New blog!

Welcome to my blog! I've never really had a blog before, so this could be an interesting experience for all of us! (Let's face it, Xanga doesn't count. If you don't know what Xanga is, go ask someone who is probably at least 20...) I plan to write about my journey as Miss Grays Harbor 2012 and, of course, the rest of my life as I prepare to graduate from Pacific Lutheran University in 4 weeks (!) with a BA in Music with History and Theatre minors and move on to whatever God has in store for my life!


This entry won't be too long, but I want to bring your attention to the title - A Dash. I don't know how many of you have heard of the Dash poem, but it is the inspiration behind my blog. Here is the poem for those of you who don't know it:

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.
He noted that first came her date of birth
and spoke the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
she spent alive on earth,
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read,
with your life's actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say...
About how you spent YOUR dash?

© Linda Ellis 1996

That is why this blog is called A Dash. It's about MY dash...my life. In the last two weeks, I have sung so much that I'm surprised I even have a voice left. I spent five days on tour with PLU's Choir of the West. I sang my heart out in my last CoW concert, and I pushed through my senior recital even though my voice almost didn't make it because I came down with a cold. But had I not taken care of my voice and not been able to sing my solo, and had I not pushed through my recital, I would not have taken advantage of what life has handed me. That is what I challenge you to do for the next week. Make this part of your dash count.

Melissa