Dresses of a Different Color: A Little Girl With Great Big Plans

Sometimes I get lucky enough to stumble upon some really great artists and some beautiful pieces of art that inspire me and remind me where my heart beats best. I found this little song and artist after watching season seven episode two of Bones today. It was another song of hers that I first found and enjoyed the cinematography so I thought to look at another of her videos and found this one. ((Whole Wide World by Mindy Gledhill; bottom of post))

I swear, I am forever changed!

I always feel like I am only this little girl who doesn't really have much time yet way too many things she wants to do. I want to learn to dance, sing, play various instruments. I want to inspire people with my photography, words, and silly sayings. I want to get degrees in art, photography, social work, visual technologies, cosmetology; I have this desire to travel the world, meet people, live somewhere exotic... There is so much I wish to do and at times I don't think I can ever do it but then I listen to a song like this and I feel like conquering the world.

So how am I suppose to accomplish everything I want to do? Honestly I have no idea.

I have been thinking about trying to start a little movement of my own. You know those really cool non-profit deals that are pretty much everywhere and are kinda interesting (i.e. Strangers, Dove Beauty Campagne, Peace One Day, Miss Representation). Well, I have been thinking about something small that I could do... just something to solidify what I am passionate about. The first one involves women.

There is just so much controversy involving women and their rights and what they should be doing and what the definition of a powerful woman is and what not... and I really want to make a statement on that even if it isn't much or kinda repetitive. So, tell me what you think about this (and let me know if you want to pitch in).

I came up with this idea a month or two ago after watching the Sundance film Miss Representation which is a documentation that brings to light the way woman are represented in film, entertainment, and media ((Check out the website Here)). I recommend you watch this because first of all it is just really well put together and down right powerful, plus it was kinda the kicker that got me started on this whole ideation of doing something about it.

As I was thinking about it, I kept thinking about the feminist movement and what their ideals were and then also recalled all that I believe in and found myself almost exactly in the middle. There are women who are feminist and others who just want to be moms. There are aggressive go-get-em kind of women and there are the passive nurturing women. I wanted to make an attempt to expose every kind of women there was and to make a statement that no matter how a woman chooses to live, they are beautiful, passionate, and intelligent and deserve much more than what the world decides to portray them as. I also wanted to incorporate media... so naturally thought of my photography as being one my tools. So here is the idea:

I want to ask women to write down what is important of them, what they want to become, who there hero is and why (kind of a deal-ish, yeah?). I also want to take their picture to go with their stories/answers/whatever-you-want-to-call-it and put it up on a website or blog I'd create.

If you have ever been to the strangers project blog, you may get an idea of how I would like to set that up ((You can visit that one by clicking on this link)). I know how I would get this started... I'd start out by getting some of my friends to submit entries then go to a club on campus that would be willing to help me out and agree with what I was aiming for (like the women's association, NASW, or what not), then set up a date and time to set up a little booth in the TSC and have time to advertise it so I could actually have participants... That would be my start. And maybe from there I could try and gain some support in extending the project.

So what do you think?

On top of that, I have been thinking a lot about my education lately. My Social Welfare class covers the mission of Social Workers and skimming over all the areas of the career (which are a lot of options). I so far have not really concluded or even come close to deciding what area I would really like to work in. However, with my growing interest in the world beyond my little Utah, I've become slightly infatuated with the idea of International Social Work...

Although even then, I would still have to choose an area...

This is when my ideas of serving a mission for my church come in but there is a chance that I wouldn't even be placed abroad, so maybe ILP or Peace Corps or another service agency? I don't know, I don't know, I don't know! How's a girl to choose?

To tell you the truth, I sometimes second guess my decision of Social Work and sometimes start to side with switching to art. It would definitely be easier and appeal much more to my aesthetic senses, but I know that deep down Social Work is something that I have been coming back to since I was a little girl and that in it's education holds a lot of information that will not only benefit my professional life but also my personal life. Maybe a double BA is in order?

With this ever growing need to figure out what i want to do with the rest of my life, I also keep coming to the question of how am I ever going to travel the world like I want to? When will I get the opportunity to do so? Will I ever have the money to go abroad? Will I even get the chance to work and live abroad as I hope?

There are so many questions... and I only keep dreaming of the markets, the languages, the people, the cultures as if it's the future love of my life!

Anyways, I better get to bed.

Night folks! Enjoy the song.

Whole Wide World - Mindy Gledhill

I’m gonna walk a hundred miles, I’m gonna whistle all the while,

If that’s what it takes to make me smile, I’m gonna walk a hundred miles.

I’m gonna rend right up this hill, Summer sky or winter chill,

If I gotta take a break I will, But I wanna rend right up this hill.

I wanna hold the whole wide world right here in my open hands,