Violence in Vampire Diaries and The Originals

I am a Vampire Diaries Fan, so I thought I would try out watching The Originals, a spin off series. I would definitely say that Vampire Diaries is violent, but having not seen it for a while, especially not since we covered violence in our media class, I don't think I understood the depth of how violent it really was.

I just started to watch The Originals this week, which I would say is very similar to Vampire Diaries, and I was very surprised how violent it really is! I have only watched 4 episodes and I have seen numerous murders, and of lot of violence between characters.

Granted it is a TV show about vampires, so these things should be expected. However, I am really glad that I am more aware of the violence and that I am more of an active watcher. Becoming an active watcher has helped me become not as desensitized to violence as I used to be.

Why do we Lurk?

Last week I was able to attend the Marion K. Underwood Lecture. One of the topics that was brought up was lurking, or in other words, checking your social media. Underwood said that lurking leads to social comparison, which is basically only seeing the good things happening in other peoples live's, and then feeling that your life isn't as great. The problem with this is that people don't tend to post what is really going on in their lives, especially the bad stuff. I think this is very true, but I also thought about how 3/4th of the posts I see on my own social media are usually more annoying than anything else. Which reminded me of a great Studio C video:

After thinking about this video, I thought about my own lurking habits. Why do I lurk? Especially if most of the people I see on social media are annoying? I definitely going to cut down on my lurking because it is pointless to waste time and be annoyed while doing it. 

Lift

I have been racking my brain all week to figure out what to post about this week, which you wouldn't think would be so hard considering I'm surrounded by media. After thinking for a while, I remembered a mormon message that I watched for a class last semester. I felt prompted to re-watch it and share it on this blog.

It is a message about service, and what it means to serve someone. It shows no only how service impacts those who receive it, but those that give it. This video made me think of the scripture Mosiah 2:17 :

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

When we are serving others, we are serving our Heavenly Father. We are here on this Earth to do the Lord's will. We are here to be His hands and help His children who are in need. I am grateful for this video and the reminder it gives me of how important it is to serve our brothers and sisters.

Blessings of Media

So last night I watched The Fault in Our Stars for the first time! I know I am way late on the band wagon. However, it was a really great and a bittersweet movie. Definitely recommend if you haven't seen it. :)

It got me thinking about my own family and how cancer has affected us.

My dad passed away from cancer close to 5 months ago.

 But I am so grateful for all the memories that I have of him. Especially the recorded ones! 

We had almost a year and a half with my dad from the time he was diagnosed. Not thinking we get that much time, my husband started recording important events. My husband recorded my father's testimony, family discussions, and other special moments. I found these recordings to be such a blessing! 

I am also grateful for phones and Facetime, so I could communicate and see my dad when I couldn't be home. 

I am grateful that my dad always left messages on my voicemail, and that I have those to go back and listen to. 

I am grateful for the build-a-bear he made me and the recording he put inside of it, with his last message to me. 

I am grateful for the family friends that recorded the funeral, so I can go back and listen to those who spoke about the wonderful things my dad did during his life. 

I am especially grateful for the video he made before he passed away. I am grateful that he was able to talk about his life history, about his children and family, and about his testimony of the gospel.

Media has blessed my life, and like I have said, I am extremely grateful for it. The media will help me to remember my dad and have a different opportunity, than we have had in the past, to teach my future children about their grandpa.