My Visit to the Orchardelirium

Photography has always been an interest of mine, and I finally built up the nerve to purchase a camera to pursue it. So this weekend I found myself at the New York Botanical Garden for the annual orchard show at the Orchardelirium, where I explored a magnificent showcase of orchids inside of the Haupt Conservatory. I thought it would be the perfect place to take some beginner photos, and boy was I right. The exhibit was definitely one for the books. The assortment of colors and climates were amazing, as well as the information provided along with the displays, I couldn’t have had more fun. I highly suggest paying a visit to the New York Botanical garden if you are in the New York City area, but you have to hurry the exhibit ends April 17th!

Here Are Some of My Favorite Shots:
Click on the photo's for a better look!

 Hope You Musers Enjoyed the Photos! =)

23!

This past Friday was a very important day for me Musers. This past Friday was the day I turned 23! My birthday is my favorite day of the year, simply because it allows me to reflect on what I have done different in my life, since the last birthday. I have always been the type of person to sit and wonder where would I be five years from now? and where I want to be five years from now? Well, this birthday marked five years from when I turned 18, and I am exactly where I wanted to be. A lot of times I think of the future, and I only think of the end result and what I would like to accomplish. Although the end result is what motivates me to partake it the journey, I sometimes forget to prepare for the bumps ahead. five years ago, I knew that I wanted to play football in college, and I wanted to be a graduate. Those two things were the only aspirations that I had for myself. But, there was no way that I could imagine that between then and now, I would go to three different schools, and go through four different majors. There was no way I could imagine that I would let my grades slip, and I would take a year off from school because of it. There was no way I could imagine that I would enlist into the army. There was no way that I imagine that I would work a full-time job, be a full-time student, and play college football. Turning 23 was my most memorable birthday, not because of how I celebrated it, but because these past five years have been the hardest five years of my life! Despite the hardships, I am about to accomplish what I thought I would five years ago. Yes, there has been a tremendous amount of bumps and bruises along the way, but there have also been a few people by my side to patch me up, and make sure that I accomplish everything that I had my mind set upon. No matter what I went through these past five years I am proud to say that my end result has not changed. It may not be the same team or the same degree, but I am accomplishing something that I thought I would five years ago. So my advice to you is set goals, wonder of the future, prepare for hardships, but stay true to where you want to go, who you to be, what you want to accomplish, and appreciate every year that goes by allowing you remain on your journey.

-Don

Lifes Altering Walls

One of my favorite reads of all time is James Dashner's Maze Runner series. As a fan of all four of the books, I also enjoyed the movies, simply because of the visuals of the Glade, the Maze, and the Grievers. For those of you who has not had a chance to read the books or see the movies, you have my word that they are not a waste of money. Although I would recommend the books before the movies simply because they are just better. The reason the Maze Runner is a focal point in this post is for no other reason then the Maze. I want to use the maze as an example of life and the challenges we all face day-to-day. The maze in the Maze Runner is designed to change every night, so if you run the maze daily looking for a way out, documenting all the wrong turns, dead ends, and the scary monsters that you face, you would start to think that all the information that you collect would seem not to matter, because the maze will change by the time you wake up to run it again, and there would be no way to tell what will be in store. The purpose of the maze is to take away hope. This is life, we all have our maze that we are running, that no matter what we do, will change every day. Our maze will forever be altering, no matter how much we try to keep it from doing so, because we didn't design it. Even though we have no way to control which wall will turn and which obstacles we will have to face, we can choose to get up every day and run it. There is going to be hurdles, barriers, stumbling blocks, deterrents, disadvantages, however you want to describe a problem, there will be one in every path that we choose. Life is not about avoiding these things, you have to get up and face them. You have to get up and choose a path daily, knowing that the next day, that path will no longer be there. You have to gain as much knowledge as you can from that day, because in the end, there will be a way out, and if you run enough paths, and take on enough obstacles, you will find that hidden door, and you will run through it full of wisdom and strength.

Back At Southern!

Been in school for less than 48 hours and my days are already filled with stuff to do, From 5 am until about 2 am. For those of you who don’t know, I am a student-athlete at Southern Connecticut State University, where I play football and I am enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Studies program. My degree consists of Psychology, Sociology, and Exercise Science, which would help me get into Occupational Therapy school when I graduate. Those of you who are students I know you can vouch for me when I say being a full-time or part-time student is very hard, and if you’re an athlete as well, you know it is even harder. With two workouts a day and a six-classes schedule this semester, I will definitely not be getting much sleep. But as much as it may seem like I am complaining about the time ahead, I can't say with a straight face that I am not excited. Not only will I be graduating in fall, but I will have a chance to spend more time with my friends, play another season, and enjoy everything that can be enjoyable about being in college … Yes, including the food lol. The best part is that I will be able to bring you guys with me on the home stretch of this very long marathon that I have been running for a while now. Through all the up and downs I am here and close to the finish line! so stay tuned because there is plenty to share with you Musers.

-Don 

7 Items I Can't Go A Day Without

Is your IPhone your life? Can you go a day without using that favorite shade of Mac Lipstick or playing your favorite video game? What items do you have that helps you get through your day and make life a little bit easier? I want you to try and imagine a world without these items, and think about just how you would get through days filled with chores, work, school, responsibilities, and priorities.

