A New Adventure: Washington, D.C.

Posted on March 18, 2014January 17, 2018 by melissaburgess

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After getting through some little mishaps that tried to steer us off the course, my mother and I eventually hit the road for a smooth ride to Washington, D.C. – our first trip to the nation’s capital.

Originally, our plan had to been to take Megabus (just $20 for both of us!) on Wednesday night to D.C. It would have been an overnight trip, and we should have arrived in DC around 9:40 a.m. on Thursday. Mother Nature had something else in mind for us, as a blizzard hit the Buffalo area on Wednesday, thus cancelling our bus.

But fear not, for Greyhound saves the day! I was thankfully able to book us tickets for Thursday to DC. It meant spending more money and 14.5 hours on buses, including three transfers…. but we knew it would be worth it in the end.

Continue reading “A New Adventure: Washington, D.C.” →

Books

The Benefits of Reading

Posted on March 5, 2014January 17, 2018 by melissaburgess

One thing that I always tell people about myself – other than my love of hockey – is that I absolutely love to read. I think reading is one of the best things you can do for yourself, no matter what genre. There are so many benefits to reading, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, memoirs or biographies or what have you.

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve run across on the Internet who say they don’t read, and it absolutely stuns me. I can’t imagine a life without reading, and I certainly do not want to. I’ve worked at a library for the past five and a half years. I read often; I make time for it, even if it takes me a while to get through some books sometimes. Reading is important to me because it is this great thing that will ALWAYS be there. Even if I have no money, I can always find eBooks for free online or visit a local library. Whether I’m in Buffalo, Toronto, or Paris, I can find books. No matter who you are, where you are or how much or little money you have, reading is an opportunity open to everyone. (I realize literacy may be a completely different horse to tackle. But the fact is, reading is something that is consistently available to me no matter where I am.)

Without further ado, here are ten reasons why reading is an absolutely wonderful thing.

Learn new things – This particularly applies to non-fiction, though there are lessons that can be learned from fictional works as well. You can learn almost anything from books. Want to learn how to cook? Check. Learn how to fix a car? Check. How to do your taxes, lose weight, study better, coach a sports team? All of it. You can also learn about history, from your city to your country to the world, discover different cultures, read a biographical account of someone you look up to (or maybe someone you’ve never heard of!), or learn about new religions, techniques to manage stress, etc. I could go on, and on, AND ON — but I won’t. Basically, anything you could possibly want to learn can be found by reading!
Expand your vocabulary – It’s likely that at some point while you’re reading, you’ll come across some new words that you may not be familiar with just yet! Reading will give you new words in your vocabulary and allow you to express yourself in ways you never thought possible.
Encourage creativity – By reading creative works by others, you’ll be in turn, encouraging your own creativity. Reading will get the wheels turning in your head and encourage you to think on new, unique levels, challenging everyday stereotypes and allowing you to think about things that you may have never thought possible before. I mean, if J.K. Rowling can write a kick-ass seven-book series about a boy who finds out he’s a wizard (etc. etc.), and there’s probably books out there about everything from unicorns to pigs flying to boys who become invisible…. it really opens your mind to the creative world and gets you thinking!
Explore new and different worlds – Reading can allow to you explore different worlds, different countries, different continents… everything from your very city to a fictional community on Mars is open to you through reading. Reading also allows us to explore different situations that we may or may not ever find ourselves in, but allows us to see these different situations and think about what we would do if we were in them.
Keep your mind open to new possibilities – Reading will challenge your routine thoughts and push you to think outside the box. Reading fiction will open your mind to completely different things and allow you to realize the potential of new and different things in the world today. Reading nonfiction opens your mind to all the world, historical and present, and will help keep your brain active and your mind flowing. Reading may also make you more understanding and less judgmental of others, which ties in with my next point…..
See life and the world through someone else’s eyes – As a 23-year-old girl living in Buffalo, New York, my worldview is limited at best. But reading allows me to see the world through so many different lenses. I can see what life was like during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in the 1940s; I can see life through the eyes of two young boys living in Afghanistan; I can read about war accounts through the eyes of the people – both soldier and civilian – who lived in it. I can read about other people’s struggles and triumphs and get different accounts of life around the world, in different time periods, just by picking up a book.
Escape from reality – Reading allows you to escape from your reality, as well as the general reality we live in. It allows you to become absorbed in the life of someone completely different from yourself. It also may allow you to transport yourself to a completely different world or historical era. Basically, getting caught up in a good book is a great escape from your present situation. Sometimes, I get so caught up in what I’m reading that I completely forget that I’m sitting at home in the parlor of my house in Buffalo, New York.
Stimulate your mind – prevent stress, Alzheimer’s etc. – There have been scientific studies that prove the benefits of reading. It stimulates your mind and can help prevent stress and lessen the affects of Alzheimer’s. Reading keeps your mind busy and active on a regular basis, and being able to learn new things and escape to different worlds may help you forget the stress you’re currently dealing with. In addition, there are so many self-help books out there nowadays; these books will introduce new skill sets and new techniques for dealing with things like stress, anxiety, etc.
Improve writing skills – Whether you’re actually interested in writing or not, reading helps you become a better writer. You’ll learn new vocabulary as well as sentence structures, characterization techniques, plot twists, and more. You’ll be able to connect different plot points in new and unique ways that may give you ideas for your own writing. You’ll learn new styles of writing, new ways to keep readers on their toes, and new ways to pull people into a story. If you want to be a good writer, you absolutely have to read.
Enhance analytical skills and problem-solving skills. – Reading enhances these skills because it pushes you to think about things in new and different ways. As you’re reading a story, you may find yourself trying to connect things, trying to put the pieces together as you go along – and that’s great! Trying to analyze choices and options and connect people to events and figure out how things end is a great exercise for your mind and really boosts your problem-solving and analytical skills.

