Why Write?

With not having a job right now I was running out of things to do to keep me busy during the day. A good friend told me to try out calligraphy, and can I just say that I'm so grateful I did! Calligraphy is amazing and addicting. It has a way of calming you and sucking you in. It's the same feeling I get when I do embroidery. I'm focused in on this simple task, be it a stitch or a stroke, that everything else fades away and I become relaxed. I just write, or I just sew and nothing else matters.

I came across this video though and thought I would share.

Why Write?

Now if you don't have 16 minutes to just sit down and watch this TED clip, then scroll a little further. But really, you should watch it.



The medical loving side of me caught on to this research he mentioned... Here are the notes:

-He took a cognitive psychology class and studied how handwriting helps develop the brain. During the different tactile movements of doing handwriting, the brain is engaged in more areas and the information is ingrained into the brain. The same was not found to be true with typing however, which does not involve the same type of differential tactile movements.
-Handwriting was also found to be incredibly helpful in small children who were learning to read. By forming the individual letters they had a deeper understanding of the anatomy of each one, and were therefore able to recognize it when it came time to read it on the page.
-Cursive was found to be even more beneficial to the brain. Researchers and scientists have done brain scans on children learning cursive and found that the different parts of the brain engaged are similar to those that adults typically use for writing and higher reasoning. The screen went blank when the kids were doing typing because it didn't involve the same type of tactile movement.

Interesting right?! I love learning about how amazing the body is and how things effect each other.

Here's another article for you:

Why Writing by Hand Could Make You Smarter

I think it was in high school that I decided I wanted to start writing in cursive more. (I'll have to check my journal for sure though.) I had to do a google search for the cursive alphabet for some of the letters I had forgotten from elementary school. Cursive became my primary handwriting for my journal and remains still. I love cursive. It's so fun and fast and beautiful.

If all of this hasn't inspired you to take a second look at your handwriting then I don't know what will. It's never to late to try something new. Start with cursive and just a normal pen or pencil. I think knowing cursive beforehand has been helpful with picking up calligraphy. And then try some calligraphy. I'm excited to really study it out and practice. I find myself looking at billboards now and imagining the direction that the strokes would need to go to produce the thick/thin look of the letters. Pathetic I know but whatever. It happens!

5 books I read over and over

I was looking at all of the books in my bookcase the other day and I realized that there are five books that I always come back to. Books that I've read multiple times and will continue to read over and over again. Would you like to know what they are?

In no particular order, here they are:

{1} Jane Eyre: by Charlotte Bronte

The first time I read Jane Eyre I thought it was boring and couldn't read past her living at the school as an orphan. Which is ridiculous because that's the very beginning of the book and it's a short section. Eventually my younger sister read it all the way through and was in love with it. So of course, I had to try it out again.

I love this part... "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?... And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you."

(Also, just reading that has my mind singing the song from the broadway that uses that exact same line in the lyrics.)

{2} Life of Pi: by Yann Martel

When I was younger, the cousins would draw names for Christmas gifts. One year, the cousin whose name I had drawn had this book on her list. I bought it for her and was immediately curious about it. Eventually I read it and instantly fell in love.

The book has these little nuggets of goodness throughout the book.

"To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."

That line! It gets me every time.

Some people have a hard time getting into this book. It's slow at first and they can never make it to the ship sinking. Which is a bummer because after that is where it really gets good!

People also have a problem with the ending of this book. I love the idea that it carries though. "The world isn't just the way it is... we bring something to it, no? Doesn't that make life a story?"

It's the idea of creating a story in order to live through or with a moment. To remember things just a little different so you can still enjoy the memory. 

If you've seen the movie, Big Fish, the dad does this same thing with elaborating the stories and weaving in all sorts of tall tales. It's his way of becoming immortal through his stories, even though his life was more plain and ordinary.

{3} Cyrano de Bergerac: by Edmond Rostand

I have a special place in my heart for this little play. The movers packed this book with the cover bent and I nearly had a fit when I unpacked it. 

