Make Them for Everyone?
  • To Kneel or Stand: The National Anthem

Comment below!