Our Brains are Pretty Awesome

I was thinking about them at one point this week.

I mean, I have countless songs completely memorized that I can sing.  All the names and faces of people I remember (faces more than names), addresses, phone numbers, passwords, controls for video games, routes to places, my acute ability to recall storylines and movie quotes perfectly, etc, etc, etc.

And that's not counting all the oter info it stores about our own bodies, and sends and recieves so many signals.

Plus it allows us to speak, move, dance, fall down (that one I could do without), sleep, dream, and remember so many things.

So just wanted to give a high five to our awesome squishy pink things stored up in our skulls.

Also read this some really great wisdome in there!

Happy Canada Day everyone!  Since I'll be at a lake with family swimming tomorrow. :P

Here's My Beef with School

It's come up in a lot of conversations lately and I felt like writing a post about it.  I've had some people try to tell me that I do in fact like it but no I really do not.  I also don't like the fact that people seem to think it's the only way to make a living.

But see there are a few things that bug me.

#1  Every body has a different learning style.
I remember my high school used to go on and on about how not everyone learns the same.  I remember thinking: duh.  BUT  they still taught everyone the same way.  Now granted there are resources (ie money) required to properly teach students in their own learning methods, and there are a few alternative schools but they are hard to get into (depending on the type).  What bothers me is the very much here's how we're gonna teach you and you just have to suck it up and deal with it.

I'm very much a hands on learner  which is why usually labs and projects were where I got my grades.  So long as they were interesting.

Another reason why school was so tough for me.  It was boring, I got bored very fast because either:  I wasn't interested in the subject, or I'd already figured it out and wanted to move on.  And a few subjects were genuinely hard for me.

#2 Get a diploma = get successful.

I'm sorry, but seriously?  Here's a thing not many people know about me:  I don't have a high school diploma.

Now, that's because of a really, really crappy technicality (ie a student counselor messing up my timetable, putting me in a class that I'd already taken, which, I learned when I was trying to send my transfers to college, to which I'd already been accepted, that oh by the way you never graduated cause you're missing a credit....  GOOD TIMES... learned that in AUGUST).  Anywho.

I also didn't actually earn my certificate to said college cause I got sick and almost died (maybe not literally but it sure as heck felt it at the time), and after experiencing the uhm.... severe lack of organization the program had, I had no strong inclination to waste more time and money in that place.

That being said.  I've got two really nice stables I'm working at in the field of work I love.  So what was that about needing a diploma/certificate to make it anywhere?

Now don't get me wrong I've nothing against it if it's what you actually enjoy and genuinely need for the carreer you actually really want, or just genuinely want to go to school cause you like it (are you from mars?)  But don't try to tell me that it's what you MUST DO TO SUCCEED.

Cause I also got a news flash for you.

Most people who get their diplomas struggle to find work within their field.

Also, most of the population is struggling with some form of debt (student loans), and are just coasting through those jobs with benefits people keep seeking after and are they actually happy?

Now, you know those super rich people who've started their own companies, changed the way institutions think?  Those outside the box thinkers?  Yeah, some do have education in the fancy smancy school sense, but a lot of them actually probably also are missing some papers.

And why are they successful?

Because they're not afraid to think outside the box, to find the creative solutions to life's problems and will probably gain a lot of wisdom from their lives.

Most importantly, they do what they love and didn't let people's words discourage them.

I remember once someone asked me what I was going to do with my certificate for Equine Management.

And I told him: "Be happy doing what I love."

Which, by the way, I am doing.  Or at least I'm on the right path to what I really want to do.

Oh and again, don't actually have a diploma to speak of :P  (Though the high school thing still ruffles my feathers when I think of it cause come on I earned that thing!  I hated high school and I finished it :P)


And here's the thing too people seriously need to remember.  Just because it's not formal school, doesn't mean someone doesn't have an education.

I'm pretty darn smart, and I lot of what I know specifically regarding horses, came from outside of school.  Heck I've learned a lot more on the job that in that program.  I also research topics of interest, and take a genuine interest in what's going on in the world and how it affects everything in it.

I also think school is bad for people's health.  I mean stress is bad for you and school gives you stress.  Plus with the crazy amount of homework and projects and the hours people put in, it's bad for your health, you get run down.

So get healthy and quit!

Nah I'm kidding, do what you want to do because it's what you want to do.  So long as it will actually provide for your needs, and for the needs of your family (if you have/want one to support).  I don't advocate being a bum for the rest of your life.

:)

The only time I hate owning a gray horse is when I'm trying to get said pretty much completely white horse spotless before a show.  Oy.  Her stains are extra stubborn this year (though it probably didn't help I had to speed bathe before a thunderstorm rolled in).  And it's always nice walking into the stable at 4am and seeing she slept in poo, on both sides and got new stains all over.

Pony I love you but at 4am when I have to do extra scrubbing, it's kind of hard to like you.

So I was kind of(really) embarrassed that my pony still had stains at the show, especially when the other greys looked spotless...  Seriously am I the only one with a horse that every single "trick" I've heard of to get them white doesn't work?  I'll figure it out yet!  I finally managed it by the end of our hunter season.  I had managed it in college, though the day before inspections she always got new stains.  I'm going to try bathing her every day the week before the next show.

She loaded like a pro, even after a year off from trailering, yay!  She was great in the warm up, minus a mini spook at a horse eating bush we'd already walked past twenty times.  A bit looky in the show ring, which made me looky and tense, but our first test went great!  Got a 60%!  (Which for non horsey people is a good thing!  Especially at a first time silver show!)

Unfortunately we got buzzed out of our second test cause she came up sore.  With the trailering, and me warming up probably a bit too long she got tired, the footing was deeper than she's used to.  So hopefully with some pampering she'll bounce right back and we'll figure out how to keep her strong through the next one!

That little snag before a show

Usually happens, probably due to nerves, but when I get ready for a show there's usually something that creeps up that gets me nervous.  I think I'm being even more nit picky this time around because dressage is about precision and consistency.

So our transitions are getting pretty darn great, circles are nice, connection is pretty consistent.... Now my pony loves stretching, loves it!  So I wasn't that concerned with stretching circles at the trot, until friday night.

Let's just say pony thought it would be fun to take the no contact as an opportunity to charge forward.

And when you're really tired from a long day and haven't eaten supper yet, one's patience is pretty much nil.

So I didn't exactly handle the situation in the optimal fashion, so me and the pony had an argument over it.  Several times.  There was some yelling, not pretty.

Once my brain restarted funcioning though, we did end up with some lovely stretchy trot circles and I finished off with letting her go around the whole ring like that.

So this Friday I'm gonna pick up subway on the way home and eat before riding.  My bad pony, my bad!

I'd also really appreciate if the software for viewing ride times would work on my laptop.