I was introduced to this book in high school. It was one of the books we studied in class. It's a play about a man with an abnormally large nose who is very witty and eloquent with words and also handy with a sword. He's in love with Roxana but she sees him as just a good friend. Christian is a new soldier and is very handsome and has caught the attention of Roxana but he gets tongue tied very easily and Roxana wants poetry and eloquence. So Cyrano helps Christian win over Roxana by telling him what to say and writing the letters for him. "You plus I equals one hero of the storybooks,"

Now it doesn't end there of course, but this book has little lines sprinkled throughout that make me laugh out loud sometimes! Cyrano is so witty and clever. "Call it a sort of lie, if you like, but a lie is a sort of myth, and a myth is sort of truth. No reason why Roxana should be disillusioned. Let's start a fruitful collaboration."

{4} The Fountainhead: by Ayn Rand

My last year in junior high, my English teacher gave us a list of books to read for the college bound student. Well, I love reading and I was obviously college bound so I would thumb through the list and underline titles that sounded interesting. Most of the time I had no idea what the book was even about. That's how I discovered The Fountainhead. It's kind of a catchy title and when I found out it was about an architect, I was sold. (I was interested in architecture at the time as well.)

Roark is an architect who battles conventional standards. He is a modern architect and in my mind I envision his style to be similar to Frank Lloyd Wright.

This paragraph defines Roarks ideas about architecture.

 The book is all about individualism instead of collectivism. Which is everything Ayn Rand is about. The book is a little bit of a hefty read as far as length goes. But I love her development of characters and her writing. 

{5} The Screwtape Letters: by C.S. Lewis

I can't rave enough about this book. I don't even remember how I came across it, but it's high up there on my list. And C.S. Lewis is pure genius.

It's about a devil named Screwtape who writes letters to his nephew devil, Wormwood, about how to go about tempting the human he's been assigned. He gives his nephew advice about how the humans work, what areas they are weak in and how to use that to an advantage. 

As you read, you have to flip things around a little to gain the full perspective. When he says, "the Enemy" he's referring to "God."

This is a hefty book, not in length but in quality. You almost have to read one letter a day and just soak it in until you can move on.

Really, the book is amazing and well worth anyone's time. I think I end up relating every church lesson back to this book. 

So there you have it, five more books to potentially add to your reading list!

Enjoy.

Something About Trees

The other day I was thinking about my Utah mountains and I realized that I have yet to miss them. That's a little odd considering I love them and missed them all the time when I was up in Rexburg. But I looked around and I think I know why I'm okay out here.

Trees. Big, tall trees.

The mountains back at Utah cradle you in a way. You feel secure being surrounded by them. Like they're a comfort blanket.

The trees have the same effect to me. They're so tall and loom over you everywhere. You can never see very far without a wall of trees blocking the view. (Unless your driving on the Causeway or in New Orleans... that's a whole different ball game.) But I like it. It feels cozy.

(Views from my balcony)

There's a couple trees here that always catch my attention.

The first are Crepe Myrtle trees. They are literally everywhere. They don't have one solid trunk, but multiple skinny trunks. At the end of the branches shoot out these pink flowers that look like half of a lilac. Most of the ones I see are sparse like this one... and I don't love the look of them.

But if it was an older tree and more filled out, then you get this... Which is pretty cool.

The second are the giant Oak trees that just drip with moss. Really, I can't get enough of these trees! They are my absolute favorite.

I was driving around downtown Covington today initially to find the farmers market. What I found wasn't worth getting out of my car for, so I just kept driving through all these old small neighborhoods. I found the most amazing giant oak tree. Not even kidding you.

This giant amazing oak tree also happens to be growing right in the middle of the road. The photo looks like it's right in the center of the road like a round about, but it's not. It's on the edge right before the intersection. 

Anyways, these trees are everywhere, especially on our drive to church. It's a good thing Scott drives so I can just look out my window. :)

One last picture. This is right by my apartment! (Ignore the yoga pose, sorry!) I love this area though!

