Salmon Fishing and President Obama

Today I watched probably the most profound movie I’ve seen in a long time. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, a seemingly overlooked production, left me really thinking about my life and my purpose. Now, I don’t want to give away the plot because I believe it is a movie that every person who aspires to do anything great with their life should watch. So moving forward... Over the past month, I have been uncovering my characteristics, possibly even personality traits, I have never noticed in myself. Some may call me persistent and maybe sometimes a bit aggressive, and well, they are right. But, if there is anything that I have learned from my marketing internship at Mercantile Capital Corporation, it’s how essential those characteristics are to my success in my personal life and most definitely my business matters.

I have a better appreciation for people, like CEO, Chris Hurn, who learned from a young age the importance of ownership, and ran with it. HE is an entrepreneur, and an expert at it. This past week, (for those of you who may not be familiar with the latest speeches of our president) President Obama claimed small business owners and entrepreneurs didn’t build their companies and that they had help from others. Now, as my readers, and citizens of our free country, you have the right to think whatever you want about this comment (feel free to leave a comment as well). But, whether he meant what he said or not, his comment was disturbing to those who are entrepreneurs, and those who aspire to be entrepreneurs, like myself. Yes, entrepreneurs have help from friends and acquire inspiration from teachers and support from their families, of course. But who thought up the company? Who risked their money and maybe their relationships to pursue what they felt like they were meant to do? Who put a lot of time and energy and life on the line, maybe to fail once, and then try again? The answer: the small business owners and entrepreneurs who President Obama has tossed aside (he definitely won’t be getting their votes now). So, why did I bring a brilliant (yet forgotten) film and President Obama into the same blog post? Well, I have a perfect illustration for Obama, maybe then he will understand the significance entrepreneurs and their dedication that allows them to claim their businesses as their own success.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is essentially the story of turning something impossible into an ever-changing process that essentially leads to success. Dr. Fred Jones (Ewan McGregor) had some obstacles he had to overcome, specifically, how to get Scottish Salmon to Yemen. I can’t go on with the story without giving it away, but if anyone has a little faith in themselves and what they stand for, then anything is possible. Dr. Jones used Farmed Salmon to begin a salmon population in Yemen, at first; he doubted their survival because farmed fish may not know to swim upstream (as salmon do, which is news to me). His epiphany was simple: Salmon were made to swim upstream and whether they are taught it or not, it’s in their DNA to do it. What does this have to do with me? I believe there is a purpose for me and a path I belong on, and I will find it, because it is already a part of me.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, some people were meant to start their own business. Some people were meant to work weeks without sleep to make their dream a reality, and I respect those individuals and President Obama should too. All of us have goals; we wish to do certain things and desire to accomplish whatever our dreams are. But those actually who do; the ones who eat, sleep, drink, and breathe their dreams, it’s in their DNA to do so because they have found what they were made to do. In the end, I’m blessed and completely honored to work with the people I have been able to work with this summer, they have taught me a lot about myself and my future. My job, the people I have met, and this movie (silly, I know) have encouraged me to find what I love and accomplish everything I was meant to do.

Thanks so much for reading! Leave a comment!

Sarah Ann Weaver

@birdsandtrees14

Summer Internship!

Hey everyone!

Hope everyone is having a great summer! I know I am.. I recently landed a fantastic Marketing internship at Mercantile Capital Corporation! at that news is only one of the many exciting events that have happened this summer! My brother graduated high school, my family came to visit... and well yea I'd say besides the internship that's the other exciting news.

I'm writing to you today because I reread my last blog and I believe I have stayed true to what I discussed a couple months ago. maybe except for one thing... I really want to finish reading a book... Unfortunately, I've managed to start 3 and complete 0. I always seem to get upset or pissed off about a character or the plot.. Either way, I've been enjoying the company of my friends, my family, and now, some awesome co-workers.

