The Buried Life

(1) Author's Note:
So this video I created is based off of The Buried Life. This video shows my bucket list, the things I truly want to do in life that I feel I need to complete. Only 25 of my items on the list are visually represented out of the 50 I have.
When I first heard that we were doing this project, I got so inspired. Eventually, that feeling faded once I left my creative writing class. It just wasn't my own creation of inspiration. Once I made my own bucket list, carefully choosing what I felt and knew I can and will do, I felt that inspiration come back except more pronounced than before. Once you create something like this, to me it's one of the first building blocks of hope. I still have this hope and will continue to have it till I cross out everything that is on that list. It's like a constant firm but gentle shove in the direction of who you want to be.
I know a lot of these items on my list aren't all that out there or even exciting to some, but to me even the little things deserve attention and recognition. Choosing these things to put on my list actually took me a while longer than I would like to admit but I wanted to be really sure that none of them were fillers or something that I know I would back out of last minute. All of these things are within my grasp or can be. I hope my list helps others recognize some things they might not have realized they wanted to do and hopefully gives you a little insight to who I am.

(2) My Bucket List (Not in the same order as in the video)

1. Have my first flight on an airplane

2. Buy and learn how to play the guitar

3. Go on a trip to New York City

4. Write my own book*

5. Adopt a cat or kitten when I live on my own*

6. Pay for someone else's groceries or meal *

7. Volunteer somewhere consistently

8. Have a birthday party at sky zone

9. Travel to a different continent

10. Go wherever I want to do what I’ll love*

11. Go to an aquarium for a day*

12. Run a marathon

13. Love myself as much as I love everyone around me*

14. Have a pen pal

15. Donate blood

16. See the Eiffel Tower in person

17. Meet my idol Demi Lovato *

18. Dye some of my hair more wildly

19. Get a meaningful tattoo

20. Run in the rain and appreciate the storm*

21. Become more independent and self-sufficient

22. Learn to actually cook*

23. Make something handmade*

24. Spend the day on a museum tour/tour for myself*

25. Go on a double decker bus

26. Ride a horse*

27. Get a nose ring

28.  Make a photo album

29. Visit all the World’s oceans*

30. Spend some of winter somewhere warm*

31. Spend an entire day just reading in a library*

32. Go on a scary theme park ride*

33. Never watch another horror movie again

34. Volunteer to present a project first

35. Go on a hike through a forest*

36. Watch both a sunrise and sunset in one day*

37. Go on a big scavenger hunt

38. Take my little sisters out somewhere for a fun day, just us

39. Fall in love

40. Learn to speak less and listen more*

41. Go up in a hot air balloon*

42. Have photography as a pastime*

43. Learn archery*

44. Go swimming with dolphins

45. Give a heartfelt speech in front of a large crowd

46. Take an art class despite my lack of skills*

47. Go a whole day without saying no to someone*

48. Learn and enjoy myself in another culture in another country

49. Have a conversation with Jennifer Lawrence

50. Make a bucket list* 

*means it's in the video

(3) Video!

http://animoto.com/play/ssL7LV0spbZNxyS0oaxYDg 

(4) Now What?

I think one of the important but still simple points on my bucket list would be number 36. Watch both a sunrise and a sunset in one day. I don't know exactly why I decided to have to watch them both in one day. Maybe so I can get the feeling of how long and how important a day really is. Also because I always feel so calm, small and awestruck by the beauty of the sun bringing its colours into the sky. All of my problems seem to melt away because at least it's either a new day, or the end to whatever the day has brought. It's my sort of positive thought for the day, yet it's more of a subconscious feeling of hope rather than the actual thought. I think everyone should take moments to appreciate the beauty and calmness you can get out of watching both sunrises and sunsets.

