SOME LATE NIGHT THOUGHTS ON HYPNOTISTS

Dear Reader,

I really don’t know a lot anything about hypnotism separate from the time when a hypnotist came to Miami for our back-to-school event my freshman year–and I wasn’t even in the audience for his show. I just heard that everyone was blown away because of the way he hypnotised these people.

But for some reason, my brain has decided to really speculate the effects of hypnosis and really think of it as this power that could be used for good. And sometimes when my brain is overflowing with thoughts, my go-to instinct is to open a word document or a note page (or twitter) to catch some of them.

These thoughts could not be condensed into 140 characters, however, so here we are.

I really just want to get these thoughts out and, like, talk to someone about this, you know? I guess this is where another person would come in, but it’s 3AM and no one has reached out to my tweet so I assume they are all asleep (Or not in the mood to amuse me).

Which brings us to the present, where I am communicating these ideas to you.

Alright, first of all, can I please just be hypnotised so that every time I hear the word “kazoo” or something I go and do all of my homework? And then like every night I can have my roommate or someone be like, “Sammy, kazoo,” and my face will go blank as I fall into this trance and sit down at my desk to complete my work. And then in an hour or two, she can be like, “Sammy, tapioca,” and I’ll come to and my assignments will be completed.

Of course, this can prove tricky if the person hypnotised can’t remember what happened while they were under, but all I’m saying is what’s the use in having a person start acting like a chicken every time a word is said when instead you could be like, “hey guess what, every time someone says peanut butter pudding, you’re gonna make your bed” or “you’re gonna clean your room” or “you’re gonna call your mother” (that last one would be hilarious).

But then this brings me to the questioning of how words are chosen–or do hypnotists even leave their participants with this quiet life change? Or do they reverse it before they get off the stage? Because if not, do these people have to disclaim that they did this thing once before freshman year and now they have this strange trigger word? Or would they even know??

Can you imagine if you were on a date with someone and they were like, “hey, I just want to be upfront with you. You can’t say *passes paper with a word written on it* (side question: can they say the word themselves?) around me because I will immediately jump up and start doing “Gangnam style” until you say rowboat.”

What if that were the norm? Hahahaha can you imagine??

And yeah, so how do they choose the words? Because, sure, I don’t think I’ve heard the word “kazoo” said aloud in quite a while, but the possibility is still out there, you know?

Anyway, I don’t know where I’m going with this. I just have a lot of unanswered questions but I don’t want to actually start Googling them because I have work I can be doing and I’m afraid I would spend far too much time doing research if I start going down that slippery slope.

I just really want to be hypnotised to run a few miles when someone says “trenchcoat lingerie” (I feel like that one’s safe) because running is one of those things that could benefit my body so much if my brain would just get out of the way–as are many things in life, I feel.

Man, did I just have a philosophical breakthrough?

Let this be a lesson to everyone that you should always encourage and amuse your “pass the blunt” thoughts.

Sincerely,

Sammy

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HOW DID WE GET HERE? I’M NOT SURE, BUT THANK GOODNESS WE DID

Dear Reader,

My friend and I were texting back and forth today freaking out over Hamilton because our mutual friend/co-worker just sent us a link to watch the entire musical.

She said, “I am indebted to Elise for eternity!”

And I responded, “Honestly, who knew working at King would make my life so much better??”

It might seem small to use Hamilton as an example (although it’s really not because I honestly think this musical has changed me), but I think about this kind of thing all the time.  

Think about all the decisions you’ve made in your life that have led you to this exact moment right now.

It may seem petty because I’m currently sitting in my dorm room with the lights off listening to Miley, but do you ever just think about everything you have, and everything you did that indadvertedly brought you here?

I think about this a lot when I think about the people I have in my life. I mean, just look at everyone I’ve met at college–they all had to decide on Miami. They might have gotten rejected from different schools or maybe weren’t offered as much money other places or maybe this has been their dream school for years. There are so many factors that brought them to this school, but even that didn’t guarantee in us meeting.

For Ciara and Becca, they had to decide to rush. They went through the same two-week process that ultimately led them to choose Phi Mu. And then it just so happened that our heart sisters were friends and brought us to the same pre-game in which we all bonded over the thought of ghost-hunting at Peabody. From that initial click they’ve become the two closest sisters I have.

Ashley and I probably never would’ve met if she hadn’t roomed with Alex first semester, and if Alex hadn’t reached out on Facebook, trying to meet new people. I mean, sure, she lived in the same dorm as Jaden and I, but we really didn’t talk to a lot of people in that dorm. If it weren’t for Alex, Ashley could’ve been just another face I passed on campus that I recognized, but couldn’t quite place from where.

And speaking of Jaden–if she hadn’t moved to Ohio–if she hadn’t moved into our neighborhood and rode our bus–and joined orchestra–and decided on violin the same time Lekha was switching from the bass–well, we might not have ever talked, either. And if the sale on her old house had gone through (which it was so close to doing), we surely would have lost touch and never grown as close as we are now.

There are so many people like that–Andrew who happened to be in my MAC class freshman year and, because of our final project, we decided to follow each other on Twitter and turned out to be friends that way (technology is great, people). Victoria, a senior in Phi Mu who I never would have met if I hadn’t been placed in the back room because I missed some of a workshop because I went and saw Ed Sheeran in Cleveland because my sister and mom bought the ticket as a surprise (if I had known about it, I would’ve told them to choose another concert so I didn’t have to miss Twenty One Pilots).

And even Sarah was a mistake. I joke about this a lot because my mom let it slip a few years back that she couldn’t remember to take her birth control with two kids under the age of 3 running around and–poof–Sarah was made. But I feel like it’s okay that I can make these jokes because Sarah knows how blessed I feel that she is in my life–how she is honestly the greatest gift I have that I never have (and never) will truly deserve.

It’s hard when people ask if you believe in fate, because you like to believe that you’re capable of being an agent of change. But honestly, with stuff like this, I think it’s hard not to believe.

All of these people, plus so many more have come into my life for a reason, I think. And there are so many choices that are involved, it’s hard to think otherwise. My life would be completely different if I had chosen to go to another college. Or if my parents had decided to live in another city. Or if my mom didn’t answer the phone that day (I’ll tell you guys the story about how my parents met later).

So yeah, I think I do believe in fate or destiny. I don’t think it’s an excuse to not work hard or that it’s the idea that things will just fall in your lap. I just think there are some parts of your life that are meant to be, like having a sister or meeting your best friend, that can’t possibly be explained otherwise.

Anyway, sorry for the long rant. It’s just sometimes at night I think about how glad I am that I chose Miami and that I decided to work at King when I was a freshman and that I added my journalism major just late enough to only have options of force-adding classes like that MAC one.

And how damn fortunate I am that my mom couldn’t remember her birth control.

Thank God Sean and I were little hellions.

Sincerely,

Sammy