I have only worked for Mercantile for a week but I love it! The people are wonderful, the experience is liberating, and well I love having my own little cubical! Do I plan on working in a cubical forever? ehhh... no. But this is great experience! I mainly work with social media, and send out mail, but I really do enjoy it! The one thing I enjoy the most is just being in a business setting with people that love what they do and are really good at it! Kind of makes me more confident in myself that I will be successful (sooner or later). It also helps me realize that college is amazing and i need to learn as much as I can to be the best at everything. Anyways, well that's all for now.. I'll try to post more frequently!

Thanks for reading!

Sarah Ann

Symphony of the Summer

Hi all!

I know it’s been a while since I have expressed any of my recent thoughts and I’m truly sorry about that. In short, I ended the hectic semester with a 3.3 GPA and I visited Steph Galvin’s family in Omaha, Nebraska. I am thankful for those individuals who forced me to study, because without them, well, I wouldn’t be satisfied with my GPA. Omaha was interesting, the trip was wonderful, I visited with Steph’s amazing family and took tons of pictures. Tonight I was planning on talking about this new idea I came up with for the summer, but instead, I want to talk about something I got to experience while I was in Nebraska.

I went to see Miranda Lambert in concert.

Now that statement alone should make every reader jealous. Anyway, if you don’t know who Miranda Lambert is, shame on you, you should click on her highlighted name to visit her website. She is a very successful and gorgeous country music star who stays true to herself.  Someone that every woman, country fan or not should look up to, Miranda sings her heart out to express herself and her lyrics touch the hearts of so many women going through the same struggles in life. Yes, country artists like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Martina Mcbride also do this, however I prefer Miranda. Talk about a real person who expresses all of her emotions and embraces her experiences as well as her culture (country is a culture). Miranda got up on stage with her crystal light and Bacardi, her pink electric guitar and her pink microphone and sang some of her most amazing songs. Some of her songs make you angry, some make you cry, either way in the end they all put a smile on your face because she is on stage smiling back at you. Miranda Lambert has a song titled “Over You” she wrote it with her hubby, Blake Shelton, and it was their first number 1 together. Even though this song is terribly sad, as I watched her perform the song in front of the Omaha crowd, her voice and her presence made me feel what she felt. Now that is talent. At the end of the song, she teared up, i teared up but I smiled because I was amazed and blown away by her ability to make me feel like I knew what she was going through. On the opposite end of the spectrum, “Kerosene” was written out of pure anger, and let me tell you, every girl in that stadium was angry at somethin’ during this song. Screams and hootin’ and hollerin’ came from all directions. Women should never be afraid to show their true colors sometime and I think Miranda Lambert stands by that whole heartedly. Because of that belief she has gained so much respect from women and men. Finally, Miranda sang a new song that I was blown away by, and really left me thinking. Her song “All Kinds of Kinds” should be something we all listen to and learn from. (please click on the song titles to watch the music video!)

Even though her examples were extreme, her point was something we all need to understand. Over the past school year I have met a lot of different people. At the end of the day, I got through school, and I got through a rough day because of those people. I think her song is a statement showing us our uniqueness and  our differences keep the world spinning. It’s not right to be close minded and ignorant to society when there is so much to learn in the world. We all sing our own tune and walk to a different beat of a drum, but doesn’t that make us who we are? If everyone was the same how boring would our world be? Anyways, I just wanted to point out that Miranda Lambert is a smart woman, she fights for what she believes in and I have a lot of respect for her. I would like to encourage everyone this summer to walk to their own symphony; be curious and learn from others, make new friends, and try new things, because that’s how the world keeps spinning.

Thanks for reading!!

Sarah Ann Weaver

The Migration Path

Well it’s been a while since I have written, and I’m not exactly sure why… so much has been going on and to tell you the truth I’m not exactly sure where to begin. I don’t know if I could explain it, but whatever happens to come out in the blog post, I promise you could be emotional, hilarious, or absolutely ridiculous. I honestly didn’t know one individual could feel so many emotions… I mean I don’t even think I can define everything that I have been feeling over the past month in just a couple of words. What I’ve decided right now, I have this path, with no direction. I don’t mean like I’m stuck at a dead end with literally no place to go. Instead, I'm traveling along this path, and I have no idea where it leads. I can’t see the temporary road closed signs, or the four way stops or whatever. I really wasn’t planning on writing using a path analogy, they are so cliché. But before I get into what I really want to say I have to ask: When a bird migrates, do they know their exact path? Do they always go the same place? Where do they want to go? Do they plan their trips OR are they as “free spirited” as they come across? Hmmm….

