Branding

Its so ingrained in our culture.

That the value of things are decided by the name on them.

That if you wear "such and such" clothes, "such and such makeup", have "such and such" kind of whatever etc. etc. that you belong "to such and such group".

You are branded by "your" brand.

Labeled by "your" labels.

Defined by the name.

"We are what we wear" mentality.

And we all buy into it.

We let others, the names, the people, define us.

Even I do it.

I realized recently just how much I let it define who I am.

My worth.

I'm SO proud of my iPod. SO proud to be carrying around a little piece of the all known 'Apple' brand. Something that says "hey, look at me, I have this awesome over-advertised electronic, surely that makes me better than you somehow..."
Even though I did originally buy my iPod because it was time for a new portable music device and it was what I had decided was more bang for the buck.
I still have succumbed to the branding of it.

Sure I don't wear American Eagle, Hollister, Hurley, Volcom, Abercromie & Fitch, Roxy or any of those oh-so-popular brands...they've never been attractive to me...too...preppy.
But when I get my hands on something Chanel...Prada...D&G...BCBG...yeah, then y'all better watch out.

Its the world.

The world, our culture, is trying to sell us something.

Everyday.

And thats the truth.

Everyday is a promotion.

Giveaways.

Sales.

Brainwashing us into believing that we need what ever it may be.

The mentality is so toxic its seeped in and tainted even the good stuff...even in the world of Christian apparel, there are certain 'brands' that seem to be "better"...that are more awesome to wear the certain tag.

But here's the truth of the matter.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" -Matthew 6:25 NIV

Sure, our clothes can help express who we are and what we're all about, but a person is more than the clothes on their back.

And that's the truth.

The Land of Headaches

Thanks to some genetics along the way...I'm that poor sap who has allergy problems all the time. My mom has allergy problems certain parts of the year, and my dad has allergy problems other parts of the year...me? I'm the one who inherited both...my brother? He's the one who barely has allergy problems...

Because of my loathsome allergies, I have headaches. I have headaches A LOT.

Why you may ask?
Well my increased allergies mainly affect my sinuses and so its kind of like having a sinus infection without the actual infection part.
Basically my head feels like its going to explode a lot...

But a pity party I shall not make this be. haha

I discovered that not last week, but the week before that (and the week before that...) that it is best for me to not try to...er...comprehend things, or rather try to comprehend things when my head hurts...

You see, the past couple weeks I was extremely stressed because I thought I was behind in web design.
Web Design is the one class I have online through the local school district and its really important to keep up on it because its not as lenient as my homeschool work.
And so it was, that I completely and utterly read my schedule for web design wrong, and for two weeks in a row, was trying to shove four weeks worth of work into two weeks!

Yes *gasp* a rather relieving realization for me...though not particularly surprising, knowing myself ;-)

And so it was that last week was a rather relieving, relaxing week of sorts, as I only had a couple assignments to get in because I had done much more than was required the two weeks previously.

The lesson of my random tale? At least the lesson I learned...

Is to not try to make a schedule or list of really any kind while I have a headache...it will probably not end well...