Looking Back and Looking Forward

Hello my lovelies,

Today was a very interesting day; well, not VERY, but it was interesting enough for me to want to blog about it. Around noon-ish, I went down to the Rotary Club of Monmouth-Independence to drop off a banner that the District Governor from my Rotary district in Korea gave to me. After I got there, I was invited to stay for lunch/the rest of the meeting.

It was very eerie to sit in a room I sat in two years prior. I couldn't help but let my mind wander to when I sat in my first meeting after being accepted as the exchange student for that club. I honestly can't believe that it happened two years ago. I used to be so afraid of putting myself out there and into new situations. It's crazy to think that the person I used to be was gutsy enough to try to go to a foreign country. Today, I think it's crazy that I haven't traveled in over a month.

I keep looking back to the person I used to be and the things I used to want. Did you know I wanted to be a French Pastry Chef? I used to watch documentaries and read recipe books and study French (kind of). Every time I look into the past, I'm in shock that I have traveled so much (both physically and mentally). This world is so incredibly big and wonderful; why should I have to limit myself to one career?

Did you ever hear the story of Frank Abagnale Jr.? It's the story that the movie Catch Me If You Can, with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio, was based on. Frank Abagnale Jr. was a kid (about my age) that was one of the biggest and most efficient check-scam artists. He ran away from home when he was 16 and had no way to make money, because no one was going to hire a teenager with no education. He actually altered his license to make himself 10 years older to potential employers. But this wasn't enough for him to survive off of.

What he would do was he would go to this different businesses and "interview" the managers, so that he could get enough information in order to create false checks to cash. Over the course of him doing this, Frank was a pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, and a film director (among others). He would move state-to-state, job-to-job, persona-to-persona in order to evade police and imprisonment. It took the FBI about 5 years to catch him. When they finally did, Frank was imprisoned for four years out of his 12-year sentence, before the FBI hired him to help them track down and catch other check-scam artists. 

Now, in no way am I condoning what Frank Abagnale Jr. did. But I do admire him. He wanted to see the world and he found a way to make it happen. 

When I look forward into my life, I always have about 1,000 different dreams. I've always admired Frank, because he didn't limit himself to one life or one career. When he wanted to live a different life than he was living, he did; even if he did do it by illegal means. In my life, I hope I can have the mindset of what Frank did, without having the criminal tendencies he did. 

When I look forward at my future, it's always been a little bit hazy. It's always been that way, because I have so many dreams and so many expectations for myself in this great, wide world. Why should I have to limit myself to one life, when I can live as many as I want?

Until next time,

Madi

My Vow

Hello my lovelies,

It's been a very long time since I've posted on any sort of blog-type setting. The last time I posted on my first blog, I was sitting my room in my third host family's house. It's strange to think that their real daughter is back and sleeping in the same bed I slept in so long ago. Today, I'm just kind of contemplating. Contemplating the past (freshman started their first day at Central High today, so I'm thinking about high school), contemplating my future (I'm going to Arizona this week and then college starts), and I'm contemplating my now.

I don't think parentheses would be enough to explain that last one. Right now, I'm at this weird place in my life. I'm not an exchange student, I'm not a high schooler, I don't have a job. It's strange to me, because I used to have on specific thing that defined me. "Oh, I go to Central." "Yeah, I'm an exchange student from the US." "I work at PCL." While these are just examples, I think you get the point.

Growing up, I always had that one singular thing that defined who I was and where I was going in my life. Right now, at this weird stage in my existence, I can't tell if I have too many things that define me, or too few. I feel like this is just how adulthood is going to be for me.

I grew up thinking that I had to have that one specific thing that set me apart from everyone else. After having traveled in the capacity I have, I finally think I understand that it's okay to blend in sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I always have, and always will, love the spotlight. I've just come to realize that sometimes, it's kind of nice to fit in, instead of standing out.

So, here is my vow:

"On this, the second day on the ninth month of this the year two-thousand and fourteen, I, Madison Jade Lucile McCammon, being of sound heart and mind, vow to myself and the good people of this planet to only do things that make me happy. I vow to put my best effort, attitude, and knowledge into every situation, experience, and problem. I pledge my solemn loyalty to create my own happiness in this crazy, yet inexplicably wonderful world. I vow to never falter nor waver into situations that only perpetuate my own sadness and destruction. I vow that I will, to the best of my abilities, never do things that will harm myself nor others. I pledge to be a kind, caring, and thoughtful citizen of the planet Earth, as well as a dutiful human in this incredibly vast Universe, as well as any alternate universe henceforth discovered. Finally, I vow to never limit myself in my experiences; I pledge to always try new things. So it is, and so it shall be."

Basically, all of that means that I will do my best to stay positive in every situation, to try new things, and to do the things that bring my heart and soul happiness. Being a post-exchanger, I finally realize how important it is for me to search for the things that can make me happy in this life and to not waste my precious time on the things that only give my heart misery.

This blog is going to pretty much be me rambling about my life, whatever aspect of it I choose to discuss with you, the good people of the interwebs. I hope you accept my rants and thoughts as simply what they are; rants and my own personal thoughts.

I love you all :)

Until next time!

Madi

P.S. I'm sorry that the background for my blog isn't my own picture; blogspot told my the file was too big. Sorry!