Stories help us deal with suffering, loss and death

Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, is one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. I saw it with my mom, Megan and her mom, and we were all in tears by the end of the film. Something about this heartbreaking movie just helps me deal with the pain in life. It has helped me realize that everything happens for a reason and that there is a better place where people end up. Whether people believe that or not, I know I do. How could we live out life now; our life full of suffering, competition, hatred, violence and everything else and NOT believe in something better afterwards. There must be something to compensate for our messed up life we are all attempting to live rightfully in at the moment. One line in Sister's Keeper that helped me deal with suffering, loss and death is "It is the things you cannot see coming that are strong enough to kill you". This may be one of the most true lines about loss and death. If we think about it, no one knows when they're going to die or how in the least. The next phrase that has kept me contemplating life is, “Do you know how sometimes - when you are riding your bike and you start skidding across sand, or when you miss a step and start tumbling down the stairs - you have those long, long seconds to know that you are going to be hurt, and badly?” The quote makes you think about all the times in your life where you just know in that moment that you are going to be hurt. I can relate to this as all actions lead to consequences. This line has helped me deal with suffering. Overall, the movie Sister's Keeper has helped me realize the beauty of this life and where we will end up. It's helped me deal with all sort of suffering, loss and death. In the midst of my tears of sadness and grief during this movie, I realized that they're not really sadness at all. In fact, they're tears of joy that I have lived this life and there is something better to look forward to. Though the sadness engulfs us as we realize we've lost a life, the overwhelming happiness takes the reign again as we realize that this will not be the last time we see them.

Stories help us dwell in time

I'm not sure if I will every regret this phase in my life (the phase I am still living right now), but Taylor Swift has been my go-to girl. I listen to her songs any time I'm feeling any kind of emotions. Her songs en capture me and bring me to a different place, a different time. Whether I am happy, excited, sad, nervous or just about any emotion, I know her songs will do my mood justice. In fact, the most played song on my iTunes is You Belong With Me.
I couldn't even begin to list my favorite songs from her, she has far too many. But one line that really sticks out to me in one of her songs, Ours, speaks truth that "Life makes love look hard". The more I think about this quote, the more it makes sense. Life is a crazy, messed up bundle of enjoyment. If we look at life from afar, we realize that love does actually look hard. From that broad spectrum, love is a hard concept and life is thrown in to make it look even more challenging.
Another line that takes me back into time is from most played song, You Belong With Me. This song takes me back to 9th and 10th grade, I was obsessed. The line is
"Dreaming about the day
when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for
has been here the whole time"
These may be the most true phrases about my life ever written. This brings me back to 10th grade (I feel like I'm writing in my diary). I had (or should I say still have?) the biggest crush on this one guy and he just hasn't realized that I am the one for him. What he's looking for has been here the whole time. This song will always be the representation of my high school life.
Taylor Swift, whether I like to admit it or not, will always bring me back to dwell in my high school life. I hear people hate/regret/never want to remember high school in their lives so I am not sure that I will ever want to listen to Taylor when I grow up but she is my truth-speaker for the moment being.

Stories help up dwell in places

The first thing that comes into my head when I think about home is a poem I wrote when I was in 7th grade. I read this poem to the class earlier this year and it really helps me appreciate my 'home' and where I belong. One of my favorite stanzas in the poem,
"Where am I from? 
Am I from the deep-dish pizzas my father cooks to perfection?
Or am I from the lasagnas my mother makes from scratch?
Am I from Signe and Albert and their voyage to Sweden?
Jag er fran they would probably say.
Am I from the many scrapbooks we have that show us every year we were here?
Or the memories hanging on the wall?"
This  poem that I wrote helps me appreciate where I live and where I am from. It helps me dwell in the place and glorify it. I am home when I use all these things to describe me.
Another one of my favorite stanzas is the last one,
"I am from home.
Home is Minnesota.
Home is where I am happy.
Homr is when I hear stories of my ancestors.
Home is with my friends at school.
Home is everywhere.
Home is anywhere.
I am home."
When I wrote this poem, I was really trying to capture light of when I feel most comfortable and when I feel at 'home'. I realized that when I am doing anything that makes me happy or reflecting on anything that has made me who I am today, I am home.
This poem that I have written helps me dwell in the place that I call my home and appreciate my heritage and that I have lived with everything in the past to make me who I am.