I’m just going to tell you, I have never been so confused in my entire life. I’m stuck in this dark spot, and not a spot that I’m sad all the time or I hide in my room and cry myself to sleep at night. A blurry spot is probably a better description. It’s like there is this feeling hanging over my head, everything that I’ve done is slowly flooding back into my most recent memories. There are many good memories that make me smile: family, old friends, new friends, cute boys, and sporting events. However, with good memories come bad ones, losing friends, ruining relationships and just trying to figure out who I am. Now I’m in this place where I want what’s best for me, because how often do I get to think about myself? I mean really… College is the only time someone can really truly focus on themselves and who they want to be. But recently I can’t see past the step in front of me, and sometimes I’m terrified to even take that step. Now that I sound completely paranoid I would like to say, I’m not afraid to leave my room and do normal things, but I feel like everything I do in my life at this moment should have a purpose. It may not be the best purpose, but there is an action and it produces an outcome. I mean, I go to the grocery store to buy food to eat, I go to the gym to look nice, I dress nice to make myself feel better and people think I’m pretty… and on and on and on….  

What am I saying? THERE IS A METHOD BEHIND THIS MADNESS CALLED LIFE. Unfortunately, if you are looking for an exact answer, this blog post won’t have it. I feel like finding a purpose to my life is an ongoing thing. But what I’m struggling with right now is: I have garbage covering my path (yep, back to the path analogy). But I’m not sure if it’s garbage I can move, or if I just need to change directions because it smells soooo bad. This blur can’t clear up until I figure out what has caused it and either embrace that, get over it, or get rid of it. My garbage could be a number of things: the apartment complex I live in, my friends, my organizations, Tampa, USF, the classes I’m taking. Most of those things have made an impression in my life and I’m not really ready to part with, except the apartment. However, I have these stains in my path that are a little harder to get up: regrets, things I haven’t done, things I want to do, and milestone events in my life, those rite of passage moments (Were they right? Did they go as planned?). Right now I’m at this point where I have to back track and figure out what has brought me to this blurred spot and take the necessary steps to get a clear confident view of my life.

Those of you who are STILL reading this, I don’t know how you managed to make it through, it’s kind of confusing. But this is just a small fraction of what I’ve been thinking about, and what has been circling through my brain. Clearly I have lots of questions that need answers and a path that needs cleaning. I’m just glad I have some people I can talk to; it’s nice to realize I’m the only one who isn’t exactly sure what’s going on in their life. I guess I don’t know the answer to my migration questions, but I hope birds never get as confused and somewhat lost as I have been (I do wonder if they panic when they get lost, or if the male birds avoid asking for directions). Either way, I’m going to try to live my life more freely, come up with some answers, but maybe try not to worry so much. To most of my readers who probably don’t have everything figured out: Find someone to talk to about it, the only reason I am actually able to write at this moment is because of Steph Galvin. Oh! Listen to some music, and when you have time, sit down and try to answer some of your own questions. But don’t talk to yourself out loud; you’ll get put away for that. 

Thanks for reading!

Sarah Ann Weaver

Fearless

This afternoon I went to the most amazing place in the entire world, St. Pete Beach. I got to visit with my seagull friends, lay in the sand, and listen to the soothing sounds of the waves. I definitely haven’t had the time to relax recently. I mean, I’m a sandwich artist at Subway, I have 5 classes to worry about, I’m in a sorority, and an athletic organization on campus. Anyways, I’m a busy bee and today I took a couple hours to enjoy some “me time,” well “Steph Galvin and Me” time. I’ve realized so many things over the course of about a week and a half. I can definitely say this is the most difficult part of my life, so far anyways. It’s not in a bad way, it’s just one of those mountains I have to climb over, but recently I’ve kind of felt like an ostrich trying to fly over a 30 foot fence… For those of you who don’t know, ostrich don’t fly, so impossible is pretty much what I’m trying to get at. Anyways, over the past couple of days I have realized what some of the most important things in life are; family, friends, and happiness. I’m not really going to get into those exactly, but I want to get into how I realized that those items are important.

