I think you hid it from me

Sometimes the best things in life happen when you're not looking for them. Oftentimes, these things happen in what would be seen as unfavorable situations. For example, last summer, I (through a series of "unfavorable" circumstances) got "stuck" spending three nights alone with a friend of my sister's. However, we ended up bonding over impromptu bonfires made from tiny candles and scratch paper. And now she likes me better than she likes my sister. By the way, her name is Lauren, and she's been waiting for me to mention her in my blog.

Other times, good things in life must be sought out, and are often made more worthwhile because of the work put into them. I am reminded of this nearly everyday by most of the people in my household ("Did you find a job yet, Emma?", "Have you worked on that project today, Emma?", "If you don't have anything else to do, you could always do my homework for me," "Stop complaining that you're bored, all you do is watch TV shows all day," and my personal favorite, "You need to get a life."). While these promptings are anything but motivational, I'd say my family is onto something. Starting tomorrow, I will be more intentional about my time. As a personal acquaintance of mine once used to say anytime anyone ever said the word time-- "Time is a gift and a luxury that gets taken for granted, and you can never get it back." ...Or something a lot longer that usually spanned two or three texts. Although, I suppose I shouldn't take life advice from people in the car next to me on Lambert. In any case, it's important to figure out what you love in life, and to go for it. Sometimes that means going for things that are seemingly unrelated to your end goal, but just as essential in reaching it. This is something my friend Siobhan taught me to do: think about Future Emma.

Mayra's Japanese word of the day (or night, in this case) is bakusho, which according to my sister, means "burst of extreme laughter." Good luck with that one!