Brady's Blog

Yesterday I was able to talk to two of my closest friends on the phone. Yes, I used that strange app that doesn't make you type out words nor wait for any amount of time to get a response. It was as if it were a real conversation in real time. Pretty neat app. The way these conversations played out was quite interesting. After I had finished with my class for the night, I was on my way home and felt discomfort in my soul. I had a conversation that morning with a friend about peace and its attainability so I thought I would reach out to that friend and pick his brain a bit. Over the course of that conversation there were two ideas that really stood out: 1. Focus on the things you can control 2. Find the positive moments in every day Not long after my conversation with that friend had ended, I got a call from another friend who was rather frustrated with some of the situations that she has found herself in. Having just had a similar conversation with the first friend, I found...

In my family there is a small tradition for Thanksgiving day. It is the day that everyone in the family has to turn in the Christmas wish list to my mom so that she can start planning what she'll get, when she'll get it, and where she'll get it. I've been thinking about this year's list all month and still found myself staring at a blank list tonight. I just haven't been able to think of anything that someone can buy for me this year that would be valuable to me...but that doesn't mean I don't want anything. So what is it that I want? Fulfilling Job A different post will come within the next month or so regarding how 2017 has gone but big changes happened in my occupation and currently I am in a position where when discussing what we were thankful for around the Thanksgiving dinner table my response was "I'm just thankful I have a job." Is it the perfect job? No. Does it have potential? Absolutely. My Christmas Wish: I would like to...

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. It seems like once I got my current job and started school that I lost the time and focus of my writing. That leads me to my purpose of this post. Have you taken a step back from your life, looked at what you’re doing, and asked yourself why you’re doing it? Why am I working where I’m working? Why am I back in school? Why is my free time spent horizontally? We are the ones that make the choices in our lives. I chose to be back in school. I chose to apply for my current job. But what’s it all for. How many times do you do something out of perceived obligation? Attending a group event. Going to a birthday party. But what is your real obligation in life? I feel like the answer is simple and twofold. First find your happiness. Test the waters and figure out what things actually make you happy as opposed to making someone else happy. Second, make it your own. Love your life uniquely. Please don’t be someone else. As for me, decisions are ma...

Topic #6: Your Going To/Never Going To Move Away Because... In my dreams, I live in a quaint loft in New York City. That is, before I move into my penthouse on the upper-east side of Manhattan. Not to mention a beach hose in LA. In my reality, I have lived in Wyoming and Arizona and even a few months in Europe and I still find myself back in my hometown. So what do I actually want? I'm not entirely sure. I love being in my hometown. It's familiar. I have my parents here. My sisters are a short drive away. We can all get together every so often...ya know, like families do. When I moved to Wyoming to follow a job, however, there was a sense of finally becoming an adult. I was on my own. Completely responsible for myself, and I did so successfully until my company laid me off and hung me out to dry. The one major drawback of that time was not being around family for holidays. I blame the weather and the company I worked for. The actual being away part wasn't too bad....

Topic #5: What is a secret habit/thing you enjoy? I am usually pretty open about the things I enjoy. Everyone knows I love sports and movies and music and all that good stuff so there isn't anything super secret that I have to share in this post. I did, however, feel like I could give you a bit of history on how one of my passions came to be. Almost two years ago, I wrote a post on this blog about my love of fashion. Since then I have written a couple others on related topics. But do you know how all that got started? Until now, I didn't. I hadn't really thought about it. If you were to roam the halls of my high school 12 years ago you would see a junior boy weaving his way through the halls rather quickly from class to class. Actually, you may not even notice him. If you stuck around for a few weeks, you may notice that he wore a cycle of the same five hoodies (black or grey) with jeans every day. Even his accessories were the same. Blue braces and an overstuffed b...

Time for another of those 101 Journal Prompts!!! Prompt #4: When did you last read a book, why did you read it, and what was it about? Many of you know that I love books. That has always been true. I have not, however, enjoyed reading. When I was younger, I had a very difficult time comprehending what I read. I could read an entire book, be asked questions about it, and have no idea of the answer. While in elementary school they instituted the "Accelerated Reader" program. It forced me to answer questions about what I read. I hated it because I wasn't good at it. Although, I still don't have top notch comprehension I have learned over the years that the more I read, the better I get at reading. It also matters what I read. This year, I set a goal to read at least one book per month. So far so good. I am ahead of schedule. The most recent book that I have finished i would be The Sun Also Rises  by Earnest Hemingway. I just finished it a week and a half ago. ...

So, if Facebook or some other social media hasn't informed you by know then here ya go. Today is my 28th birthday and I am excited to start another year of life. In the days leading up to today, I have reflected quite a bit on the past year of my life. It has certainly been a roller coaster, but then again most years are. Not long after my last birthday I got a major promotion at work. And now, I don't have that job. In July, my love life took a strange tumble which simply made me more confident (strange, right?). I have returned from the land of wind and more wind to my hometown which I euphemistically term "The Promised Land". I have set myself on a new path taking me back to school and in a new career direction. So much has happened. So what is my birthday wish for this upcoming year? Easy....experiences. This last week, I attended a temple open house, two theater performances, and a party. That's a lot for me compared to normal. I would love for this to ...

Prior to my brief hiatus from writing on this blog, I had started a project of opening myself up via "101 Powerful Journal Prompt" from the popular men's lifestyle blog Mantelligence. I made it through two prompts. So now, in an effort to not be the same old me (not finishing big projects), I present to you Prompt #3. What's a Manly Hobby You Want to Pursue? First of all, to accurately address this prompt there are some definitions or parameter that are needed. The main one being, what makes a hobby "manly"? Or even if this would include hobbies that are not gender specific? Mantelligence presumed this question and mad a list of 50 possible choices including some that weren't gender specific and some that I wouldn't have considered manly...like gardening. In any case, I guess now is a good time to tell you that I am not good at hobbies. I mean, look at how often I have written here? I missed almost six months a bit ago. Nonetheless, the prompt...

We have all heard that saying that sometimes we need to take a step backwards in order to move two steps forward. This phrase is the one that describes the past three to four months of my life pretty cleanly. Although in a word I would simply say it's been a "whirlwind". Confused at all? I know I am. So let me try to clarify by using a timeline. December 25, 2016 Christmas! Except not. Because of complications at work and Mother Nature's lovely gifts, I was unable to be with my family for Christmas...just like Thanksgiving and so many other holidays. It was at this moment that I became very upset with my work situation. Don't get me wrong I loved my job but it became an avenue for loneliness on the days that were supposed to be most joyous. I knew something was going to need changing at some point. January 19, 2017 I had been thinking about going to Graduate School seriously for a few months by this point and had started a few applications but when I too...