I worry a lot, I’ve been a worry wart my entire life.  In elementary school I refused to faint into someone’s arms during a play for fear I’d look stupid and he’d drop me; middle school, I threw up on test days; and today, I just worry about school work, friends, family and my future. Here is what I have realized; my biggest fault is worrying about the future. I’ve been so worried about what is going to happen down the road, and not just next week but like weeks, months, even years in the future.

So today is my declaration, I’m telling everyone I’m not going to worry about my future, because where I’m at right now is perfect. Yea, there are some bad days and there are some awesome days, but I’m not going to worry about anything. Today when I was on the beach, with my seagulls, I didn’t have a care in the world; I was content, but not just content, happy. Recently I’ve had two people tell me I need to focus on the present, and you know what, they are exactly right. So I my two wonderful friends that keep me the sane person I am today - you know who you are – thank you. And to all my readers, if you worry like me, try not to. It will be hard, but as I watched the seagulls roam the beach and rest in the sand, they seemed so carefree and their flight seemed effortless and that feeling would totally be worth it. Every once in a while a huge gust of wind would come a long and I would watch them fight against it. But as college students, as humans, we all have those huge wind gusts that may knock us down. But we have to be fearless, like the seagulls, and get right back up again; go on with life and try not to worry about what could happen, and let ourselves be engulfed by the sunlight, let our wings be caught by the breeze and just go with it.

Hope this helps some of you who may be going through some rough times right now. Also, the picturesI added are just 2 of the 101 photos i took at the beach today, 95 of them are of seagulls. Anyways, thanks for reading! 

Sarah Ann Weaver 

The Bird Nest..

This past weekend, I sat outside the house I’ve had all my childhood memories in… I laid down on the concert and looked up at the sky. My mom was sitting in a folding chair, my brother on a stepping stool and my dad on the concrete next to me. My sweet little kitty, Boo, was chasing leaves; Lucy, princess kitty, was walking around aimlessly, and Luke, my dog, was tied around the garage door track. As I looked up at the sky I noticed the trees, the overcast sky, and finally a bird’s nest in the tree looming above me. I thought of home, and how much home means to me. When most people think of a home, they may think of a structure, a house, with a front yard, a doorbell, and mailbox. However, I don’t just think of the physical “home.” My warm bed, the blankets that lay across the couch, and the shoes in the middle of the floor always come to mind, but there is so much more to my home than that. To me my home is my perfect vacation spot… That stress free location where everyone knows my name, where I don’t have to worry about what I look like and just visit with those people I haven’t seen in a while (in my case recently “a while” is at the most 2 weeks). People make my home what it really is to me; going home and feeling loved by friends and family is an irreplaceable feeling.  

Now I’m not saying that you can’t have more than one home… but there is just always that one place that we all feel secure. We can be who we really are, and do the things we want to do. Sometimes I feel like people forget how important it is to be who they really are. As college students, we always have an image that we have put on for everyone we have met, hopefully, we have each been true to ourselves and our image is who we really are… but regardless, when we go home to visit mom and dad, we wear sweat pants, flip flops, and possibly no bra, depending how lazy we really are… guy readers, no bra hopefully… My point? Recently back home, has been my only safe haven. Am I homesick? The simplest answer would be yes. The complicated answer would be so confusing, very few people would understand.

Well as I was looking up at the bird nest that afternoon, I wondered how often baby birds visit home, if they do at all… How much they remember, if they visit their brothers and sisters… Now as my readers you guys are all laughing at me, but this is a very serious thought. I mean, if I were a bird, I’d fly home probably every weekend to get a decent meal and a hang out in a nest, visit my childhood birdy friends. Okay, even though I sound ridiculous, all I’m trying to say is the worst thing you can do is take advantage of being home; because one day you’ll realize it’s the only place you want to be, it’ll be the only people you want to see.    