A lot of my goals on my bucket list were a little extreme for me.  A lot of the things I put I do want to do, but often don't have the guts for or my shyness in certain situations prevents me from wanting to do. I know one day I will get over it. That's not a doubt in my mind. And when I do I will set off and not be afraid to do these things. For now I know this is something I or anyone else can do without fear and it is something important to me, not just a filler. My Now What? Doesn’t have to be some huge adventure to embark upon like other people might want to do. That's not exactly something I want to do and that's okay. I start off small and just maybe I'll build myself into going on my own adventures.

Life Adventure

It was cold. That was the first thing he registered. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw a faint red glow emanating further inside. It all started when he had begun to feel too cooped up after playing video games for hours on end. He realized he needed to get outside when he found himself pacing consistently around his room for half an hour. He needed to live his own adventure, as much as any twelve-year-old wanted to. Especially Travis Wright. So he silently slid outside and started his hike through the forest near his home. 

It was early December and as he trekked through the woods his mind wandered further and further. Soon he found himself in front of a building slightly smaller than the size of his house, bleaker than the gray winter sky. Travis hadn’t realized how long he had been walking for, but now that he was here, something compelled him to get inside. Even though he wouldn’t mention this to anyone, he was a little scared of what was in this building in the middle of the forest and was slightly comforted with the hope that if he didn’t make it out someone would at least know that he had gone out exploring by his twitter posts.

It had been a long day and Mark Hudson needed to get home. Guarding the structure of a building he had made into his laboratory all day was terribly boring and he felt exhausted from the dragged out length of the day. Normally, he double locked and then bolted the metal door closed but all he could think about was getting home and sinking into sleep, forgetting to lock it up. He only managed to slide the bolt home and then left feeling unprepared for the long way he had to go to get back home. 

Travis looked at the door and saw that there was a bolt slid and a couple locks. His heart sank when he saw this but decided to slide out the bolt and try to see if it was possibly unlocked. To his great surprise the door opened without protest. This is when he had stumbled in and saw the red glow and felt the warmth inside. Once he was further inside he saw rows upon rows of glass cases. He frowned as he tried to figure out what on earth they could be. They were heart-shaped and coloured red like one, but something felt off about it all. He stood there puzzling over the entrapped hearts for a few minutes before he slowly began to feel more and more drawn to them. Suddenly, he lunged for one before he could fully comprehend what he was doing and lifted the glass casing, sinking his fingers into the soft warmth of the heart. A shuddering “No!” thundered out into the closed air of the building. Travis was too overwhelmed with the feeling he had from the power he felt. As soon as he had touched the heart it had disappeared and now he felt better than ever. 

Dr. Hudson was astonished. He had remembered that he had forgotten to completely lock up his laboratory and headed back grumbling to himself while heading back the way he came. He knew something was wrong when he saw the door slightly ajar and rushed inside just in time to see the young boy grab one of the lives. He screamed “No!” though he knew it was too late. The boy had absorbed the life that had been in the form of the heart. He rushed towards the boy and gently but firmly grabbed a hold of him as to prevent him from touching another one. As he quickly assessed what was going on, he sighed in obvious relief when he saw that all the other hearts were still well preserved in their cases. 

“Wh-who are you?” the boy quietly and shakily inquired. He had slowly disentangled himself from the professor and now looked at him with a hint of fear showing in his small brown eyes. 

“I think since this is my lab, the better question would be who are you and who do you think you are for touching things that aren’t yours and breaking and entering into places?” Dr. Hudson ranted on. Normally he wouldn’t have quite gone on like that at such a young child but his exhaustion was showing and he was on edge with what this boy might do now that he had the power the heart would bring him. He turned it over in his mind, trying to process it. He decided it would be best to tell the boy would he had done and the consequences it would result in. 

The man looked gravely at the boy and guessed he was only about twelve or thirteen at oldest. “How do you feel after touching that heart?” he gently asked. 

“I-I feel good?” the boy risked saying. He felt it wasn’t such a good answer considering this man found him in his lab but found that it was still the truth. He remembered how his mom always said that honesty was the best policy and hoped it still applied in this situation.

