It's called karma.

First of all, I vote Yes on Proposition "Keep BYU Forums Alive." Today we heard from Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe, which I highly recommend. His remarks were subtitled "Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality." Yeah, I pretty much quivered with happiness. He makes string theory and the space-time continuum so approachable for a science nerd like me who has time to only skim the surface of the research in this area. That being said, though, I'm not sure you need to read The Elegant Universe in order to get something that isn't already pre-existent in one of my favorite books of all time, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time (it's infinitely more compelling and easier to read than it sounds). I reread this book over the weekend to get myself ready for Dr. Greene's address, and was surprised to find that his speech could have been lifted directly from the first few chapters of Time. But he was entertaining nonetheless. And he did explain string theory better than I've ever heard it explained--visuals an everything. So kudos to him and I hope he continues his research in that area and relays it to the rest of us.

Secondly, a disclaimer. The recursiveness of eastern philosophy has had my mind cycling over matters of karma, and how you know when you've finally done enough good to merit some of it coming back to you. That seems to negate the point of such a teaching, but naysayers, silencio. I've made a rather new goal of doing as much as I can for other people. This isn't hard for people I love, obviously, but when it comes to people who have not demonstrated all that is good in humanity towards me, I have a hard time being nice. So my experiment commenced, and has rapidly turned into a new way of thinking. I can't help loving everyone now, and wanting the best for them. I don't think I would go to the extreme of saying that my life is for others to use, but I wouldn't mind being known as someone who goes out of her way to help someone else.

That being said, something miraculous (in my life, anyway) happened today, and I like to think that it stems from trying to imbibe more positive energy from the universe in order to help other people with it. Call it karma, whatever, but it's fantastic. I've been under extreme stress lately, it being the end of the semester and all, and I was really at a loss as to when and how everything would get done. I've been experiencing the beginnings of panic attacks, not been sleeping, the whole nine yards. Now for the miracle: My American Lit professor pushed back the deadline for my conference paper rough draft to next week, which will give me just enough time to finish the million other things that are due by week's end. Whew. It is a serious load off my shoulders this week, and I feel like I can write this paper the way I want to (with panache, of course) without being under so much pressure.

An addendum to this 12th-hour miracle is that my professor (for the same class as the conference paper) told me that he was the judge of this poetry contest I entered awhile ago, and that I've been awarded an Honorable Mention. I wasn't expecting anything to come of it, and entered just to see what would happen, and it's cool to even be recognized like that. He said the award is a national one, so that if/when I put it on my resume, employers back east will recognize it. I'll get the award at this English Awards Banquet I was already going to next week for my GPA/Senior status. Go poetry!

Other than that, I'm grateful to be home from class today and am going to take a good nap.