M is for Madness

Today's guest blogger introduces herself, so I'll kick it off by saying: I'm very delighted to have her here today. I've known of her for a lot longer than she remembers knowing me, because she & Amanda have been friends for a long time and there are some things that having 13 extra years' worth of memory will do for you. *wink* Anyway, it's been a joy to get to know the adult Paula and think of her as an extra baby cousin!

First, a quick introduction. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Paula, and I am one of Baby Cousin's (or Amanda, as I know her) friends. Su and I met officially through a string of events leading up to and culminating at Amanda and I’s high school graduation. Currently, I am a 20-year-old English Education major from Anderson University. And, since my letter is M, I’m choosing the word madness to go along with it. After all, finals are in a week and a half.

“Have I gone mad?” The Hatter looks up at Alice with pure terror in his piercing eyes. Carefully, Alice cups his face and nods.

“I’m afraid so.” She started. “But, all of best are completely bonkers.”

The Mad Hatter is one of the many characters out in pop culture closely associated with “madness.” Follow that by some criminals and some celebrities, and the true definition has gone completely out the window. My definition, however, is one from a college student’s perspective. Think about it, we’re about a week and a half before finals. For some, this is the week that determines if whether or not you’re going to graduate on Saturday or not. For others, however, it’s just that sigh of relief signaling three months of one of the following things:

• A carefree, relaxed summer.
• A summer job with the majority of the time being filled with relaxation. Or, the latter: 
• Summer? What is this “summer” you speak of? 

Me? Well, I think I can safely say that I am somewhere in the middle of it all. I have one summer class, I am currently on the hunt for a summer job, and this summer isn't going to be NEARLY as packed as last summer was. See, last summer, I got married.

-PAUSE-
Wait? You’re twenty years old and you've been married for almost a year already? Yup. Brian, my husband, and I met in high school. After a trip to Afghanistan [Ed.- Brian serves in the U.S. Army. Send him all the good vibes and/or prayers you can spare. -Su], we didn't see the point of waiting anymore. Ergo, we got married. Moving on.
-End Pause-

The photos that came up when I searched for
"madness" were a bit worrying. So I decided to go with
summery/relaxing instead. Source.

So, since this summer is going to be a LOT less hectic than last summer was, I’m not too sure what I am going to do with myself. Sitting here, thinking about it, I still can’t quite tell you what I am going to do. But, that’s not the point. The point is this: Take some time this summer to put the madness aside and relax. This world is crazy enough as it is, you don’t need to give it another reason to be so. Take a deep breath, read a book or the Bible. I would recommend some tea, as it is very calming to me. (Chai is my favorite, but it varies.) Either way, take a break from the madness that is this world, and focus on your needs. Sounds like some challenge, eh? Think you can do it? Don’t worry, we’re all going to stumble, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a quiet moment or two.