About Men and Love in General

In my experience with men, there are only three reasons they would ignore you - if they're distracted, if they're angry with you, but especially if something's weighing on their minds.

Why am I blogging about men today instead of writing or something more interesting (although let's be honest, you all love reading about men and what goes through their minds)? Because it's the only thing that's been on my mind all week.

Almost everyone has problems with their relationships, whether you're in love or not. It's humanly impossible for someone not to have problems in a relationship, small or big, whether they show or not. But it's up to you to decide whether they stay or not. Unfortunately, you don't get to decide whether they stay big or small. Small problems pile up and become colossal, and big problems become stories high.

Even though the picture is funny, the statement it makes is the same. If you let the problems get too high, and you break up, this is the result. This is also the result of too many highs in the relationship. They build up, and when a problem hits, you fall straight down into a pit. This is exactly why most relationships don't last. There's no balance. There are either too many problems, or too many highs. Highs aren't necessarily a bad thing, and I'm not saying you should start an argument on purpose for the sake of your relationship (because believe me, that's not a good idea - imagine your partner finding out you wanted to anger him on purpose). But you should definitely consider whether your relationship would be strong enough to stand through the hard times, because there will be hard times.

Too many problems... is there ever such a thing? Hell yeah. Most relationships are repairable if both people are willing to work at it. But a lot of people are pretty selfish, and selfishness only makes people bitter when they don't get what they want. This is probably why there are so many divorces and break ups. Some people just aren't a great fit, most people aren't actually in love in the first place. That might seem like a really arrogant statement to make, and it might make you think I'm one of those people who don't believe love exists (and believe me, the people that don't would probably agree with that statement), but I'm not arrogant or faithless. I have my own boyfriend and yes, I am in love. But there are a lot of people who try to define love, or mistake love for something else. You just have to know, if you're in love.

There are a lot of symptoms of love, and no one symptom is the same. There's always one give away though - you just know, without any doubts.

So that's my two cents, this might have been a really controversial post, but I want to know what you think. Do you believe in love? What's your definition, if any (and I hope you won't try to give it a definition if you don't have one)? Are you in love with someone, or just crushing (big difference!)? Comments welcome!

Taking For Granted

I'm sure we've all had our mornings where we've had to rush out the door, therefore skipping out on breakfast altogether or forcing us to visit a Starbucks on the way to school or work. Have you ever brought your breakfast to work or school, and on your way to warm it up and eat it, dropped it on the floor, therefore making you wait the four to five agonizing hours until lunch?

This actually just happened to me twenty minutes ago. While the food itself wasn't that appetizing anyways, I was hungry and hadn't eaten before I left the house. When you're really hungry, you'll eat almost anything, I've learned.

Which brings me to another point. How far would you go to get food in your belly?

I started thinking about it not long after I dropped my own food and realized I would probably go to some pretty great lengths, especially if I'm starving like some people in third-world countries. It also makes me think that sometimes, we take our food for granted. I know I did before I dropped it. Some people wouldn't even care and eat it anyways, if they're that hungry, but you really do have to consider what's been on that floor.

I probably shouldn't take anything I have for granted, least of all my food. I still think Thanksgiving is just an excuse to eat turkey (why would you be thankful for what you have and then have the Black Friday sale the day afterwards?), but the idea it's based on is no less real or silly than Christmas. I think we should all have a day (preferably not before a sale day) to be thankful for what we have. That's why I also prefer Canadian Thanksgiving. We don't have sales right afterward.

What you think about taking things for granted? Do you? If so, why? Comments welcome.

Love Chemical Day

Today is Valentine's Day, a day of chocolates and flowers. You want to know something? I don't really care much about today. I mean, some people might, and hate being reminded of how single they remain, but I'm not the type of girl who dwells on that. Sure, I have a boyfriend, and he wants to do something special, but to be honest, to me, today is just like any other day.

This is my opinion - if you're single, be proud of it! You don't need someone, or another half, to make you happy. Just chill, enjoy the little things in life, live your own life, for yourself. Don't depend on anyone else to make you happy, or else you'll be sorely disappointed.

