Serving the Dishes

Er..."Serving with the Dishes"?? Never mind :P

I was in the kitchen making dinner (it wasn't involuntary at all, I am sad to say; I do so little for my mother =/) tonight, and I started to wash a few dishes - house rule: you make food, you wash your dishes. And I was like, "Hey, I could do a few extra for Mom."

And I had a sudden thought. What was keeping me from doing all of the dishes? I mean, really. Why would I stop with just three or four? Sure, I had other things to do (important things like BLOGGING and writing and reading poetry and putting together outfits), but I will always have things to do. This, this need to be doing things isn't just going to stop at some point and I'll magically be able to serve others.

My life is about serving God. Serving Him with my life doesn't mean simply praying, reading my Bible, getting alone time with Him (although it is those things, too); it's about doing the work He made me for. Glorifying Him through every action.

I washed dishes. It was a simple task, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how often I blow these things way out of proportion. Serving others is only disgusting to us because it means putting someone else first, and we don't like that. Not one bit.

But it takes very little effort to go out of your way and do something a little extra. It's not like you have to do the dishes every day for the rest of your life! Just remember that even if no one notices, God does. And He's the one you're doing it for anyway :)

<3 Elizabeth-Marie {Em} <3

Delayed Reaction - yeah, yeah

The first week for the Word of the Week contest and I have utterly and inexcusably failed you. No, really, I have excuses (naturally), but none of them are any good, and it all boils down to "busyness" and priorities.

And while we're on the subject of priorities, let me just say that posting the definition of an awesome word on my awesome blog on a Monday night when I'm exhausted and I have a million things to do and when I know that there is very little likelihood of anyone ever reading the post about the *awesome* (did I mention the awesome part?) word, well, it isn't exactly on my Top Ten list. Sorry.

So I'm here on a Tuesday night, ready to post about the WORD OF THE WEEK! Gosh, is it only Tuesday?? I was sure that I was eating up the week much faster than that and it was starting to worry me. *Whew* But then again...it's almost Wednesday...ah!!!

Okay. I DO have a word. It's coming. I need a drumroll. Or something. Come on, you guys, kick me a fat beat, will ya'? (If you want to know what a fat beat is, exactly, I don't know. Maybe that should be on the future list of things to blog about: phrases that make no sense.)

And the WORD OF THE WEEK is...

~ Apathy ~

Definition: absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.

Great word, huh? You can go here to read the other definitions of this word, and if you click the "Thesaurus" tab at the top, you can get all kinds of cool synonyms and antonyms for the word :D

The timer is starting (a day late...)! Better get to work using that word!

Now that everyone has scattered to do my bidding - which would be fun to watch and even more fun to savor as a moment of control - I can breathe again and just relax. Sleep sounds good right about now. So does reading a good book or eating some amazing snack.

What does NOT sound good is that pile of laundry waiting to be folded, the horrible alarm clock crouching on the shelf, my room that is in need of decluttering, the list of things to do that needs to be written down...somewhere...and the shower that's calling my name.

Actually, that last one sounds quite tempting.

NEW EMAIL ADDRESS!!!!

Elizabeth.Marie.Inked@gmail.com

Email me :) I don't like empty inboxes! :(

did you get that correctly? Elizabeth dot Marie dot Inked at gmail dot com.

Purtyyyy simple.

Word of the Week

So what do ya'll think about me putting one word up here, at the beginning of the week? Like a vocabulary word. One that I am going to try to use in:

a) normal everyday conversations
b) novels/poems/whatever I'm currently writing
c) this blog :)

Now, since that's cool but not exciting, let's make it into a game. [I love games! :D] Let's see who can use it in the best ways, as much as possible, and actually memorize it's meaning so that you will have it stored away in your memory for later usage!! I'll try to start out with ones that don't sound overly antiquated or long for everyday use, but I might slip some tough ones in there...

Rules

Rules! Let's see. You can't use it in a cheesy way. You can't tell anyone that it's your vocab word for the week (shh only bloggers must know! it's like...a secret. A secret-secret.). And you have to use it more than once during the whole week (in an intelligent way, please).