“That feeling is because of the heart you touched. Specifically, that heart was a life. Not someone else’s, but an extra life that I created. You see I created these hearts hoping to save humanity. Hopefully win a Nobel peace prize. I soon realized this this could have too many drawbacks.” Mark reminisced. “People would become greedy and fight for them. Kill for them. The complete opposite of what they were created for. I decided it would be best for humanity to keep them secret and to stop their production. I know now that it is best to let nature run its course when bad things happen. It was wrong of me to try to offset this delicate balance.” He hadn’t broken eye contact with the boy till now, glancing down at his feet waiting for the boy to comprehend what he was saying. 

“…What do I do now?” the boy questioned. He wasn’t sure what he could do now. Would he just have to go about like normal and hope he didn’t die suddenly so no one questioned why he was still alive?

Travis perked up when he noticed the hopeful expression stretched across the scientist’s face. “Luckily for you, I have created a machine that will suck out the extra heart. It’s foolproof! It will only suck out the extra life, but never the original life that a person was granted.”
Mark had almost forgotten about the contraption and felt joy at the thought of the child not having this burden upon his young shoulders. 

Dr. Hudson had uncurled his hands that he had kept clenched from the stress of the situation and rushed off to find his invention while Travis waited expectantly, holding his breath while his own heart pounded wildly in his chest. Mark came back holding a small tube with blinking lights and a glass ball part at one end opening up into the tube. “Think of it like a vacuum.” He explained. “Just put it in your mouth and I’ll push this button right here,” he said pointing to a small remote held in his hand, “and you’ll feel a slight pulling sensation, but I promise all will be fine and you can be on your way.” 

Only a few minutes later and the professor was explaining to Travis that no one could ever know about the hearts, or of the lab that Dr. Hudson guarded. Travis immediately agreed and said he understood. He didn’t want these lives falling into the wrong hands and being misused either. Travis left with a quick apology and thanks and headed back home. He knew for sure that he would never find video games quite as exciting again. 

http://io9.com/concept-art-writing-prompt-a-boy-in-the-hall-of-hearts-1465643422

On twitter:

@traviswright675

@markhudson617

Random Addition

So, in trying to keep my personal additions going, I am going to talk about one of my situational perfectionisms that I am dealing with right now. My perfect attendance. A few weeks ago I saw that I have no absences or even lates to any of my classes. So in my mind that means "wow you're doing something right, challenge accepted." So as soon as I thought that, I got bronchitis. At first I'm like "yeah I can totally deal with this." And now it has gotten worse and I am now double sick which just means I also have a cold. My cold is making me very scatterbrained. Well, more than usual. I walked into school thinking "why are there all these decorations in the cafeteria? What month is it? Wait it's decorated because there's a holiday coming...RIGHT Christmas!" and I became so disappointed in myself. I should be at home resting but no I really want this perfect attendance so please wish me luck in this endeavor because every cough is a stab to the chest. Have a good day, whoever's reading this!

Just posting this because I seriously miss fall and this sight was so much more beautiful when I was walking to school one day

Dialogue Assignment

"I've seen some weird things," Dorothy sighed, plopping down beside Alice.

"I've lived through some weird things" Alice rasped. "Let me tell you, I almost lost it on way too many occasions." She pushed her hair back, shutting her eyes.

"The road I followed was confusing to say the least," Dorothy said.

"Ha!" Alice laughed. "At least you had a road," a slight glare being thrown in the direction of the brunette.

"Excuse me," Dorothy sneered. "Did you encounter talking animals and creatures that should be inanimate?"

"Every single step of the way," Alice shouted, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

Tears began to leak out of the corners of Dorothy's eyes. "I wasn't even in Kansas anymore for crying out loud!" Dorothy sobbed.

"I get that was hard," Alice relented. "But did you shrink and grow and feel like you were on drugs?"

"Okay, fine, you win," Dorothy muttered, defeated.

"Thank you," Alice breathed. A small smile finally appeared her face.

Legend: dialogue tags
             Non-verbal body language



http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/image/61377693601

November 24/13

November 23/13