Which brings me to the point of if you're not single. I'm not, but I don't fully depend on my significant other for happiness. I have a life outside the realtionship, and that's how it always should be. Time spent apart is good for the relationship, no matter what anyone says. Mind you, the time spent apart is probably emphasized in a long distance relationship (like it is for me), but if your relationship is strong enough, you'll endure that time gladly.

Which brings me to another point. Why don't people make the most of the time they have together? Valentine's Day isn't the only day to show your affection. If you truly love each other, you'll show affection to each other everyday, not just on special occasions or god forbid, one day out of the year. I think I'd shoot my boyfriend if he ever tried to pull that stunt (not really).

So today, if you're single, enjoy your life of singledom and don't worry about making anyone else happy. Do whatever you want! Hang out with friends, or if you're a socially awkward person, and that's totally okay, curl up with whatever activity you enjoy doing. Don't let the fact that it's a commercialized holiday for couples hold you back. Be cool like this guy:

And likewise, if you're not single. Don't change anything just because of Valentine's Day. Although, if your relationship is on the rocks because of a lack of intimacy, today might be a good time to try opening up again! There's no time like the present, but don't just work on affection today, or tomorrow, or for a week. It has to be enduring or, (don't mean to be harsh) it probably won't last. If there's affection, it probably will. People have to feel wanted, you know?

So that's my two cents, and if you still feel like sulking, be my guest! (Just don't mess it up for those of us who want to stay positive about our despairingly miserable love lives. And if we rub our relationships in your face, tell/yell at us later, when we're not so totally love chemical stricken. Or else we'll probably hate you for ruining our day.)

Do you like Valentine's Day? Are you a Valentine's junkie/geek? Do you hate it? Comment and tell us why!

Say Hello To Your Brain

Imagine this: I am a high school student (seriously, I am), and I've eaten supper. I have a ton of History and English homework to do, and I've determined I won't eat dessert until I finish all of it. So I sit down and get my textbooks ready, and now, with a pencil to the paper, I begin to write.

Then things happen. Suddenly the TV in the living room is ten times louder, the clock is ticking in my ears (if you have that kind of clock), and the people talking outside in the yard seem like they're screaming in my ears. I lose my train of thought. No, my ice cream banana split brownie is waiting for me in the freezer downstairs, I have to get this done. I tune out the noise, and write again.

And this time, the noise is louder than ever. I try for twenty minutes, but only manage to get two sentences down. I throw down my pencil and give up until I can go to a quiet library. I go and eat my dessert almost guiltily. Almost.

Can you relate to that story? I can. In fact, twenty minutes ago I just gave up on History homework until my mother could stop reading her book out loud in my ears. Oddly enough, I've been writing long enough that I can tune out all noise while I'm doing it. I wish I could say the same for everything else I do.

So what can you do when you feel like doing everything else but homework, and you're not that disciplined of a person? Instead of preaching about something I don't know (because I'm, for the most part, a pretty disciplined person), I've asked a bunch of my friends what they do to stay focused.

Listen to music. Sometimes, it helps people tune out the rest of the distracting noises, and really, who doesn't like listening to music? Some people need complete silence, but this is the next best thing, I guess. Try to choose some music without lyrics, so it won't be so distracting.

Earplugs. These things have saved my friends on more than one occasion, especially on stage where music is loud enough to blow your ears off. Earplugs can help block out most, if not all of the noise that's plaguing your brain-jamming session.

Homework partners. I cannot stress this enough, especially if you have really nerdy knowledgeable friends, and especially if they are good at a subject you are clearly not. Just try to find a friend who won't distract you from your work, yes?

Those are only a couple of ways to focus. Honestly, if you don't get that homework done, then it's likely you won't get a very good grade, and then you might fail the class, and not get into a good college, and wind up in some dead end job no one cares about. But hey, let's not stress, just focus on the matter at hand, and try not to end up homeless, yes?

And now that you're scared for your life, I'll go ahead and ask you - what do YOU do to stay in touch with your hippocampus (the storage part of your brain - see, if you didn't know that one you need to pay more attention in science class)? Comments welcome.