I don't know if you guys know this, but we speakers were given a piece of paper with a bunch of questions on it in case we can't think of anything to write about...I'm feeling a little tired today, so I'm gonna answer one of these questions: What is your favorite creative outlet and how does it help you cope with life?

I have a few favorite creative outlets -- watercolor, writing, and dance. Yes, one of them is definitely dancing. I love to dance. I am 25, and all through with community college, but every semester I enroll in at least one jazz, tap, ballet, or hip-hop class simply for the expressional outlet (and for the exercise!) at SCC. Dance is one of those activities that helps me connect with my body rather than work against it.

Having grown up with an eating disorder, I spent a lot of time "body checking" (that is, staring in the mirror, critiquing things impossible to change) and criticizing myself. Years ago, I spent a lot of time trying to "undo" things about my body, trying to "fix" it. Dancing is a sport that helps me embrace my body, love it as it is, work with it, and accept it. When I am standing in a large open space -- be it a grocery store, a living room, an open studio with a wooden floor -- and music begins to play, the only thing my body wants to do is sway and reach and turn and plie' and bend and leap with the counts. It's grand...it's really grand.

All of the sudden, my limbs aren't inadequate or fat or stubby, they are tools for expression and strength and love and success! All of the sudden, my torso isn't inadequate or imperfect or too round or too frumpy, it is just as it needs to be to move to the music at hand, twisting and supporting a choreographic masterpiece!

So, dancing, I suppose, is my favorite creative outlet. Because it is mine, it is unique, and no one can take it away

Rachel

Every now and then I get assignments here at the office, run here, copy this, take this here, etc. but I have an assignment now to start blogging for the ClearChoices website. At first I didn’t want to do it, I’m not that good at writing and being forced into writing something 2 pages long is not my idea of fun, but I’m able to write on some pretty cool stuff, and that makes this assignment a lot funner, or more fun, whichever!

I’ve decided to write my first blog on avoiding peer pressure in high school. Out of all the possible topics I could have written on, I feel the most comfortable with this one. Why? Because I can relate to you and I understand the daily pressures of high school: the kids, the trends, the parties, the lingo and girls! Believe me I know, I’ve been there. Peer pressure is so hard to fight off. It’s everywhere, in your classrooms, outside, in the cafeteria, in the gym, in school, out of school, everywhere! But its how you deal with it, and how you avoid it that makes high school, and life, easier. And it makes you a stronger and better person.

Before I can give you advice on how to avoid peer pressure and how to avoid situations where you may be pressured, I want to share with you a story of me and my experience with peer pressure.

The year was 2000. I was a freshman in high school and tiny and scared and nervous and out casted. I was friendly with some older kids who were into gothic stuff. They wore all black and painted their finger nails and listened to hardcore metal and screaming-mic music. I guess you could say that these kids were my friends. Well the first weekend of school rolled around and I got invited to go out with them. I said yes. I got picked up from my house around 8:30pm and was told by my mother to be safe and to be back at 11pm.

My older friends drove to a house party and as I got out of the car I felt uneasy and my spider senses were tingling but I ignored them anyway. We all went inside and there were people everywhere. I stuck close to the kids I knew and didn’t venture very far from them. As the night went on, my friends got more and more intoxicated and they tried to get me to drink, but I didn’t feel comfortable. They kept trying and I kept feeling uncomfortable, there was just this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong with this picture but I couldn’t figure it out. My friends got so intoxicated that none of them could take me home and I had to call my parents to get me. Well my folks were not too happy about me being at some party where there was drinking, but they were very happy that I decided to call them to come get me instead of my drunk friends driving me. And I was too.

At school the next day, I found out that the driver of the car I was in had gotten in a car accident and died! He decided to try and drive home and fell asleep at the wheel, hit the curb and crashed his car around the telephone pole. He died on impact. Had anyone else been in the car with him, they would have died too. It was scary to hear such horrible news but also eye-opening to see it. Had I chosen to let him take me home, I may not have woken up the next day.

I share with you this story because sometimes we are offered a drink, a joint, a pill, or something dangerous … we may look around see our friends having a good time and we want that too, we want to belong, we want to fit in and feel a part of the group. But sometimes it’s better to stand back and just watch. You never know what it will do to you, how it will affect your body or your mind, or what may happen after you take it. I’m sure my friends didn’t think that after he got in his car, it would be his last time doing so.

Sometimes we want to listen to our friends and do what they do, but it’s more important to listen to yourself and listen to the warning sensors your body rings for you. If you don’t feel comfortable with something, say it. If you don’t like being somewhere, leave. Don’t be influenced by your friends and their decisions. Stand up and say something and work to avoid being in situations where there will be drugs and alcohol in the first place. It’s easy to be influenced by others, and it’s hard to do the right thing…. but the good decisions you make could save your life… it did for me.

James

One day I was sitting in my room and thought how cool would it be if I could draw on my wall? I live with my parents and as cool as they are, I knew they probably wouldn’t like the idea of me taking a paintbrush and expressing myself on their property. But I kept wanting to do just that. And then I had a brilliant idea, what about a chalkboard? A chalkboard was the ideal outlet I was looking for; I could install it and when I was done with it I could uninstall it, I could draw what I wanted then when I wanted to erase it and start again I could. I started looking for chalkboard material at home improvement stores but couldn’t find any. No one sold the kind of big school room chalkboard that I was looking for and I was getting discouraged.

Then my friend told me about this paint, you could paint a surface and then be able to use chalk on it, just like a chalkboard. So I went down to Home Depot and bought the paint, picked up a 4’ x 6’ sheet of wood, and went home to start my creation. I painted the board with the black chalkboard paint, let it set overnight, and then put it up the following day. I bought colored chalk and started drawing. I loved my new chalkboard, because I had created it. But something was missing. I realized it needed a boarder, so I got out a silver Sharpie marker, put in a good movie for background noise, and started drawing on a boarder. It took many hours to complete my new wall accessory, and it was time well spent.

Now, instead of expressing myself on my body, I can express myself on my wall. I can look at the wall and see myself, see my thoughts and my creativity. Just the other night I erased what was on my board, got out the chalk, and ended with a beautiful expression of myself, again. I wrote “I am whole” and drew flowers and the sun. I can’t help myself from smiling, because I’m looking at my heart, and my imagination, and it’s healthy. I am healthy. I am whole. And I have a kick ass chalkboard hanging above my bed.

Carley