Tech Tip: Behappy.me

I've been using Canva tonight to make different graphics, but I thought I would try another site to see what my experience was like with it! I chose the Behappy.me site simply because I liked its name. It was probably simpler than Canva, but because of that, the options for what you can create are limited. It has a very narrow purpose, but it does that well. I found that you could easily make your quotes stand out more by playing with the line spacing the make different parts larger/smaller/etc. Overall, I like Canva better because of its versatility, but this is a great way to do a quick design for a quote!

(Created using Behappy.me)

Growth Mindset: DREAM

I decided to create an acronym that I can work with for the remainder of the semester to reach my goals and remind myself that you can never dream too big of a dream. Time and time again, I've felt like I couldn't obtain something or get somewhere, but it always ends up working in the end, even if not exactly how I planned. I try and remind myself to continue to dream even when it seems unobtainable, because only the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world ever really do.

(Created using Canva)

Wikipedia Trail: From Sati to the Pollyanna Principle

• I just read all about Shiva, so I thought it would be interesting to start my trail reading about Sati. 
• Sati: Sati is the first wife of Shiva, and her later reincarnations are his later wives. She is the goddess of longevity and bliss in Hinduism. She plays a big part in bringing Shiva away from his isolation and getting him to interact with the other gods and the rest of the world, until she dies and sends Shiva into a rage, of course. 

(Shiva carrying Sati's body after her death; Image Source)

• Sati contained yogic powers, which brought me to my next article.
• Yoga: A group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices from ancient India meant for meditation and spiritual focus. In the late 20th century, it became a popular form of Western exercise, but that is not at all true to its roots. It was likely developed in the 6th century BC as a form of worship.
• The article mentioned yoga being studied as a potential treatment for schizophrenia, which I thought would be an interesting article. 
• Schizophrenia: A mental disorder classified by abnormal behavior and a failure to distinguish reality. People with schizophrenia often see themselves as experiencing a distorted reality, struggling with false beliefs, confused thinking, hearing voices, and struggling to relate with others in social constructs. There are many treatments for schizophrenia and efforts are being made to help those individuals who have schizophrenia. 
• People with schizophrenia often tend to remember words in a list equally regardless of their connotation, which is different from the norm, leading to my final article. 
• Pollyanna Principle: Also known as positive bias, the Pollyanna principle is the tendency for people to remember more pleasant items or words than unpleasant ones. It is thought that this occurs subconsciously, and this principle fades when mental disorders come into play. The article discussed that the subconscious mind has a tendency to focus on the positive, while the conscious mind often dwells on the negative which I found to be quite interesting. 

Growth Mindset: My Motto

"It's our motto."
"What's a motto?"
"Nothing! What's a motto with you??"

Disney jokes aside, this week is a stressful one like I've mentioned in a couple of my other posts tonight. There's been a lot going on at home and just stress of school of course, but I like to remind myself that there is always a reason to hope and a reason to be joyful. My motto for this week is inspired by the book of Job in the Bible, and it is "After darkness, light." I believe that there is light in the midst of the darkness and at the end of each dark period, so I'm expectant for what's to come!

(Created using Canva)

Famous Last Words: Almost Done!

Boy, it's been a wild semester and I can't believe that we're winding down to the end. At my time of writing this, there's 31 days and 18 hours until graduation...but who's counting right? I'm trying to use the free time I had today and tonight to finish up this class. I'm doing a bit of extra credit now and then I think that after doing my revision for my storybook, I'll be completely through! In finishing this class in the next couple days, I think it'll give me more free time to dedicate to wrapping up the remainder of my classes as there are a lot of projects and papers coming up that I want to be able to dedicate my full time to.

Outside of this class, I had my last 'normal' chapter for Phi Lamb last night, which was really bittersweet. The next chapter will be nominations, and then elections. I can't believe that a year ago is when I was first nominated to be chaplain, a task I never thought I was good enough for, yet here I am a year later and I have loved every minute. It has been such a blessing to get to serve my sisters and Jesus this semester through this position and while I'm tired, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.

I don't think I ever officially posted on here, but I did end up getting into two vet schools and getting waitlisted at another. Honestly, that was the surprise of a lifetime because I never imagined I'd get in anywhere, let alone two (and a half!). There's so much to be done in the coming weeks, but I'm honestly so excited to move into this next chapter of my life. It's all a big mixture of sad and exciting as I go through a lot of "lasts," but I'm so happy to be here and have had the last 3 years at my home. Boomer sooner forever.