So tell me, fair readers of this blog…. what are your favorite benefits of reading? WHY do you read?

A Better You

“Live While You’re Alive”

Posted on March 3, 2014January 17, 2018 by melissaburgess

I went to Toronto for the day yesterday and I was coming home, I saw a quote on a billboard just outside of the city. It really got me thinking and I’d like to share it with you.

“Live while you’re alive.”

Such a simple quote…. just four words and yet, if you think about it, it’s a great, powerful text.

How many of us don’t take advantage of all the opportunities we have in life? How many of us choose to play it safe rather than risk a little here or there? How many of us decide to stay at equilibrium rather than try something that put the scales off balance? How many of us are stuck in routines that we simply can’t escape from, no matter how hard we try? How many of us are living our lives day to day without ever trying anything different?

We are all alive. As long as we’re still breathing – and last I checked, I still was – we all have this beautiful life that we were given, and we should cherish that. Cherish it and USE it and take advantage of that. Don’t sit still, don’t wait for things, and don’t stop yourself from doing the things you want.

Live while you’re alive, as that quote says. Take risks. Try new things, go places, talk to new people. Don’t be afraid – and even if you are, go for it anyways. Look at things from a different perspective. Give someone a chance. Do something wild and crazy; do something you never thought you’d do. Try something NEW for the first time, even if you have no idea how it’s going to turn out. Dye your hair, buy yourself dinner, go out with friends, sleep an extra 15 minutes, try a new restaurant, go for a sport, or just do something outside of your every day routine & normal realm.

Just live, and enjoy life.

Miscellaneous

How I Plan to Write More

Posted on March 3, 2014January 17, 2018 by melissaburgess

Let me start off by saying that I absolutely love to write. Fiction, non-fiction, journalistic pieces, inspirational things like I attempt to do on this blog, vacation/trip recaps, or just random blurbs about whatever idea happens to come into my mind on that particular day. Writing is something I have always found my niche in, it’s someplace I’ve always felt comfortable, and it’s something that I know I’m good at and I’m confident in my abilities.

