Princess Jazz

I've been slacking in my schoolwork for over a month now, and this week is my time to catch up. If I don't put some serious effort out over the next few days I'll be totally screwed. I have a 10 page critical review due a week from tomorrow and i'm just starting to gather articles. Aaaaahhh. For some reason though, I need this kind of pressure to get stuff done. When there's no pressure, I'm a slacker. Maybe someday I'll try to remedy that.

So, I said I'd post more about the retreat. I guess now is a good time (anything to procrastinate researching, haha!). We did a neat exercise called the Labyrinth, where we walked along a set-out path with different stations encouraging us to think about different aspects of ourselves and our faith. Some of the stations were just there, but some were really meaningful. I feel like I worked out some stuff within myself and came to a greater understanding of myself. I found some things in my subconcsious that I didn't really notice before. I like times of self-discovery like that. I feel like I've been blessed with the unique ability to be very in tune with my physical body - I always seem to know what's going on - and I'd like to be more in touch with my spiritual self. I like to know where my soul is at, what my spirit is saying. I think that knowing yourself can lead to a greater sense of satisfaction in life and much deeper joy than if you just live life for the sake of living. I guess that's in line with the quote "the unexamined life is not worth living." (Who said that? Plato? Socrates? I don't remember.)

..... all of that was basically to say that this weekend away was beneficial. Also it was a lot of fun! We wrote stupid songs, sang karaoke (which was made especially entertaining by Steve's performance of Wild Thing!), and just hung out a lot. The food was amazing and it made the weekend just that much better. Anyone who knows me well knows how important food is to me - I guess that's part of coming from a German family. Food is a huge part of German culture. So, my thanks go out again to Mel and Gary for the awesome meals and baking!

Now I really should go research. :(