[Lenz] A Scrapbook of Wonder

[Lenz]

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Did Someone Say Apples?

This reminds me of... apples. But please don't ask me why because frankly, I don't know. It just does.

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[Lenz]

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The Magical World We Could Live In

written by me

There lay a lake that showed my reflection like a mirror
Above the lake shows the stars, the colour, a creamy white
Under those stars, the population of game comes and goes
All was a miraculous and flamboyant sight

Forever this glorious land will grow and prosper
As will the lives of the individuals that live within it
Feeding on the wealth of happiness and pleasure
The future is pure and with common whit

Down by the riverbed stands a cave with a mouth, very large
Near the mouth is a prairie of flower
Pink cherry trees blossom at a rapid pace
Only does it never snow but truly shower

Rain patters the nearby flourishing canopy
Puddles of liquid succumb to the mossy ground
Leaves of all colours dance amongst the vegetation
Your tranquil thoughts and hopes are now found

Petals from the nearest oak tree fall
The deep blue of the wavering waterfall against the cliff
The sand near the end of the world’s cold sea
The shells near the shore are anything but stiff

No acorns are here to litter the vast floor
For each one disappears as they gradually fall
The light breeze of wind flows freely throughout
As it carries the wild ones’ merciful call

Farther down the grassland is a curving bend
A forest full of lively vines and adventure is sought there
A gravel trail leads you to the captive inside
Where all of your most desirable dreams are fair

This magical world we now thrive in
This was once the heavens from above
But sinking below to the gravitational pull
It is now the home all creatures have come to love

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[Lenz]

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Well I Guess It Wasn't Exactly An Hour...

The songs weren't posted in an hours' time frame, because I lost interested and wanted to post another poem I create a while ago. But that's all okay because it's always good to mix things up, right?

I hope you all enjoyed listening to this song (for those of you who did)!

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[Lenz]

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Banana Coated In Nuts And Chocolate

Has anybody tried these before? I've had my fair share of heating up a dozen semi sweet chocolate chips in the microwave before. And then I dipped my banana in it.

I have also heard of people taking their banana and drizzling chocolate over it or even dunking the banana in dark chocolate. After they did that they froze it and then ate it once it was frozen. It's kind of like a banana split without the ice cream if you ask me. I have never tried that before, neither have I tried to do this.

Of course if you're allergic to nuts this would be a bad idea for you, but for those of you who aren't you should really try this recipe out! I think the picture is self explanatory but if you have any questions on how to make this, I'll try my best to help explain the process.

It looks yummy! I might try to make it sometime soon!

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[Lenz]

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A Few Choice Words

I think it's time for some more inspiring posts, so I have below several pictures that should help lighten your mood and encourage you to keep on fighting if you're feeling low.

Appreciate the Little Things: You may not realise it but every thing you do is watched by others. Simply smiling to everyone you meet will send off a happier mood to the other person. They will instantly think that you're social and nice rather than if you were to stay stoic or frown. Who wants to meet someone like that?

Also it's important to relate upon your current position in life as often as you can. Some people don't have a lot of the stuff you might have. Some people don't have computers or pets or even food every day. Who knew food could be so important until you don't have it anymore? Usually we don't think about that kind of stuff, but it's very important to do so.

If you want to be Happy, then Be: I cannot stress this enough. I don't mean to be hypocritical given the current situation I am trying to escape, but I want to encourage that if your not happy and you don't know why then try your best just to be happy.

Somedays you just need to knock off the responsibilities and the stress and not have a care in the world. Play around and pretend and have fun for goodness sake! We can't be boring people all the time. Even for those carrying two jobs under their belt or caring for little ones at home need to have a break time every now and then.

You can do all sorts of things to be happy. Being happy is much more fun than being depressed or angry, believe me, I know.

And overall, you deserve to be happy. Everyone deserves to be happy. Whoever they are, whether they're mass murderers or some sort of bad guy; whether they're a teacher or a homeless person, everyone should have the right to be happy.

Life isn't worth living otherwise, but you cannot give up. Like I said in the above paragraphs, if you're not happy, then change that. You have that power and you can strive to become a better person with a simple change of your perspective.

Easier said than done, I know, but as long as you try, anything can be possible.

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[Lenz]

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More Music For The Soul

Sometimes we just need to calm down and think about what we're going to do next before we actually do it. Many people in the world have this problem. Frankly, I believe that everyone in the world no matter who you are struggles with this problem. We act out before thinking it through at least a hundred times whether we like it or not.

Music is very therapeutic and just feels good. Dancing lets you feel free and careless and it's a wonderful sensation. So how about we get up right now and dance?

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[Lenz]

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Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

The title for this post was obviously a Finding Nemo reference, but I have a more serious topic to discuss right now and it happens to revolve around pushing yourself to do what you want to do. And not giving up although you may face challenges and difficulties along your way.

Do you know how long it took Marlin to find his son? It never really mentioned it in the movie, but I'd say it was a long time, maybe several days or more. The one thing he had was determination.