(Personal photo at the Rose Bowl)

Reading Notes: Nivedita's Shiva, Part B

I think I preferred this storytelling style to the one in Part A of this week's reading, as I felt like I was more able to follow the story and get a clearer picture of Shiva.  Since it is longer bursts, I decided I'd do my notes in bullet format for this reading.

The Story of Shiva, the Great God
By: Sister Nivedita

• Shiva's favorite places are wild and lonely places
• He doesn't appear to be a god, he dresses as a lowly traveler with matted hair and a begging bowl
• Constantly rapt in meditation
• His one true desire is to destroy the ignorance of souls and let light come
• He has infinite compassion, desiring to reveal the cause of sin and error to men so that they may overcome
• Only keeps devotees who call themselves masterless
• Rides on a shabby old bull rather than a horse or elephant 
• Regards the lame and crooked and blind as his own - loneliness and deformity and poverty are passwords to his heart
• His third eye pierces to the heart of all hypocrisy and he can burn anything untrue to ash in a glance with it

(Shiva meditating; Image Source)

Sati, the Perfect Wife

By: Sister Nivedita

• Duksha hates Shiva because Shiva would not bow to him, but in reality, he was protecting him, because it is a great curse when someone mightier than another bows at the weaker one's feet. Shiva thought he was respecting Duksha, but Duksha took it as a mighty insult
• Sati means being and existence, proving her goodness because "nothing really exists but goodness"
• Her heart was devoted to Shiva, but their love was forbidden by Duksha. However, at her swayamvara, Shiva wins her hand and Duksha has no choice
• Duksha exiles his daughter and Shiva takes her away
• Sati is angered when she finds out that her father is holding a feast and she and Shiva weren't invited. Shiva begs her not to go to him, but she does anyways
• After a mighty fight between Sati and Duksha, she drops dead
• Shiva's wrath burns and he wages war. He chooses not to kill Duksha, but to put a goat head on his human body.
• He caries Sati's body across the earth as Vishnu follows and breaks her body into pieces so he can have peace
• Sati is born again in Uma/Parvati

Reading Notes: Nivedita's Shiva, Part A

Sati
By: Sister Nivedita
Sati was the youngest daughter of the chief of the gods, Daksha. She became Shiva's wife, but that was unpleasing for her father, Daksha, because he did not like Shiva. However, Daksha was coerced into allowing the marriage when he held Sati's swayamvara and Shiva won her hand. Later down the road, Dakhsa holds a festival without inviting Shiva. This insults Sati greatly and she confronts her father, grows very angry, and falls dead at his feet.

The Anger of Shiva
By: Sister Nivedita

Shiva is seriously angry when he hears about Sati. He births a demon from a lock of his hair and ordrs it to lead his army against Daksha. Brahma advises all the gods to make peace with Shiva because he could easily destroy the entire universe. After speaking to Brahma, Shiva decides to give Daksha a goat head and to restore his broken limbs. We're reminded that Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma are a trinity, not their own sole entities. They are three in one. 

Earlier Myths

By: Sister Nivedita

Shiva carries Sati's body across the earth, his sorrow destroying nature with every step he takes. Vishnu is trailing behind him, restoring the earth and slowly cutting up Sati's body so that Shiva is carrying less and less weight. Once the weight is gone, Shiva retires alone to keep to himself in meditation. We learn that Sati's body was cut into 52 pieces, which is tied to the 52 weeks of the year. 

(Shiva carrying Sati's body, with Vishnu close behind; Image Source)

Shiva's Fishing

By: Sister Nivedita

As I read more stories about these gods, the more they remind me of the gods of Greek and Roman mythology I'm more familiar with. Shiva is making one rash decision after another. Here, he grows angry with Parvati because she daydreams while he's explaining a difficult Veda to her, and casts her to earth to be a fisherman's wife. He quickly realizes he has made a mistake because Parvati is his love and she should only be with him. Years pass and when Parvati's fisherman father declares that whoever can capture the treacherous shark causing mischievous will marry his daughter, Shiva takes his chance and wins his wife back. A rash decision caused years of trouble, which is a common theme when it comes to mythology. 

Shiva's Dance

By: Sister Nivedita

Shiva learns of 10,000 rishis who were teaching that souls have no god and salvation is achieved through works rather than faith. He decides he needs to teach them the truth, so he and Vishnu enter the forest disguised as a wandering yogi and his wife. The rishis soon realize something is wrong so they begin to cast curse after curse, but Shiva easily knocks down each challenge. When they send a great goblin after him, he begans to dance on the goblin's back. The rishis realize that they are in the presence of a god and give themselves to his worship.