12 (or so) Days of Christmas: Homeless

Day 8:

My friends and I were talking outside one night. All of a sudden, this homeless man rises from where he lay and starts bee lining for all of us. Keep in mind, I'm mid-conversation and I do not feel like being disturbed. I am not afraid of the man who is quickly approaching, but his forthcoming presence is beginning to cause anxiety. In the blink of an eye, he was right behind us and had ambushed us with the classic "times are hard" line. My entire group naturally stopped everything and dispersed to our respective vehicles. On the way home, I was wondering why the homeless man seemed to possess such a power to break up a social group using only his presence. Maybe it was the setting-night time in front of a closing museum. Maybe his story wasn't convincing enough -coming over to beg for money while wearing some brand new Timberland boots and a semi clean polo. For some reason, not only did I not want to help him, but I also felt the need to get away from him as quickly as possible.

I want to emphasize that homeless people are people before anything. I also want to emphasize that giving is important. With that being said, its important to be able to differentiate between a con artist and someone actually in need.

Most International Viewers in a Week

This week Camy's Corner has had the most international viewers in its history. Besides the majority of my viewers from the United States,  this week I've had viewers from Russia, Germany,  Argentina, Japan, the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Poland, and Malaysia. Thank you for all the love and support. Please continue to read, like, and share my posts. I'm all about that international love 💞

12 (or so) Days of Christmas: Making New Friends

Day 7:

Due to my mildly socially awkward past and my brief middle school depression, I have transformed into a reasonably attractive confident person. If I have learned anything from my trials and tribulations, I have learned how to love myself and have (somewhat) mastered the art of making friends. So here's what happened:

    Friends + ice cream = 💕

I went to an ice cream shop on the beach with my mom and my best friend. I walked down the long isle of flavors contemplating what I was in the mood to eat. The guy working as the ice cream server said the magic words "Let me know when you ready to sample." At that very moment, I realized that this was going to be the best night ever. He asked me what I was mood for and I told him that I was not really sure, but I knew I wanted chocolate to be involved. The sweet ice cream server let me taste everything with chocolate. For this, I am forever indebted to him (LOL). With every sample he gave me, we bonded a little bit more. By the time I was ready to purchase, my new friend gave me two free cups of ice cream ( for mom and bestie), and a discount on my cup of ice cream. And then we took our first official selfie as friends.

Tips for making new friends

• Be yourself!
• There is no one better qualified.
• Confidence is attractive.
• A person that is comfortable in his or her own skin emits stable and positive energy. Those are also two key things to look for in any potential relationship. 
• Be friendly.
• Friendliness brings new friends. Enough said.
• Choose quality people
• It is very important to remember that the quantity of friends and the quality of friends is not the same thing. The quality of a person is really what matters.  I would much rather have one  or two really good friends, rather than 100 "new" friends. The best friendships occur when all parties involved are quality people.

12 (or so) Days of Christmas: Kind Strangers

Day 6:

I am a member of the Acts of Random Kindness Club (A.R.K) and as a devoted member, I am usually the one giving to others. Today was the first time that I happened to be on the receiving end of an act of random kindness.  So here's what happened:

I planned a surprise for my best friend who just so happens to work at IMAX. The surprise was bringing along some mutual friends that she hadn't seen in a while. She was extremely grateful for her surprise, but we had to wait until she got off of work to hang out. As a result, my friends and I went outside to chat in front of the box office. Suddenly, this man runs up to us and hands us two free tickets to tonight's sold out showing of Star Wars; just as quickly as he came, he ran away. We didn't even have the chance to say thank you. So one of my friends goes to stand in line with the tickets, and quickly calls me. He then tells me that another kind stranger gave him a free ticket to see tonight's sold out showing of Star Wars. To summarize the unbelievable events, just by going to surprise my best friend, my friends and I managed to get 3 free tickets to see a sold out showing of Star Wars.

Thank you so much to our unidentified random kindness activists. We really appreciated it.

12 (or so) Days of Christmas: Santa's Enchanted Forest

Day 5:

       I went to the famous Santa's Enchanted Forest. I had only been one time previously, when I was around 8 years-old,  and it was awesome. There were lights, trees, rides, and food everywhere. As a particularly chubby child, I was mainly interested in that last detail. Today, returning so many years later felt different. I would describe the experience as comparably subpar.
      In the Christmas spirit of fairness, I must consider that I returned with some pretty high expectations. I expected it to be just as fun, just as amazing, and just as clean as when I first entered. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The park itself is beautiful and full of fun activities, however, it is also a black hole for money. Everything (as far as food is concerned) costs at least $5. All the walking makes one very tired, hungry, and thirsty. Regarding essential beverages such as water, it costs about $3 a bottle. Also, due to the popularity of the park within the surrounding areas, the park is heavily populated. People are fun, but also very messy at times. By the end of the night, there were trash trails of absentminded people who left a tissue here or forgot a box of donuts there.
       The park felt less enchanting and more reality imposing. I left feeling exhausted and a little disappointed. Once again, the park was fun, but a little disappointing.

Look at all of those lights!!

12 （or so) Days of Christmas : Small Gifts

Day 4:

The other day I went to a vintage movie theater and I felt really appreciative to be able to take a step into the past. As a member the technologyy generation of iPhones, Androids and Nokias, there are very few things that don’t change. It’s almost like my generation doesn’t have anything timeless. It was nice to step back into what I assume was an 80’s theater and see the faded pink walls, popcorn ceilings, and the elaborate flower wallpaper. The experience itself was the gift. Regardless of how small it is in the scheme of life, that small gift probably made a huge impact on my life.

This vintage wallpaper<3

Instagram: @camy3799

12 (or so) days of Christmas: Surprise

Day 3:

I decided to go find the people of my past. First, I went back to my previous high school. I said hello to all my teachers and received so much love. While I was just wandering around, I ran into some of my best friends. Everybody seemed to do a double take anytime I would enter a space. Not because I'm so attractive, but because I'm a missed familiar face. Seeing the surprised look  on all of my friends faces was wonderful. I would say absence really does make the heart grow fonder. After my rounds of hellos, I went to my lunch with my friend. Then, my friend drove me to a local middle school where would visit my old middle school teacher. My teacher was happy to see me as well.

I think it's important to go back to my roots and check in. It was great to see the school improvement projects that I started in the past are currently very successful and improving every minute. Most importantly, it was amazing to renew my old (but never forgotten) relationships with my friends, classmates, and educators.