Balance

I feel like this year is an off-blogging sort of year for me. I think I've done about max two posts per month if that. Maybe I feel like there's nothing quite blog worthy to post on here lately. I'm a grown up girl now working about full time. I'm dating someone. I'm taking voice lessons. I'm developing another random hobby of embroidery. (Okay I guess I should blog some pictures of that goodness because it is fantastic.)
But I feel like life has gotten into a rhythm. A rhythm where I am keeping afloat and just riding the wave. A quite rhythm, more to myself and who is around me day-to-day instead of something shouted online. Maybe it's because I want to really experience something, relish deep in it without having to be the person behind the camera making sure every one else can see what fun we're having.
A friend of mine recently returned from her mission and she had a companion that talked about not being able to take all of our photos with us after we die. So she just focused on enjoying the moment while she was there. I think that's a great thing a lot of us need to learn in this new technological world. Sometimes it's hard to be "there", in the moment, because we have something else calling our attention. A text message, email, facebook notification, instagram, snapchat... we get so caught up in everyone else's life. And then it's a war and challenge to make ourselves look so fun, perfect, outgoing and living life online that I sometimes wonder if that's really living. But then again, I love the connection to people. I love reading their blogs, hearing their thoughts, seeing their pictures.
It's the world we live in.
I guess balance is the real answer.

But isn't it to almost everything anyways?

Learning from Hinckley

I'm still reading the biography of President Gordon B. Hinckley. It's a big book if you've never picked it up before. I've come to find that I hardly knew anything about Gordon B. Hinckley's life and his time serving the church. One thing that I've loved though is the details that have been given. President Monson's biography never quite delved into the hardships that the brethren go through when serving in high positions of the church but President Hinckley gives it straight and true. It's something that I've really appreciated as I've been stumbling around trying to figure out how to fulfill my calling in the way it needs to be. I know that I'll never have the amount or type of stress that this man went through every day but it's comforting to know the human side of him. The side that felt lonely and weighed down. President Hinckley gave a BYU devotional address in 1969 title The Loneliness of Leadership. He talked about the Savior and how he was a man who walked in loneliness. He talked about Joseph Smith. He talked about missionaries and converts, the loneliness that they each go through. He talked about the loneliness of testimony. It seems like such a downer talk but I think just the fact that one of the leaders of the Church addressed this and put it into perspective makes it easier to carry on and keep going.
"And when the declaration was made concerning the only true and living Church upon the face of the earth, we were immediately put in a position of loneliness, the loneliness of leadership from which we cannot shrink nor run away and which we must face up to with boldness and courage and ability."

President Hinckley is amazing. He is such an example to me and I've loved reading about his life. He is so human but yet so incredible in all of his many talents. I can't even begin to try and spill some sort of summary of his talents but this next quote from him helps give a small understanding. 

"None of us... knows enough. The learning process is an endless process. We must read, we must observe, we must assimilate, and we must ponder that to which we expose our minds. I believe... in the evolution of the mind, the heart, and the soul of man. I believe in improvement. I believe in growth." -President Hinckley

Obviously the learning process is going to be uncomfortable as well. It's going to pull us and push us till we feel we're being ripped apart. But all I want to say is I am so extremely happy with my life right now. I love where I am at. I'm almost done with my program. I have a fantastic ward where I'm surrounded with friends who I always have a good time with. The group is always extending out and making new friends and I love it. I love living at home where I'm surrounded by family. Life is good. I'm happy.