Definition of determination (n)

de·ter·mi·na·tion
[ di tùrmi náysh'n ]

1. firmness of purpose: firmness of purpose, will, or intention
2. fixed purpose: a fixed purpose or resolution
3. act of discovering something: an act of finding out or ascertaining something, especially as a result of investigation or research

synonyms: strength of mind · willpower · resolve · purpose · fortitude · grit

This can often be confused with motivation, but within logic, the two can easily be compared and can often go hand in hand.

Definition of motivation (n)

mo·ti·va·tion
[ motə váysh'n ]

1. giving of reason to act: the act of giving somebody a reason or incentive to do something
2. enthusiasm: a feeling of enthusiasm, interest, or commitment that makes somebody want to do something, or something that causes such a feeling
3. reason: a reason for doing something or behaving in a particular way

synonyms: incentive · inspiration · drive · enthusiasm · impetus · stimulus · spur

Marlin wasn't a strong fish and that's why he needed to have a partner. We all need friends to help us through hard times. It just isn't healthy, nor is it really that safe to be alone in the world. You always need someone to look out for you when you can't look out for yourself.

Marlin kept searching for his son for long hours of the day and never once did he quit until the two were reunited again. He faced so many troubling situations that would have given him enough reason to stop his search, but he never did.

I think Finding Nemo was a very inspirational, not to mention wonderfully animated and plotted, movie for everyone of any age.

Now to put it into personalized text I will just have to ask a few questions. Have you ever been criticized beyond belief that it almost made you cry? Have you ever been looked down upon like you were worthless and insignificant to others? Have you ever been faced with a tough decision and felt like backing out of the entire ordeal was the best way? Have you ever quit something because it became too hard?

Yes, well I have a different answer for you. No. You should never do this. Given that some things are different for others and everyone has a different tolerance to different things. Everyone handles things differently. Some people shut down when facing problems and other push on through as if they can rule the world. That's all okay; it's all normal. We're all human here.

But I want to urge that you need to come out of your bubble of safety and try new things, experiment with your life and 'push your boundaries' as that picture mentioned above. It's important to discover who you are and not try to be someone you aren't by following what the next guy in line is doing because it's 'safe'.

I guarantee you'll get yelled at and you'll cry and you might feel like what you're doing isn't worth all of that, but in the end it always is. It's just a matter of making it there that counts.

Keep on trying!

-Lenz

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[Lenz]

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...Continued

I'll just leave a few more inspirational pictures relevant to the post I made above. These are just more encouraging things to look at.

Be courageous because...

It's important to also understand that for many people their mistakes often haunt them. They fear to do the same thing they did in the past and meet the same fate as they did when they were younger.

Many people are afraid of that and that is often why not many people keep trying. I for one have had a severe fear of rejection for most of my life continuing on until now. It's best to try to clear your mind during times like this and focus on the task at hand. Eventually you will overcome all of your fears and become braver.

This is also easier said than done and that is why it is essential to have moral support when you go ahead and do what you want to do.

And now last but not least...

This pretty much sums up the entire explanation I just made up above. I hope I helped each and everyone of you having doubts.

I love you all,
-Lenz

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[Lenz]

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Calm Your Worries

After surviving through reading that terribly written and potentially rant-like of a post above, I think it's time to just relax and take a few minutes to listen to this particular song. I love the name too.

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[Lenz]

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It's Art Time!

Get out your glasses and put on your thinking caps because right now we are all going to take a creative and imagination adventure into the art of... well... art!

Water Colour and Glue Portraits

This specific art class will revolve around using water colours and glue. Seriously, that's pretty much all the utensils you need besides having a paintbrush at your side.

Before we begin I would like to mention a few things:

1. I am a terrible teacher and I explain things rather horribly
2. I do not have the directions to do this artistic exercise, so honestly I am just going off of what I see from the picture above
3. I have never actually tried this before, so bear with me as I continue

To begin I would like to list the essential equipment we will need. This is going to be so fun I assure you!

Items Needed:

1. Paintbrush
2. Water colour palate with water colours in it
3. Glue (the kind that drizzles over the paper instead of the stick kind if you know what I mean)
4. Salt (optional)
5. Paper (or a professional portrait thing)

Procedure:

1. First, you will begin by randomly painting all over your piece of paper. Make sure you make it look messy with all the colours running into each other (only you prefer a neat and precise look). Use your unique abilities to conjure up some of the art that's hiding deep down inside of you. Come on!
2. Now what you're going to do is immediately squirt out some glue from your glue bottle. Put the glue everywhere but don't spread it around with the paintbrush (unless you wish for a different, alternative effect)
3. For those wishing to use salt as well Sprinkle some salt all over your picture or in certain areas on your paper. You should immediately see a discolouration process due to the chemical compounds of the salt reacting to the colours of the paint
4. I think you're about done, so you should just let it dry

Okay, so please tell me if you did this and how it turned out! Again, I haven't done this before and I didn't have the directions. I just found the picture and felt that it was easily self explanatory. I guess I might be wrong!

I hope you have fun making this!

-Lenz

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