I'll post a word on Monday. Everyone who wants to join in the challenge can do so! Just post a comment here letting me know how you did and what you did and if anything ^strange^ happened to you because of it ;). Which reminds me; I really need to get an email set up just for fellow bloggers. It'd be so much easier if you could just email me your stories/thoughts or anything at all that pertained to my blog and the stuff I talk about...I'll be doing that today, hopefully! *fingers crossed*

Winners!

The winner of the "Word of the Week Contest," which will (Lord-willing) occur 52 times a year (but not that many times this year, since I picked a very inopportune moment to start this whole thing, which is so very unlike me; I ALWAYS wait for the opportune moment - usually :P), will be notified every Saturday.

Notified, as in, I'll post it on this blog. *Unless*... UNLESS I get someone's email address - someone who is excited about this (or maybe just interested, since no one seems to match my excitement in this area of life *sigh* maybe I'm just the odd ball out?) - and then I will also email that person as the WINNER! :D

Prizes

Some of you may just have skipped right to this part of the post. Heck, I would've! Prizes are the most important part of any contest! Well, actually, the most important part is the participants. But, since I don't have any (yet), I'll have to settle on prizes for Number One on the Important List (haven't you ever wanted an Important List? A list with everything that's Important - with a capital "I" - on it? No? Oh. Guess I really am an odd ball).

What should the prize be? An entire blog post dedicated to the winner?

Nah.

Chocolate?

Very tempting...considering that I will win most of the contests since no one is going to enter because no one is READING this silly thing!!! But if I'm the winner and also the contest manager, I would have to buy chocolate for myself.

Doesn't sound so bad :P

But I can't deplete my life-savings by buying chocolate once a week. Not only would I not have a car (or any of the other necessities in life) I'd most likely gain my freshmen fifteen before I even became a college freshman!

I would NOT be a happy camper -_-

So unless I get more than 5 contestants to be a part of this weekly contest, THERE WILL BE NO PRIZES.

This means that if you want to be rewarded for your efforts, you'd better bring your friends on board! Yell across your neighborhood in a xylophone (er...some time of phone. I don't think that that's the right kind, though...)! Post it on your blog! Join the fun!!

Or...if this is just boring...click the "boring" button at the end of this post (each of my posts has one of these, but no one's been clicking on them, so I've felt great for a while). And then I'll know :)

Toodles!

Au revoir!

iRegret

Today I was filled with regret. Regret for all the stupid things I've done recently, all the mistakes I've made, all the people I've hurt and frustrated, all the moments of my life that I've wasted. And I was so ready to just quit this stupid cycle of messing up and asking for God's forgiveness and then going right back to where I was and messing up again!

I just can't take that anymore. It's depressing. And today, I just wanted to be depressed. Leave me alone and let me be lonely and forlorn and depressed. Not a good attitude, but that's how it was.

But I just realized how utterly ridiculous that frame of mind is. How being in a depressed mood may seem fine while you're there - and you certainly don't want to be happy - but it really just makes everything else worse. It seems like you're stopping the sick cycle, but you're not. You're just wasting more and more time in your pity party.

I wasted half of today in that aspect. And I might die tomorrow (no, I don't have a fatal wound or disease or anything like that). I don't know how much time I've got.

Ending the Cycle

The only way to stop the cycle is to live. Okay, major duh! But I mean to change the way you're living. I don't really know how to do things differently (and it's making me depressed again! argh), but God is still there. He's trying to show me, trying to push through the walls I keep making. The truth is probably right in front of my face - that's how it usually goes. And I don't know when I'll be able to see it.

But that doesn't stop me from trying.

I am depressed mostly because I feel like a failure. And, in light of what I've been doing - or, more accurately, have been unable to do - I really am a failure. I regret all of this. I regret being who I am now. I hate looking at my reflection and seeing what I am inside. So if I regret my mistakes...and wasted time...sitting around being depressed is just going to be yet another mistake. It's just going to waste more of my life.

Time is ticking. The clock never stops. Heart's beating, carrying life through my veins. And I can't stop the noise all of this is making in my head.

Un-Depressing?

You can't just stop being depressed. I know. It doesn't happen that easy. Especially if you actually want to be depressed (...guilty as charged...).

It starts when you surrender it to God.

Ouch. I'm so not giving in THAT easy! Really, I have to give Him everything? Even my emotions?! That's crazy. They're mine.

