#BlogBOmer: Malchut B'Gevurah

I never realized that blogging every day would be such a struggle! Definitely a lesson in gevurah (discipline!) and making sure that even if I miss a day, that I get to it at a later date. But, even late at night--BOOM. Blog post. This particular post is about Malchut B'Gevurah, the last day in the week's theme of Gevurah (Leadership/Sovereignty in the area of Discipline/Restraint). This post goes out to an old college friend and buddy: Yael B.

Oh Captain, My Captain {Looking out for small dogs}

 

I tend to think that Yael's going to be surprised by this post since we haven't spoken in a minute--life gets in the way and things get busy and before you know it, another six months has flown by. HOWEVER, Yael was one of my closest friends and supports in college and was by far my favorite study buddy. So why Yael for the topics of leadership within the area of discipline & restraint? 

 

Yael was my inspiration to stay true to my goals and dreams of working in the Jewish world post-college. Aware of every intimate moment of my life with my pre-med textbooks, Yael was there when I realized that pre-med wasn't the right lifestyle for me (I wasn't very good at math or science!). As my library study partner, Yael pushed me to work harder in the fields of Psychology & Judaic Studies when I decided to double major while making me crack up in between sneaking in food to the library from Fridays, or staking out small study group rooms and pulling all nighters. Between the two of us, I think it was Yael's discipline that got me through those nights of color-coding, iPod shuffling and note-taking...all the while watching her work through creating and defending her own major at GWU and planning out what she would create once out of college.

On a personal level, Yael's leadership and disciplinary demeanor also helped me with my music and my social life in college. We were in the GWU a capella group Shiluv together and Yael encouraged me to compose, work on original songs and ideas, and has been the inspiration for many mash-ups/compositions since (though she's probably forgotten hours of hanging by my keyboard in a tiny dorm room!). Afraid of putting myself out there (and presently, forging back into old habits), Yael made me leave my apartment or dorm room and explore new friendship opportunities, new restaurants, new reasons to laugh and explore and TRY. 

Sometimes I miss my college years--the ability to go out and try new things, to figure out what my restraints were (or what restraints I had placed on myself that could be pushed wider). I was very lucky to have Yael's leadership in this particular area--she always convinced me that I was better and more capable of anything that I could dream up on my own.

~Miss you girl--hope you're living it up!