Failure to prioritize

I'm sure you've heard about the Chinese bride who fled her wedding day to interview locals about a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

According to globalpost.com, whether she was getting her makeup done or walked out on the actual nuptials is disputed. As a former bride and wedding photographer, however, I can tell you that by the time the veil is positioned on the bride's head, preparation is completely done and she's ready to walk down the aisle. Regardless of whether or not she made a dramatic exit, she's practically being acclaimed a heroin.

This woman abandoned the most important person in her life on the most important day of their lives, and her act is being appraised as dedication. 

How about textbook irony? 

Had this been her quinceanera, I would have no doubt offered my applause, with little to no consideration for the shrugging teenage guests and half-wacked pinata (so I know they don't do pinatas at quinceaneras... but let's go with it for the sake of impressing informality). But this was her wedding day. On the day that she stands before God to proclaim her utmost loyalty to a man she'll promise to forsake all others for, he's left standing alone---in the name of interviewing eye-witnesses regarding a non-time sensitive event.

Let's keep things in perspective. She's not a medic---she's a news anchor. A fly to a wound, but less essential. Journalists flock to areas of natural disaster to bother people with microphones so that other people can sit at home on their couch and shake their heads with unintelligent expressions on their face while listening to bewildered eye-witness accounts and "I-didn't-know-what-was-happening"-type responses. If their media is anything like ours, this will probably go on for one week at an absolute minimum.

And yet, this was an emergency. No one, not anyone, could have replaced her. What a hero.

In the comments of one article, one person aggressively mused that any other action would have been pure selfishness. Believe it or not, this thought process appears to be the norm. But there's one small problem with pretending like this was a mere birthday party: she was a bride---which means there was a groom.

Yes! Despite how much the wedding industry has grown while the rate of successful marriages have not, the little shin-dig we call a wedding day involves more than just the bride and is supposed to mean something. For anyone to suggest that the bride ditching her groom at the altar to fill a position for which she was entirely replaceable and involved a non-life threatening emergency was not only selfless but unquestionably justifiable... well, that's just indicative of society's joke called marriage in the twenty-first century. The very thought of revering such a sad act makes me shudder in disgust.

Many view the whole situation as trivial, even comical. But such a response should serve as a reminder of our nation's lack of deliberately established priorities. It is why families, the very structure of our nation, are falling apart at the seams. I personally would not have been interviewing passer-by's that day; I would have been at my groom's side. And yet, we laugh. We applaud. Meaning has become a punchline; those who maintain priorities are not tolerated by those who preach tolerance.

Let's be intentional about our priorities and stand by them. Do not ever apologize for them. And pray for those who trivialize that which is so indicative of a broken people.

Thanks for reading  & happy Thursday! :)

Learned & learning: 23 years young.

I'm not exactly sure what to call whatever this is I decided to jot down. I'm not pretentious enough to call it wisdom, because well that would be pretentious and also because I'm 23. Whatever it is, maybe it will serve to help someone else. Either way this is what's shaping me here and now.

Baggage is for bellhops. Hold nothing against anyone.
Take character into account when weighing the effectiveness and validity of one's words.
Relaxation is a key source of inspiration---work and play equally hard.
Don't leave words unspoken.
Aim to offend no one, but never at the cost of compromise.
Lack of action is equally likely to result in regret; don't spend life on the sidelines.
Stand for something or fall for anything. (Choose.)
Take something away from every experience.
Choose your battles.
Take risks.
Be selective about what and who you allow to steal your joy.
Do now what you wish you would have done later.
Remember that to whom much is given much is expected.
Do not strive for popularity---it's too often indicative of a lukewarm (and therefore, arguably ineffective) life.
Be salt.
Our words are like a bullet; they have potential to wreak havoc and cannot be taken back.
A little less talking, a little more thinking; a little less thinking, a little more doing.
Generosity is the surest cure for greed.
Evaluate what you think and why you think it---often.
Finish what you start.
Keep your word; it's all you have.
Broaden your horizons every opportunity you get.
Remember that forgiveness is rarely for the other person.
The cause of arguments is either miscommunication or misunderstanding 90%+ of the time.
We never know what has happened for a reason.
Live a marginal life.
We rarely get to see the bigger picture; so just remember that it's there.

Thanks to my Manda for the pics!