One of those excuses happens to be the desolate desert chunk of gravel and sand we call
ARIZONA
Yes, I did a stint as an Arizonan... Arizonian? Arizonanian? (who really cares anyway?).
How was it, you might ask?
It was enlightening, it changed and broadened my privileged perspective. It is also incredibly ugly and bland ... and hot... and dry... and a totally useless place to live--I mean who moves to Arizona for any reason other than 80 degree winters? (I'm so sorry to you Arizona love people...).
I'm also allergic to the air there, so that was lovely.
And the crazy dry air gave me frequent nose bleeds, which was even lovelier.
And it meant I slept on an air mattress for 5 months ish...
 |
| Beautiful, eh? But the sky was never that blue... |
But Let's Skip to the HIGHLIGHTS!!!
- I had plenty of time to focus solely on my music. *Angelic sounds of praising at such great news*
- I met some amazing people
- I spent more time with my Family
We'll go into more detail in just a moment, but I just have to point out that yes, despite the horribly impurgable smell that still persists in every washable thing I have and the annoying constant cold and the aching back and the unceasingly frequent road trips....
It was still a SPECTACULAR EXPERIENCE.
I learned to play Guitar AGAIN! and this time I learned a lot more than I have ever before, I got much better.
I also worked on piano sight-reading, and I found a spectacular arrangement that I'll mention in a minute.
All of my friends from Utah totally dropped off the face of the planet for a few months there, except sometimes when I'd come back to visit *thanks, guys*
I made friends with some AMAZING people there though.
Random people that I had met once or twice would drop by my house or call me and invite me to come do something with them starting the very first week.
The people there that I met were so much more genuine than anyone else I'd ever met before. They were willing to call you up whenever just to talk to you or to spend time with you.
and on my last week there, my extra fabulous friend, Leanne, took me paddle boarding with another girl we knew.
Firstly-it was SOOOO fun.
but this other girl said to me that day something that changed my whiny stupid moaning perception completely:
"We were thinking about how this must have been the best few months of your life!"
I was more than slightly caught off guard.
It had been horrible. I had written 20 unanswered letters. My friends seemed to have forgotten me. I had to do all of my classes online. I spent most of my time in my bedroom. We didn't even have any real furniture, it was like we'd been camping inside a house...
I responded quickly with a questioning rebuttal:
"My grandpa died."
but that one line this girl said stuck in me.
EVERYONE had reached out to help me. EVERYONE had served me. I'd met so many great people who were willing to drop everything to spend time with me because it was a limited resource. These people considered themselves to be my good friends, yet I regarded them simply as acquaintances I'd met who I would soon be leaving forever.
I had been so rude to them. I would always talk wistfully about my "real" friends in Utah (just saying things like "oh ya, one time, my best friends and I..."). These people were real friends too. They had been there for me when I really needed someone. They had served me right and left and tried to make my life as much fun as possible, and I had totally ignored it. I'd been too busy whining and complaining and feeling sorry for myself.
And that really turned around my experience.
It really added new meaning to a piano solo I'd been working on for almost the whole trip towards perfecting...
"Have I Done Any Good?"
An excellent question to keep ourselves on track.
This song set the tone for me about half way through, but it didn't mean nearly as much to me until this dear friend's comment.
I'd been trying to see what I could do to make other people happy, which I was just doing at activities I was invited to, trying to make everyone feel included, working hard for my Secretary position in my Laurel Class Presidency...
and then that comment.
And I realized all that I had taken for granted that they had gone out of their way to do things for me...
And so now this becomes my mantra for my return home.
I will use what they've taught me to do the same for others.
I started a little bit, but then I had to leave for girls' camp and now I have such a huge, nasty, probably-infected, gaping hole in my lip (the grandmother of all canker sores) that I literally can't even talk because it's too irritating. (don't worry, I'm going to get it checked out by the doctor or maybe dentist tomorrow morning [because it just keeps getting bigger])
SO! My dear friends, the 12 of you who might actually ever read this, please help me find ways to serve you and to be able to spend more time with you.
Because, as the song says, "have I cheered up the sad, or made someone feel glad? If not I have failed indeed."
Read the whole song here
https://www.lds.org/music/text/hymns/have-i-done-any-good?lang=eng
Picture: http://www.hikemore.com/indepth/Grand-Canyon/Saguaro-Cactus-Grand-Canyon.htm
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