It's not about faking the emotion, the effort, that attitude. It's not about suddenly being "happy" when you're really not. It has to start with your heart, and it has to be God's work in you.

It doesn't let you off the hook, though. It's still your life. And all you have is this second right now. It's your choice to make. You decide.

Every second is a second chance...

<3 Elizabeth-Marie {Em} <3

Reading

Switching from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy to a modern teen novel is...well...not good for the brain. It [meaning my brain] doesn't know what to do. The first chapters of the teen read were making me feel almost dumb and I LOVE, absolutely love, modern teen novels with all their randomness and sarcasm (and in some cases incredibly deep stuff which I also love)! So please, spare yourself the headache and don't switch back and forth between classics and modern stuff.

I still have yet to sink my teeth into Moby Dick and Dorian Gray! But I got sidetracked but Paranormalcy. Don't get mad at me; I simply can't help it. Now all I need is some dark chocolate...

Food is starting to become more than just a staple for me. Like, instead of eating to live, sometimes I start living to eat (not completely...I'm not obese or gross or anything :P). Stupid, right? But food is just so amazing. Of course, most of the things that make it amazing (like butter, grease, sugar, chocolate, SUGAR, etc.) are horrible for your body. Why, WHY must it be this way?!

Oh well. Enough of lamentations over food. Get over it, Em.

<3 Elizabeth-Marie {Em} <3
ps: I keep forgetting my signature. Only, it's not a signature if you don't use it all the time, right??

Happy Endings and Time

The blog is staying as is unless I get some feedback. For those of you who dislike my blog, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT and tell me! :) Otherwise...suffer the consequences :P lol

I watched a movie called Extreme Days tonight, for about the fifth time. It's a Christian movie about four guys who go on a road trip along the west coast, and they snowboard, skateboard, and surf on the way!! :D It's amazing. And so I don't sound completely corny, there IS a girl in the movie heh heh. But it's just so full of fun and goofy-ness, and, in my mind, it is a classic. When all other copies of it are destroyed (it's bound to happen at the rate we are increasing in technology and all that, right?), I will still have mine. Not sure if I can promise about sharing it though. Only if you're the kind of person who will laugh at it all.

Dear oh dear, where does the time go? Does it disappear into space, never to return?

Well, that sentence was just going to be for show, or something, but it definitely wasn't supposed to be *literal*...and now I'm thinking about it literally, and wondering, where does time go?

Does it go into space? Does it just...die?!

Okay, halt. Doesn't the Bible say somewhere that "time is in God's hands"? Either way, it's probably not something I should try to wrap my medium-sized (I couldn't say "little") brain around. Or at least not around midnight.

Although...I like thinking at midnight :)

Speaking of thinking. Before I go (yes, I'm getting ready to sign off, so you don't have much more to read ;) lol), I want to say this: we always get annoyed with the happily-ever-afters and perfect endings and the guy ending up, inevitably, with the girl. But if we get hit with an ending that is NOT perfect, we call that story "depressing" or "unsatisfying." Am I right?

So where do you stand with happy endings??

Blogging Image

I just read Natalie Whipple's post on improving one's blog, and mine pretty much fits into most of the "no-no" categories XD

Long paragraphs (does that bother anyone? I know I tend to ramble...actually, that's what I'm doing right now), dark background, text in the middle of the page, etc. But, really, dark backgrounds make reading difficult?? They're so much more dramatic and emotional than light backgrounds, though! Should I switch the skin of my blog? Really, tell me. I've got to hear this.

The text in the middle of the page doesn't bother me...but then, I may be biased ;) Actually, now that I look at it with a critical eye - going against my very nature as an artist! - I see that my blog looks a bit overcrowded. But I finally got it settled in a way that was satisfactory to me! ah!

Or so I though -_-

Gory Sacrifices??

I'm reading through the Old Testament right now and I just finished Exodus and am currently in Leviticus, the book that happens to be filled with all the specific instructions describing the way to present multiple burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, etc. to God. And it can be quite wearying for the reader. I mean, it repeats itself so many times.

I started getting sick of hearing about "burning the entrails" (not a very nice mental picture...) and "sprinkle its blood all around on the altar." I can see people reading that and going, "If God is some bloodthirsty dictator that needs constant sacrifices to be appeased, then why would I want to 'serve' Him?"

