Get Out, and Smell the Roses

Get Out, and Smell the Roses

It’s no secret that Santa Barbara is very pectoris---Whether you are taking in the breathtaking views of the ocean and letting your worries disappear, or cruising up the mountains into the Rivera looking down at the city from a bird’s eye view.

One of the places I find particularly beautiful is the Santa Barbara Mission.  I find it beautiful for a few reasons, but we’ll get into that a little later. Anyway, this week I took a walk to the mission to get some inspiration for one, this blog post, and second, just life in general. (We can never stop seeking inspiration!) Am I right? One of the reasons I find the Mission beautiful and inspiring is it’s landscaping which consists of hundreds of rose bushes in every color you can imagine. You can sniff away for hours!

As I briefly mentioned in the first blog post, I enjoy all kinds of flowers.

On my way to the army of rose bushes at the Santa Barbara Mission, I got inspired along the way to take pictures of the flower gems spring has provided. Despite this horrible drought California is in, the flowers are BLOOMIN’.

Here’s the first flower I ran into on my walk. I named him, “Bad Kisser.” Yes, I named the flowers.

These also caught my attention. Thorns generally have a negative connotation and correlate with pain. To me the pink thorns represented the beauty in past hurdles, which deserve recognition.  

On a lighter note, I named this tree, “Purple Rain.” I feel the name explains it’s self. I continued my walk to the Santa Barbara Mission…

Here is another bunch of dainty ladies I found. I named this squad, “Sex in the City.”

I finally made it to my destination and I got the inspiration I was looking for.

I even got to kick off my sandals and put my toes in the grass. It was a good walk with a little taste of Santa Barbara's gems.

Intro

My first initial thought to our first blog blurb requiring an introduction about ourselves, was why the first blog couldn't be an easy one.  I say this for a few reasons. 

 In order to introduce yourself, you must know somewhat who are you as a person.  Well in my opinion I am made up of many different, “genres” which make me, me and some genres are just too hard to type out.Another reason I feel it is hard to write about myself, is the fact that is does requires reflection on yourself and that at times can be uncomfortable.  

After reflecting a bit, I also came up with another realization. My realization is this. In society we are forced to identify ourselves with certain groups, status quo, titles, job occupation, age, athletic or not, a ‘techy’, education status, ect.  Although I do identify with some of the things on above list such as I am a college student working towards my Liberal Arts Degree, specializing in Communication Studies and Media. I have a huge interest in the marketing world and advertising aspect. I have experience in promotional work and even some entry level sales type work. I played sports for thirteen years of my life, and sports continue to be a passion of mine.

Not that the above description isn’t correct about me, because it is.  Yet, it is missing many of my genres that make me, me. So I went back and did some more reflecting about myself.  This is what I came up with.

Hello, my name is Hannah, I like pretty things, especially flowers. When I walk by a garden or patch of roses I can’t help but stop and take a long whiff.  I am observant to my surroundings and I like to study people interacting with one another. I find it fascinating! The sound of the ocean makes my soul feel alive and if I am away from it too long, I can’t help but feel trapped. I also love collecting seashells and making things. I have loved and I have lost, I have felt complete bliss and complete despair to my own standards; but all make up the genres of Hannah and I wouldn’t change it for a minute.