Did I Ever Wake Up?

Tuesday, March 10th, 2015

“what you are about to experience is something words can’t describe

teachers can’t teach

and money can’t buy.

This is art.

There’s no formula to true art.

There’s only feeling.

This is history.

Let the moment dictate your seconds

and swiftly allow your life to transform

from this moment on.”

rewriting history

quit reliving that rerun
Hitchhiked to Venice

became an apprentice

of a guru who used to serve Dalai Lama at breakfast

and he taught me relativity to orchestrate a symphony

of positivity, empathy, synergy, and divinity

Health, success, and happiness will always be my mantra

Possessions don’t own me, man

I learned that shit from my rasta

You got the whole world on a string

Learned that from Frank Sinatra

Long live the lizard king, forever

I’ma be the change that I want to see

People gon remember me,

I swear it’s 1970

Money’s cool and everything but I’d rather make a memory
I swear it’s 1970

Current music obsession? Mod Sun. When I heard his song ‘1970’ I knew instantly that he was going to be widely featured on my sixteen hour Spring Break trip playlist. Everything about my life in 2015 has been based around positive energy. I’ve learned to be picky with who I share my energy with. I’ve learned to reserve my time for those who reflect nothing but sincerity and kindness. I’ve learned that the kind of energy I exude is the kind that I attract. Listening to music that oozes that same kind of vibe is only natural at this point. Okay, so I don’t normally wear t-shirts on the daily, but I am obsessed with this long-sleeved tee. It’s my favorite right now. I’m a sucker for a positive quote and a comfy sleeping tee!

I’ve always lived with a sunny disposition and a curious mind, but last semester took a massive emotional toll on me in ways that I can’t exactly put into words; I had never felt less like myself for no reason whatsoever. I should have been more excited by all of the opportunities that were presented to me during my first semester in Lawrence, but coming back to Kansas after living the biggest summertime-fairytale-adventure of my existence completely drained my mind and spirit. I let my guard slip and allowed people into my world who exhausted my emotions and made me feel like it wasn’t okay to be exactly who I am as a human. After heading home for break to get some perspective from my cats (and my parents) I came back and instantly knew that I had to get back to myself. But who was that? I’ve never understood labels — I despise them actually, so I decided I should just be the most me that I could ever possibly be. I wanted to radiate the most Chantel-esque energy that I could. Does that make sense? Probably not. It doesn’t make sense to me either. All I know is that from the moment I made the decision to embrace everything that I am, my world started changing. Slowly at first, and then all at once. I was once again surrounded only by people who inspire me. I was again waking up completely ecstatic just to exist at all. I was beginning to remember why I loved the things I had lost interest in only months previously. Positive-energy exchange was taking place in my life. Sometimes you have to forget what you’ve been taught to remember what you’ve always known, and this book that Mod Sun wrote really reflects that idea. Okay, enough about me, this is getting increasingly mundane; onto the book I’m holding!

“The human body is single-handedly the most complicated thing ever
created. Simply being born makes you incredibly smart. You breathe in
and out anywhere from 15 to 25 times per minute without even thinking
about it. Everyday your heart beats more than 100,000 times. We run
marathons and create entire languages. You’re effortlessly operating the
most complex machine in existence and, if you can do that, everything
else is simple. There’s no such thing as hard.”

-My favorite excerpt from Did I Ever Wake Up?

It’s not the copy of Bhagavad Gita that I was given by a monk three summers ago, but this simple little book resonates with me on such a deep, comparable level. If you’re looking for a way to ease into a conscious, positive lifestyle, looking for a refresher in simple philosophies, or even just needing a bit of inspiration, please read this. Actually, everyone could do with 79 pages of pure positivity.