But then I started thinking about the possible reasons that God would have the children of Israel do that. First of all, God is holy. Completely unblemished and set apart from us. He can't be near sin. So, for us to be able to be in communion with Him, so to speak, we have to be made holy. The sacrifices of lambs and doves and bulls (and everything else that was killed in the Old Testament :P) was a temporary form of atonement for their sins, and it allowed them to come before God with a priest - the person who oversaw all the offerings and acted as a interceder between God and the people - to be their holy mediator. This requirement of blood to make us holy has been forever satisfied by Christ's death on the cross! This is why burnt offerings are no longer required from us (praise the Lord for that).

Also, think about how much people would have hated bringing an offering before the Lord every single time that they sinned. I don't know about you, but I sin an awful lot. Imagine having to kill a ram every time you lied. Maybe it wasn't quite that extreme, but even so, it would make the whole process very distasteful, and I think that we would be less apt to sin outwardly. We'd think more about what we were doing.

These thoughts all led me to the conclusion that God didn't make up these rules just to make us suffer. He made them so that serving Him and doing His will wouldn't just be a flippant thing. During the time of the Old Testament, a person's riches were shown by their herds and flocks - their livestock. If you were continually killing your livestock because of what you were doing, I don't think that you would be very flippant with coming before God. It was all about reverence, realizing that you couldn't just come before God whenever you wanted to, that He wasn't just some friendly deity who could be appeased or whatever and you could get what you wanted from Him.

I really think that we Christians today are not reverent enough towards God. We focus on what He can and does do for us, instead of how we can honor and glorify Him! It's awesome when we can see His hand in our lives. Indeed. But our lives - yes, even our lives - are not about us. They are about Him. Our purpose and life-goal is to glorify God! When we pray, how does it begin? "Dear Lord, thank you for this beautiful day you have given me, please help my friend to get well, show me how to love my brother, amen"? Where, in all of that babble about us (and I'm not saying that I don't do the same thing; I do) is there a speck of desire to glorify Him with our whole lives?!

If this is what you want, if this is what you need - and you do need it, because I am convinced that this is what we all need - then I suggest digging into the Word and discovering for yourself how you can best glorify and seek Him with ALL OF YOUR HEART, SOUL, MIND, AND STRENGTH. Reading Jon Piper's "Don't Waste Your Life" is also very, very helpful and thought-provoking, and contains multiple references to the Bible.

We are living sacrifices to God; we are on this earth to glorify Him, and we know that He will do what is necessary to bring Himself that glory from the whole earth, in the end. So we can trust that He will use us if we wait upon Him. I offer myself up to Him, "a sweet aroma to the Lord" and I am content knowing that this is the real me: when I come before Him on bended knee, and serve Him as my one all-consuming passion.

Lifting Up One Another

Fever Fever rocked the house (er, church) last night!! :D woot! I got two free t-shirts, bought a cd from a young band called The Divide (they have some great guitar stuff in their songs). I go crazy at concerts. A little wild and overboard, maybe, but it makes everything so much fun. How can you stand in the crowd at a rock concert and not be moving to the beat?

Let's just say that music can transport me to other places. Sometimes it's the future, most of the time it's the past, it can make me happy, sad, contemplative, crazy, and a plethora of other emotions.

But Vince, the bass player for Fever Fever, took a couple minutes towards the end of the concert to talk about their mission to the world, and their band, and God. One thing he said really caught my attention. He was talking about bad days - who doesn't have them? - and how we always want God to save us. We want Him to come in and physically make us happy or change our day from bad to amazing. "There are several reasons He doesn't always do this," said Vince. "He could come in and save the day every time, if He wanted to. But I think one of the reasons He doesn't, is because He wants us to look out for one another and help each other. Jesus said that we will do greater things than Him [I found that this passage is in John 14:12]. Now, did He say that because we're more powerful than He is? No. I mean, He's God!"

He went on to say that God wants to use us - that He delights in using us in others' lives, for His glory. We are the lights of the world, the Body of Christ, and we need to be reaching out to others! I think as Christians, we sometimes get caught up in our own spiritual lives and problems, and we forget that this life is being lived by millions of others who all have pains and fears and troubles. What are we doing to encourage others in the faith? What are we doing to ease the pain for others? "Two are better than one..." the Bible says, because one can help the other.