In this post I am going to share with you my 7 everyday items I can't see myself without, and maybe we will have a few in common! Be sure to let me know

• IPhone 5s- I know I am a little dated with the old version of the IPhone, but this 5s has some sentimental value that makes me not want to give up on it just yet. Right before finals week my laptop suddenly stopped working and my 5s came to rescue. I drafted papers, screen-shot study guides, researched, and did everything you can possibly name to get through finals with this phone.
• IPhone 5s Charger- I had to give respect to my 5s charger, this charger is probably the fastest most reliable charger I had ever owned and it definitely gets its use every day.
• Beat Solo 2- If you are like me you can't get through a day without listening to music. I listen to music walking to class, while I am in the training room, before practice, after practice, on game day, while I'm cleaning, and pretty much all the time. Having a great pair of headphones is a must.
• PlayStation 4- My Ps4 is definitely something that I use every day. I like to get a game in or throw on Netflix after a long day or just for some ME time.
• Chapstick- If you don't own chapstick please comment and tell me how you do it. Seriously, having chapstick is very important to me lol. Having dry lips is probably the most annoying feeling in the word, next to being hungry, getting a bad grade, and love.
• Dolce & Gabbana Pour Homme- This cologne is by far my favorite, it is really not much to say besides the fact that I like to smell good lol. The only other cologne that I use is Burberry Brit, but I use the Dolce & Gabbana more often.
• Dell XPS 13 (Touch Screen)- Finally, I know most people now-a-days have smart phones, and as I mentioned before my IPhone 5s pretty much allowed me to do things that I would normally use my laptop for, but not having a laptop for a while help me realize how much I really used it. For a long time I owned a MacBook Air and loved it, when it gave out on me I decided to try something new, so I decided to go with the new Dell XPS 13 with the touch screen. So far I do like it, even though I am still getting adjusted to having a Windows laptop after have a Mac for long, but I am finding myself doing more with it.

The things we own is pretty much a reflection of who we are and what we do. Share some of your favorite items and why you own them. You will be surprised how many people will relate to you, whether they own the same things or they want them for the same reason.

Side Note: My last post Three Truth, One Lie if you haven't figured out the answer, it's #1! =)

When to Endure? When to Be Free?

There are so many people, places, objects, hopes, and dreams in my life that I hold dear to my heart. I believe that I do my best to protect all of these things and fulfill every goal that I set for myself. Whether it has to do with school, my relationship, my financial obligations, or just personal goals, I make every effort to insure that everything goes well. But More often then not I come across dilemmas that make me question if only one, or all of these things are worth putting energy into. For a long time I have wanted to understand when to endure a situation or free myself from it. This question is something that I had struggled with for a while, just because I've always had a conflicting battle between being rational and striving to make dreams come true. I didn't know if being realistic about the situations was the answer or just an excuse not to keep chasing something that showed only possibilities. I didn't know if having desires was the true dynamo that would lead me to a commitment or was just simply my downfall. Don't get me wrong, in certain situations I do believe the best way to move on is to be realistic. Based on what has happened, things that has occurred that made me debate between the two, how I felt at the time, and what would be the good and the bad from both points of view. On the other hand, sometimes I am encouraged by hopes that I have for myself, the thought of defying the odds really motivates me at times, and is something I use often if I truly feel that it can be done. I had always gone back and forth between the two, and because of this I've learned to look at these circumstances and ask myself if it really mattered? the most important thing would be that a choice was going to be made and I believed in it. Overtime I have noticed that understanding who I am can get me through anything, especially figuring out when to cut lose or to hang on to a quandary. Understanding the type of person I am helps me realize who I want be, what career I want to pursue, what type of person I want a relationship with, and what I am capable of achieving. Understanding who I am gives me the ability to perceive what is most important, what benefits me, what will lift me up, and most importantly what I will not let weight me down. I've come to the conclusion that hanging on and letting go is apart of the journey of many decisions that I will go through to better myself for myself. Whether or not I make the right choices all depends on how I feel and if I am making the decisions for me.

The more indecisive you are, the less productive you will be. Make a choice, believe in it, and believe in yourself - Don

Take A Risk

Now that the new year is among us, I welcome 2016 with open arms, a smile, and clear a mind. With the experiences of 2015 and the years before, I want this year to be filled with risk. Now when I say risk, I don’t mean choices between life and death. I don’t want to go sky diving, or drive a 100 miles per hour blind folded through 42nd street. Taking a risk is not just a choice between life or death, but it can also mean a choice between getting hurt or being safe emotionally. I think that sometimes we are afraid to give life a chance because of the threat of being embarrassed or not living up to expectations. We don’t fully love who we want to love, we don’t study what we really want to study, and we don’t choose to be who we really want to be, because there is a chance that it might not work out. This year I will not let the threat of getting hurt stop me, I am going to make choices that may not be rewarding at the moment, but will payoff in the long run. I am going to make choices that I tend to stray away from because it makes me feel uncomfortable, and I am going to continue to be who I am. I've realized that taking a risk is a necessity if I want to actually live an eventful life, gain knowledge, and connect with people. If there is no actual reward in the end, so be it, but nothing can take the experience from me, and the ability to say that I tried.

Is Being a Stoic The Key To a Better Life?

 

I just recently learned the meaning of stoicism and what it means to be a stoic. I've heard the words thrown around from time to time, and not to long ago the words caught my attention in the TV series Gotham. Yes, it took a TV series based on DC comics to make me want to expand my knowledge and vocabulary, but that is the way the world works. This is how stoics think, briefly put they believe in accepting the things that we as individuals have no control over and making the best out of any situation. Stoics have a reputation of being emotionless, commonly compared to Spock from Star Track, but this can be interpreted in many different ways by many different people. From what I've learned Stoics may be misunderstood based on emotion, I think that stoics believe they have control over their own emotions and what situations they want to put in an effort to react to. Whether or not they want to show them is their choice and no one or nothing else's, which may come off to others as being emotionless or dry. But how would a stoic react to life's challenges? How would one advise another to react to other people? And most importantly how would they face the thought of death? Marcus Aurelius, the stoic roman emperor, would simply say "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."