One of my goals for the year of 2014 is to write more, and write more often. Sometimes, I fall off the wagon for weeks at a time without writing much of anything, and I hate doing that. I want to write more consistently and just MORE in general, keep the words flowing and the ideas going and HEY LOOK! That rhymed.

One of the things that I’m doing this year – which I started back in January – is that I’m keeping track of all the writing I do, not counting the writing I do in my personal journal. I’m keeping an Excel spreadsheet that keeps tabs on what I’ve written, how many words, and where it was posted/published. That’s what works for me – it allows me to keep track of everything, see how much I’m posting and where, how much I’m writing and when, and I hope it’ll help me alleviate any long periods without writing and keep me going.

I’ve set a goal to write at least 15,000 words each month – whether that be in the forms of posts on this blog, posts on SabreNoise, or pieces published elsewhere. (Which, by the way, I do hope to pick up more of. I’d like to find more sites to write for, so if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to share them!)

In January, I did 15,334 words. In February, it was 15,426. I’m proud to say that I’ve surpassed my goal both months so far and I can only continue and hope things progress from here. Maybe by the end of the year, I can be writing 20,000 words per month – who knows! Anything is possible, and I’m happy to share my writing – and my writing goals – with all those who are reading this blog and keeping track with me.

A Better You

Small Ways to Clean Up Your Life

Posted on February 28, 2014January 17, 2018 by melissaburgess

Sometimes, even the smallest of tasks can help us feel better about our lives. We all have so much going on, all the time, that it seems to never end. But here are a few things you can do in a matter of seconds or minutes that will clean up your life just a little bit and help you feel a little less frazzled and a little more organized.

Erase your text messages. Keep the most important ones but clear out the rest. You’ll save your eyes from the clutter, save your phone the storage space – which may help it run better – and make a small cleaning adjustment to a device you probably use every day.
Clean out your email. This might take a few minutes, but sort through email. Toss the junk or the things you aren’t using. The emails you might need in the future, make folders for them to get them out of your inbox. For instance, I have a folder for each upcoming trip I’m planning; the folder has all my confirmation for bus tickets, events, hotels, etc. It’s an easy way to keep everything organized & right at my fingertips without having to search through my inbox.
Weed out your “following” or “friends.” Social media is great, but how many people on there do you actually TALK to or care about? If there’s accounts that you shrug at every time you see a post from, or someone on your Facebook friends who is constantly posting things you don’t care to see…. maybe it’s time to consider breaking that virtual tie for now.
Clean out your bag. Something you use daily, it’s bound to get filled with all sorts of things, including some meaningless and useless trash.
Write it down. If there’s something you’ve got in the back of your mind like “Oh, I need to do this later!”… write it down NOW. You won’t have to think about it any more, and it’ll clear some space in your mind. This also goes for story ideas and other creative endeavors.
Write. Just write. If it feels like you’ve got a lot going through your head right now, write. Just free write – anything you feel. Express yourself, describe your emotions, your worries, your plans. Get it out of your head and onto tangible paper and you’ll feel a little bit better.
Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and delegate portions of tasks or tasks if you think other people might be able to assist you!

I hope these are helpful. They may seem like small, insignificant things that you may not think will make a difference, but it often amazes me how completing small tasks such as these helps me to feel better. It alleviates stress, helps me feel as though I’ve accomplished something, and gives me a visual PROOF that I’ve done something productive. I can’t quite put my finger on why it feels so good to clear out my old text messages or the old photos on my cell phone that I don’t need anymore; I think it’s the idea that I’m in control and able to get rid of the old, essentially useless trash in at least one aspect of my life, and all I need to do is hit a couple buttons to do so. Weeding out my following on Twitter does the same thing; I can’t quite say what I like about it, just that I know it feels good to clean things up every once in a while.