This fight for life isn't meant to be fought alone. Every battle is fought with God in our hearts, but think how much stronger we could be when we stand together! There are so many little things, simple things, that we could do today and all days to ease our brothers and sisters burdens. When your burdens grow heavy, don't you turn gratefully to that friend who always seems to be able to lift you back up? Return the favor.

Love one another, as Christ also loves us.

<3 Elizabeth-Marie {Em} <3

9/11 Remembrance

Hey, I really did forget that today is the anniversary of 9/11...but my last post, from today, reflects that. I mean, I didn't lose anyone during 9/11, but I could have, and I could lose someone even today.

So I am thankful. So, so thankful for what I have. And even if it is all taken from me today, I will still have God <3

Saturday Morning :)

Anything is possible when the hip-hop music is blaring and you're cleaning up the kitchen on a Saturday morning :) Especially if you just had an amazingly relaxed morning with homemade brunch and a movie...

Sorry, I don't mean to brag, but...I HAVE ONE OF THE BEST FAMILIES EVER!!! :D My mom is great about making us cool snacks, and I love it when my big brothers come home on the weekends - it's like party in the house, woot!

But yeah, I'm just really thankful to God for all my amazing friends and family right now, and I know I take them all for granted way too often. I take my life for granted. And I take God for granted.

So here's to realizing what you have, instead of worrying about what you don't, and being THANKFUL and in AWE of God today :) I want Him to be my all-consuming passion <3

Breath of God

Oh no. I almost typed "I hate" again. I was about to start complaining about how stupid and boring and...yeah, anyway, about how I feel right now. NO SATAN, THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! lol. I can't get away from myself lately -_-

Instead, how about I share something we read in family devotions last night?? My Dad had us read Job 37 (he loves Job), and this one verse just really hit me. Verse 10: "By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen." I immediately pictured breath, holy breath from God's mouth, floating over the earth and everything it touched turning to ice.

It was just so beautiful in my mind! And I was filled with awe for God, who works wonders in our lives, and in our world, and most of the time, we just don't notice. We don't care. We can't focus on Him right now because we're too busy - or whatever.

But He is THE ULTIMATE. Do you realize that? Do you believe that? There's nothing better or greater or stronger or holier than He is. Nothing will satisfy you like He can. And nothing could ever take his place.

So no more stupid whining or pining away for things that won't actually bring me happiness. Without Him, everything is lost; and what I lose to gain Him, is as nothing in light of who He is.

<3 Elizabeth-Marie {Em} <3

Loser

Don't you just hate it when you wake up on the right side of the bed (as opposed to the wrong side :P) and the day is great and you go off and fight and work and accomplish...and at the end of the day, you feel like a complete failure?

I hate feeling like a loser. But it seems to be happening more and more lately. That's why it's so AWESOME when I remember this: I am more than the choices I make, more than the mistakes I've made, more than the grades I get in school, more than the muscles I build (or don't build...) - I am so much more.

Not because I'm not a loser. No, I really am a loser. There's no getting past that one.

But I am so much more because God has made me! He defines who I am!!! And I don't need a second verdict from anyone else. I don't have to be "successful" or "beautiful" or "perfect."

I just have to have faith.

Faith in who He is.

Faith that He has a plan for me. Honestly, He knows everything; there is no way that I can mess up the plan He has for me. And even when I suck at whatever I'm doing, I can always come back to His arms of grace.

This is not an excuse for laziness. This doesn't mean that I should quit trying. On the contrary, it should inspire me to do more, since...

...If I fall, He'll pick me up. And nothing will happen if I fall. Losing face? Looking dumb? Who cares! His opinion is all that matters.

...If I fall, I get to try again.

...If I fall (and believe me, I'm going to), I'll just get closer to Him, and I'll become more and more refined and more and more ALIVE in Him.

...And if I fall...it will probably hurt. I'm not going to like it. But really, what do I have to lose???

"If He is for me, who can be against me?"

Even losers can win. But that doesn't always make them winners ;)

<3 Elizabeth-Marie {Em} <3

Autumn Breeze

Well, by the time I actually get online, all of my inspirational thoughts seem to have scattered in the wind. I'm very sorry.

