Things are looking up.

Despite the insane amount of things I need to be doing - and should be doing right now - things are looking up. The last couple of weeks have been an up and down pattern... My awesome birthday celebrations flanked by deaths. Illnesses. And, mostly, just sheer sadness. And not even entirely related to me. But it takes its toll on everyone. It does.

Thursday Word, Wednesday Edition: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4.

It's so easy for us to fall prey to that assumption that being sad is unacceptable - that it's indulgent;  that it's counterproductive; that it's wrong. But it's none of those things. That's not to say that it's totally healthy to ruminate on negative thoughts... And to me, as a believer, that sort of dwelling might point to a lack of trust in God's plan. But surely God understands the confusion, heartache, and passion.

I must say that it's times like these that make it evident that mourning is not only okay, but sometimes necessary. To hold things in... well, you get too full. And if you don't allow yourself to mourn, perhaps you won't feel that comfort that comes as a result of mourning. Just a thought.

Anyway, the point of this was to say, I'm realizing what a hypocritical journey a person goes on as they try to reconcile faith with the worldly. But things are getting better. Slowly but surely.

Ethan and I are beginning rehearsals for an awesome project that my equally awesome friend Katrina has developed - a sort of people's theatre thing, for which she's interviewed people about their faith (whatever that means to them) and molded their words into monologues to create a comprehensive show. It's called "Many Names" and it's happening on May 8th at 8:00pm in the Santa Clara Mission and you should be there if you can.

I've also recently been given the opportunity to work with two of the sweetest girls I've met at my university! Kandace has cast both Ethan and I in a scene from Tennessee William's "Summer and Smoke," and I absolutely adore it, and Kristin has cast me in a couple of scenes from "Doubt" and "The Odd Couple (Female Version)", respectively. I'm honored and excited, to say the least. Now the problemo is memorizing those lines and hoping I don't let them down!

School has been giving me trouble lately. I'm losing my drive. I think this warm weather is partly to blame - it's given me a false taste of summer, but I'm being pulled back to the reality of academia. Splendid.