Keep reading, 

Sarah Ann Weaver

Bad News: A Seagull Story

Yesterday my best friend, Steph Galvin, came home from class to inform me of probably the saddest news I've been hit with in a long time. First she asked me if I had driven down a certain road going to school, I said “nah” and her response was “good, thank god.”

So my mind starts running for 10 seconds before I blurted, “uhm, why?” She shifted in her seat and got the awkward, I need to tell you something, but I don’t’ want you to be upset look on her face. She paused for a second and then said, “There was a dead Seagull in the parking lot”

Gasp! Soooo depressing… She felt awful and continued with, “I was freaking out and I’m just glad you are okay.” I stood frozen, feeling like a little bit of me had died inside. The next few moments Steph continued to explain how she wished I could read her thoughts so I could understand what she was thinking when she saw the poor lifeless seagull. For the next couple of hours she would text me to make sure I was still alive, and warning me to be extra cautious today. Steph jumped to the conclusion that something bad was going to happen to me, and that this dead seagull was an omen. I laugh at the thought of it, but she does have a valid point.

There were a couple things that went through my head after Steph shared this terrible news with me. The first was poor seagull, the second how did this innocent creature die, and the third was actually provoked by a later comment that I will get to momentarily. My first thought is clearly self-explanatory, we all feel bad for creatures that have died unexpectedly, even expectedly. I happen to be a softy when it comes to animals, then again who isn’t? For instance, when my beta fish Apollo died, I was sobbing as I flushed him down the toilet. I mean, I practically killed him myself, which is the sad part. Yup, there is a certain temperature beta fish like their water at, and needless to say, I didn’t have the water at the correct temperature, and the next morning he was floating along the bottom of his little home, completely lifeless. I’m also the kind of person that will convince myself that a dead cat in the road is, in fact, a raccoon or an opossum, when undoubtedly, it’s a cat. My point is you should feel bad for animals when they die.

My second thought still seems to bother me, how do you kill a seagull? They fly. No one should be hunting them, I mean, yea they are annoying to everyone else in the world, but come on. So if it was taking a break from flying and taking a stroll in the middle of the parking lot, shouldn’t you as the driver stop? I mean, people slam on their breaks for squirrels; my dad practically throws my family through the windshield if there is a squirrel in the road. Drivers should be just as cautious about birds. Granted, birds should be in the middle of the road, but give them a break, they fly most of the time. Birds need to relax too. So yea, whoever hit that poor seagull should be paying a little bit more attention.

After Steph had given me the bad news I had to go to my discussion class for accounting, I sat down next to one of my new friends and told him about the dead seagull, his comment afterward – with the intention of making me feel better – was “well I saw a flock of seagulls this morning on the way to class so you should be safe, and there are still plenty more around.” My first thought, but what if those seagulls were that poor dead seagull’s family? Do they know? Are they sad? Depressing I know. My response to him was “but now someone in their family is missing” with one last effort to make me feel better, he smiles and says “it was a rogue seagull.” I laughed, his little comment had worked.

Anyways, I guess it’s just funny the way people look at certain things, obviously to a couple of my close friends it’s a known fact that seagulls are close to my heart (read previous blog to see why). Steph jumps to the conclusion that a part of me is dying, and that I should watch my back. My classmate, the optimist, reassures me that there are plenty more seagulls and that particular seagull was a rogue. And me, well I just don’t like for anything to die, birds, people, cats. Why can’t we just live forever? I always think about how everyone else is effected, who will miss that pet or family member or friend. I just feel like this incident is a great interpretation of how something so inevitable and common as death can be viewed in so many different ways. It triggers different emotions in all of us, mainly sadness in all of us, but we explain it, or cope with it, break it down in different ways to help us or those around us feel better.

These are just my random thoughts on a Saturday afternoon. I’m going to try to post more often, but we will see how that works.

Keep reading J

Thanks!

Sarah Ann Weaver