Speaking of wind...I am loving all the breezy-ness these past few days! So refreshing and reviving. It's like something pure is blowing against me, washing everything away, and leaving me with a reminder of everything that is past and that is to be.

I love it.

What's one thing that you really enjoy about the outdoors? Something that men can't make - they can only replicate. It can be anything. Even an animal :) [And if we're talking about animals, I really love tigers. Just so you know.]

Autumn breeze
Blowing through this house
Signaling death
Elusive as a mouse
Painful and dull

Everything's dying
But someday, it will be
Made new

[random poetry...or non-poetry. whatever you'd like to call it...]

Fears and Fun :D

Happy Labor Day Weekend everybody! (Thought I'd put this at the front, since by the time I get to the end of my post, I may forget to say it. And I really wanted to say it. So I did.)

Sorry to say (actually, I'm not THAT sorry to say it :P) that I have been far too busy with my social schedule to bother with my writing. But, one needs a break from writing every now and again, right??

So after going to my grandparents house on Thursday and Friday (my grandma gave me this really unique necklace that she got from Finland!), I went to a park and played sports with my friends. Sports are so wonderful :). After exhausting ourselves (I try to group us all together, but I think I'm probably more of a wimp than most of them), we bought some half-gallons of ice cream (woot!) and ate it at a friend's house, had a bonfire, and played Capture-The-Flag in the dark.

I sustained several injuries. Words of wisdom: don't try to attack the ground when you're playing soccer - it can leave scars. And hitting the volleyball without aiming can have disastrous results. Despite the enjoyment of playing soccer in bare feet, I wish that some people (won't mention any names *cough*) weren't wearing cleats...but I'll let the bruise on my foot tell the story. Later.

My friend spent the night and we watched Bourne Ultimatum (I think I went to bed around 2:30am).

Today, I went shopping and bought some comfy, plaid (plaid! love the plaid!) flannel shirts. I love autumn, and wearing autumn clothing. We ate at Arby's, and, wonder of wonders, I really like that place! Their curly fries leave an impression (a good one, of course). To think that I didn't eat at Arby's till I was eighteen years old...

That's gotta be worth a page in the history books ;)

I smell like guy cologne (is all cologne for guys? I have no idea) from Hollister (oh yeahhh baby) and it's making me happy :) I'm thinking about buying some. For myself :P [Can you honestly say that you've never wanted to buy guy clothing/cologne before? If you can, I am shocked. Shocked. Only girls can answer that lol.]

Riding home from my grandparents house (yes, I'm backtracking here - amazing how words allow you to go backwards or forwards in time), the rain was falling on my windows, and I was listening to The Fray (perfect rainy-day music). And I suddenly realized what my two biggest fears are.

1. That I will waste my life.
2. That someone I know, one of my friends or relatives, will waste their lives, will die without knowing Christ, and will be forever lost to me. (And I will know that it's my fault, because I didn't do enough. It's true. I'm a horrible friend =/)

The only thing that all of these random thoughts/actions have in common is that they occurred this weekend. And I felt like telling you :) Clearing my thoughts, sharing my little joys and trials. It feels good, sometimes.

I'm pretty darn happy with my weekend (and it's not even over yet!). Hope you are, too.

<3 Elizabeth-Marie {Em} <3

September, I greet thee :)

September! It's here! The first day of a new month!

The season's changing, yet again - woke up this morning, the sun was just rising, and there was fog still floating just above the ground. Fresh, crisp. The autumnal splendor is coming!

Yesterday, I read Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, in its entirety! 'Twas a good book. It had a sort of twist on Beauty and the Beast (which is my all-time favorite fairy tale, btw), although don't go thinking that it was a remake. It most definitely wasn't. The ending was extremely satisfactory :). I couldn't put it down (though that might have more to do with the fact that I haven't read a just-for-fun YA novel in a couple months and less to do with the story's suspense...)! Also, I kind of snuck in some reading during school hours...

Yes, I'm horrible.

But I got to check it off my reading list! I wish I could buy it, though; I had to settle for borrowing it from the library =/ The library is one of my best friends, though - I hope we never lose it!

I am currently writing two novels and a short story (at least, I hope it's a short story - it may decide to morph into something altogether different though :P). It helps me to have more than one story going at the same time, so when I get bored and/or stuck, I can just switch my creativity into a different outlet, without feeling as if I wasted it :)