Snapshot Year

Goodbye 2012.
This last year I survived another 3 semesters in my radiology tech program. I got a straight up 4.0 GPA for each semester. (Once I got my system down, school was easy.) I stopped working at the mall. I turned 21. I officially became an aunt. I got my limited practical licence in radiography and got a job at the hospital. I worked my first 12 and 13 hour shift. I totaled a car and came away with just a bruise on my knee. I read the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. I went to the World Superbike Races. I went sailing on the Great Salt Lake. I went paddle boarding. I participated in a chalk art festival and got my picture in the newspaper. Heather and I celebrated our 11th bone marrow transplant birthday. A friend and I tried out a dating website for fun and I totally ended up dating someone. I, as always, learned a lot from the experience. I got a new calling as the Relief Society President in my singles ward and I have the best group of friends from that ward. I fell in love with the band Imagine Dragons. I'm still living at home and I'm perfectly okay with that.
Hello 2013.

Brainiac

Did any of you happen to see this article the other day? (17 year old girl builds artificial 'brain' to detect breast cancer) The title alone blows me away let alone her simple matter of fact statement, "I taught the computer how to diagnose breast cancer."

I don't know about you but I was no where near building neural networks when I was in 7th grade. And as much as I feel like a complete failure after reading articles like these, I still love reading all about them. Smart, talented little prodigy kids are awesome. They blow my mind.

Here's a link to her project summary, if you feel like delving a little further.

Having a Moment

So I'm officially hired on at the hospital now. I had my new employee orientation today. It's nice to finally be hired on but I'm terribly nervous right now. I'm afraid of the responsibility. Sometimes I feel like I don't want it. I'm scared to be my own tech, to not have someone to hide behind. I feel stressed out. I have so much schooling to work on, tests to study for and papers to write. I feel like I don't have enough time in the day to contact and text everyone that I need to for my ward calling. I feel like I have so much to plan and I don't have any legitimate help. I feel heavy. I feel overloaded. I don't know what I want. I feel unsure about what to do if a different job opportunity presents itself. (Granted that possibility isn't even possible right now since I haven't given him my resume but down the road...). I feel bad about eventually leaving my mall job, about abandoning them. I really like those co workers. I'm frustrated about being placed in the middle of a sticky situation at clinicals. I feel like feelings of frustration for someone else are being deflected to me. I'm tired.
Please just give me summer. Let school be over. I need to be done for right now.
(Sorry for the downer post but like I said in the title, I'm having a moment of feeling completely weak right now. It happens.)

Car Troubles

Well, life got quite interesting this last weekend. My plans were to drive up to Rexburg Saturday morning so I could visit family and friends up there but I never even made it past Salt Lake. I got in a lovely little accident that totaled the car and obviously canceled the trip. Picture this: I'm in the middle lane on the freeway going about 70mph when my back right tire blows. The car started almost fishtailing and at that moment my mind blanked out, the only thing going was my reflexes trying to keep the car in the lane. Well that didn't work for very long because I lost control of the car. It spun around and across the right lanes until I was facing backwards and then the drivers side of the car slammed into the concrete wall. I definitely screamed once I lost control until I hit the wall. Lucky for me I hit right where a lane was starting to appear for an off ramp so I was pretty out of the way of traffic. I also somehow managed to hit a trucks front bumper during my spin. His truck only had a dent, at least that's all he told me. I never saw the front of his truck. But my car was banged up very nicely. The two driver side doors wouldn't open and the hood and trunk were bent up. The front right tire rod was broken as well. But no one was hurt. I was completely fine. I do have a good bruise on the side of my knee and I had a stiff neck the next day but nothing else. I was one lucky girl and I know that Heavenly Father was watching over me. There were a number of miracles and blessings from this whole experience which I won't go into detail about, but I do know that I was protected. I could have flipped, I could have hit more cars, I could have been in the middle of Idaho in a no-man's land area where there are no concrete barriers to stop you. (Just to name a few)

My skid marks across the freeway and into the wall. 

Goodbye little car. You served us well. You won't really be missed because the new car we have is a definite upgrade in my eyes.

Flirting Techniques

In talking with my grandma today we came to the topic of how to best flirt with someone on a bike while you are driving by in a car... (I happened to have passed a very good looking someone riding a sweet road bike and wearing fantastic soccer warm up pants on my way over.)
Grandma's suggestions revolved around cutting him off and then proceeding to conversation, or perhaps accidentally bumping/hitting him allowing you to get out and make sure he's okay. Or maybe just driving by really slowly with your window rolled down. But then again you would probably want a car with electric windows instead of my cars automatic lean/reach over and crank that sucker around until the window is finally rolled down... and it would probably be ideal if he were heading the same way as you instead of having to watch him bike away in the opposite direction.

Some Happenings

Here's a song for you.

On some other notes:
I'm reading The Princess Bride.
I'm stuck between two music genres of soundtrack goodness (aka Finding Neverland and The Kings Speech), and classic music from the 40's. (aka The Andrew's Sisters, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra... the works.)
I've decided to listen to a conference talk while getting ready in the morning first before I turn on my music.
I have one test left before the end of the semester.
I received a scholarship for about half of my tuition for summer semester!! (Major major blessing)
I'm still waiting to get my LPT license but things have been made more clear about the working at the hospital and the guaranteed 8 hours a week I thought I would have, is no longer guaranteed. Which means the mall job will be held onto a little longer then planned.
I saw someone die for the first time over general conference weekend while working at the hospital. It was incredibly sad and definitely shook me up. It was one of those moments that brings  to a greater light what is truly important in life. Again, what would I do without the knowledge that I have of the gospel?

Healthy Body

I think one of the easiest things to take advantage of and to not be grateful for is a healthy body. Only when you are throwing up all night and feeling crummy and weak all day do you wish and pray for your healthy body to come back soon. That would be me yesterday. My guess is food poisoning.

But among all my sickness a wonderful and long awaited letter arrived! Remember when I was stressing out like crazy the night before taking my Limited Practical Technician license test? Well I finally got my results back! Happy day I passed everything and can now pay an additional $70 to get my actual license. :) Can you believe that this whole process is costing me $210?! But it's completely worth it because it means I'll get hired on at the hospital, be guaranteed at least 8 hours making almost double what I'm making at the mall right now, which will then lead to me leaving my mall job. I can't wait. Don't get me wrong, the job has been really good to me, they've been awesome at working around my bizarre schedule but to compare the 30 minute drive time to 5 minutes, almost double the pay and more experience in my field... it's a no brainer.
Life is a good thing.

Life

My last semester at BYU-Idaho I lived in the basement of a house with 7 other girls. Lauren was one of those girls. I adore her. She would always sit and eat nutella on graham crackers with me. She was hardly home. She would wake up, go to class, be at school all day, come home to change and then head off to work until late at night. This semester I've turned into Lauren. I am never home. It makes me sad. As much as I know that I don't have a ton of friends, I don't care because I love being at home. But this semester is full of running around from place to place. It's good though. I have a job. I'm doing well in school. I'm doing things that are important to me. Life is good right now. And busy.

New Year

I remember last year, looking around trying to find my new years resolutions from the year before to see how I had done and was unable to find them anywhere. I resolved to be more aware of my goals and I've improved immensely. A couple of my goals were completely out there, never even got close to accomplishing them. Wishful thinking on my part. But there were others that I was aware of every week of the year. Some of my old goals I'll continue into 2012 either because I still need help in that area, or because it was just a great goal to keep. But I'm excited for the new one's I've made. It's going to be good.

Last year I lived in the basement of a house, 8 girls total. I didn't know anyone. They are some of the best girls I have ever lived with and that semester was definitely my favorite. It was one of my best decisions to stay that winter semester and finish my degree early. I got my associates and graduated from BYU-Idaho. I got accepted into my radiology technician program through Weber. I went to Disneyland. I got a job that lasted a month. I found out that I was going to be an aunt. I had a second cousin ask for my number at a dance. I learned a lot more as always from dating someone. I posed for a portrait painting art class. I got a 3.95 GPA on my first semester in my program. I started an x-ray collection. I started learning how to decorate cakes. I started training to run a 5K. I got a new job.

Life is good. I am incredibly blessed. I'm a lucky girl. Happy New Year.

Getting Ahead, Trying to

I'm starting to get nervous for next semester. I keep thinking about how I'm going to manage my schedule and so far it just overwhelms me. It doesn't help that I only have half of the details. I keep trying to get ahead on my homework thinking that it'll relieve some up coming stress. (How do you even get ahead on homework that hasn't even been assigned yet?) I feel like the small free moments in my life are going to be consumed with driving to where I need to go. Whether that's Provo, American Fork, or Murray, I'm going to be in the car a lot. Yay..... Last semester seemed so easy. By the end I was questioning all the stories of "my life will be taken over and consumed, and it's challenging", blah blah blah that I had heard. But things will probably whip into shape now that I have 1 1/2 jobs. (The 1/2 is a clinical study that I'm in which means I get to fit in a drive to Murray once a week.) It's okay. I'm so grateful that I'm finally earning some money now. It's been desperately needed and is immensely appreciated. Oh to wonder how life would be if I was actually getting paid for the 24 hours a week of hospital work I put in. 

A Fast Sunday

For the past two months my Sunday rotations for my program have fallen on fast Sunday. And in my weakness I decide not to fast so that I can have energy to work at the hospital. But today I was able to come to my singles ward and hear some amazing testimonies. Home singles wards are never looked upon with excitement. No one wishes that they were living at home attending the singles ward. But as with all things, there is good. And you have to give yourself time to find it. I sat by myself a lot when I first moved in. I hardly knew anyone and the people I did know were more of acquaintances instead of good friends. But I decided to put myself out there and try going to the family home evenings. The Lord responded to that decision by calling me as a FHE coordinator. I know a few more people now. I have friends to sit by and talk to. I'm starting to remember names. And even though I still have times where I sit by myself, where I feel like I go unnoticed, Heavenly Father is always so good and sends me little reminders, little pick me ups through the members of the ward. Whether it's a text message from a good friend I made in the singles ward or a compliment on the FHE activity from the other night, I am reminded that I have people caring about me and watching over me.
I really do have a pretty good ward. There may be some things I wish were a little different but I have an amazing bishop, people that come to fhe and enjoy themselves, people that get up and share sincere testimonies, and now some actual friends that I look forward to seeing.
Again the saying comes to mind: "you find what you look for".
As much as people dislike the home singles ward, it is only because they haven't given themselves the time or opportunity to see the good in the church and the members of the ward.

We Are All Bonsai Trees

I learned a little something today and I've decided that God is a Bonsai gardener. 

My Grandpa Crosland owns a small army of bonsai trees. They vary from pine, maple, multiple kinds of juniper (buffalo, sargent, and nana), ficus, spruce and elm. Basically you can take any tree and transform it into a bonsai tree with the right pruning. 

Now the tree determines the pruning needed. Some trees grow all summer long, like the junipers, and they need to be cut back a few times a year to keep the shape you want. Some trees only grow in the spring like the pine so you only prune them once a year. 

In order for the tree to develop into the desired shape there are multiple and long steps that need to be taken. First you need to inspect the strength and health of the roots and trunk. My grandpa had a tree that came to him half dead so he had to strictly work on saving the roots for a couple years and then progress from there. Once you have a healthy growing tree the shaping comes from winding wire around the branches so that they will grow in the direction you want them too. You have the start the wire far enough back so that the branch is supported, which typically means from the trunk. When you prune the tree it causes that branch to shoot out more leaves or branches causing the leaves to grow together, giving the desired "cloud look effect". 

The trees must be watered everyday. In the winter you bury the pots in saw dust up to the lowest branch. At first I wondered if you could just bring the trees inside to protect them from the snow but my grandpa replied with, "They need to go through everything else that other trees go through. If you bring them inside they'll die. They won't become strong enough."

Heavenly Father knows exactly what shape we are capable of becoming. Some of us require diligent work first on our roots and trunk. We need to develop a stronger foundation, gain a testimony. Some of us need our branches to be redirected. We have to be wired all the way back to our foundation and then out to the furthest tip of the branch in order to grow in the direction that Heavenly Father wants us to. Some of us get cut back more then others. Some are fine just being pruned once a year. But no matter what, we all need to go through some pruning. Trials are the only way that we get tested and can have better growth. It can take years to get to the desired shape but it's the only way that we can turn into that beautiful bonsai tree that God is shaping. 

That's why I think that God is a bonsai tree gardener. 

July

Tonight I heard fireworks.
So I ran around the block barefoot,
searching for the best viewing spot.
I thought about last years month of July,
and the July before that.
I don't like the connections I found,
they're not very promising.
But being barefoot was nice.
I felt like I was living in an older America.
"The American Dream"
I found the big dipper, the north star, and Cassiopeia in the sky
amid all the fireworks.
It was nice,
could have been better.

Benjamin Franklin

So I've been reading the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and I am so impressed by this man. Firstly he was raised by a wise father who "liked to have, as often as he could, some sensible friend or neighbor to converse with, and always took care to start some ingenious or useful topic for discourse, which might tend to improve the minds of his children. By this means he turned our attention to what was good, just, and prudent in the conduct of life." I can only imagine what a huge impact this had on Franklin for he seemed on improving himself for the rest of his life. There was no petty gossip in his teenage life. He made friends with those who among himself, loved reading. They would go into the woods and read aloud to each other and discuss ideas, themes, poetry... I can't even imagine a group of boys in high school reading to each other like that. Too bad though, Franklin makes a good point later saying, "Influence upon the private character, late in life, is not only an influence late in life, but a weak influence. It is in youth that we plant our chief habits and prejudices; it is in youth that we take our party as to profession, pursuits and matrimony."

Another quote from him that I thought was very interesting about the religions of that time, "These I esteem'd the essentials of every religion; and, being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected them all, tho' with different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mix'd with other articles, which, without any tendency to inspire, promote or confirm morality, serv'd principally to divide us and make us unfriendly to one another."

A few years later Franklin tells about 13 virtues which at that time were necessary and desirable to him. He gives his own definition of what they mean and puts them in a specific order at which to work at attaining them.
1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
"Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up... This being acquir'd and establish'd, Silence would be more easy. This and the next Order, I expected would allow me more time for attending to my project and my studies. Resolution once become habitual, would keep me firm in my endeavors to obtain all the subsequent virtues; Frugality and Industry freeing me from my remaining debt and producing affluence and independence, would make more easy the practice of Sincerity and Justice, ect., ect."
Franklin goes on to say, "I was supris'd to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish."

Now can you imagine any leader of this nation right now having this on their mind? I would be shocked and surprised if any of them were striving like this to better themselves.

Anyways, one last quote.
"In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to Order; and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it. But, on the whole, tho' I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it."

Tolerance

"Until recently in our national history, tolerance referred to racial and religious non-discrimination. It meant civility in the political arena; in other words, respecting the right of others to express their views, even if we do not agree with them. It meant treating all people with decency and respect.

"Today, however, the world is in danger of abandoning all sense of absolute right or wrong, all morality and virtue, replacing them with an all-encompassing "tolerance" that no longer means what it once meant. An extreme definition of tolerance is now widespread that implicitly or explicitly endorses the right of every person to choose their own  morality, even their own "truth," as though morality and truth were mere matters of personal preference.

"Curiously enough, this new modern tolerance is often a one-way street. Those who practice it expect everyone to tolerate them in anything they say or do, but show no tolerance themselves toward those who express differing viewpoints or defend traditional morality.

"Now let us go one step further. Even in its original and correct connotation, tolerance is surely a secondary virtue in comparison with the far higher virtue of love. Certainly it is good to be tolerant of those who are different than we are, treating them with kindness and civility. But love, or charity, is the highest of all, and it is far better to genuinely love those with whom we differ."