look at the stars; look how they shine for you.

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take the stars, for instance. have you ever looked at them? like, really looked at them? it's okay if you haven't, i'm just asking. because to be honest, i haven't really looked at them either; until now.

when we're young, and we're learning about numbers and colours and how to be polite and we're in that asking questions stage, we're bound to ask a question about day and night. why is it light at this time and dark at this time? and our mothers would say because light is for being awake and dark is for sleeping. light is when we're alive, and night is when we regain our strength because being alive can make us tired sometimes. at least, that's what my mom told me. and we'd always counter with why? why does it do that?

but after awhile, do you notice how we stop asking questions and just accept the fact that the sun rises and sets and the moon hangs in the sky; sometimes lopsided, sometimes not. after awhile, we kind of forget about it. we start to get subconscious, because we expect it to happen. for instance, if you went to a coffeeshoppe for years and ordered the same thing everytime, you'd expect the baristas to know you and what you always got, right? you'd be a regular. and the sun and the moon and the stars are regulars. and we are subconscious and we forget about them. because we know they're going to happen. never failing, unlike most other things in life.

and when it comes to our lives, we begin to expect some things. sure, life always changes and looking back we then see just how much, but there are some things in life that will never change. they're not really exciting. just expected. they're... usual. they're mundane. and after awhile, we look for something to make everything exciting. we look to find extra in the ordinary, except we don't look to the ordinary for the extra. and that's not fair to the stars.

shakespeare wrote in julius caesar that: "the fault, dear brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." are you beginning to realise it now? we blame the stars, the mundane, the everyday and the expected because our lives don't seem as bright and action-packed as other people's lives. so sometimes, we look to parts of other people's lives (that we haven't even experienced) and try to fluff our lives up to make them seem trendy and more interesting. if you haven't done it, have you at least thought about it?

right, now, back to the stars. they're this huge, big phenomenon that only God fully understands. and we, no matter where we live, can never really see the full beauty of them. unless we're literally among them. they're so bright, so poignant and selfless, shining on us so we can see everything they have to offer, and we blow it off because they're not good enough. and in a way, it signifies life. there is so much extra in all of this ordinary. life is this huge, big phenomenon that not even the smartest person can come to fully understand and God has given it to us, so selfless, so that He can show us what we can do with it. and yet we try to trade our dim stars for another one's bright and sometimes, we want the world to see what they have to offer and not us. but what we have to offer is just as brilliant. what your life has to offer is fantastic and even i don't know what it has in store. but there is so much extra in its ordinary, and even if there isn't, the ordinary is extraordinarily beautiful. so i treasure it, immensely, reminding myself that what i have it good enough and worthy to be seen by others, and i want others to let themselves to see their lives the way i do. the way God does. 

so here we are, the AOU team, back in the races, so to speak. we've got old faces and new, a new face on our space here on the internet, and we've reevaluated who we are and our purpose in writing this blog. so there's new things coming and they're just as great as what we had going before. and we admit that our posts were sometimes half-hearted because we were... well... we had one of those days where we felt like our lives weren't interesting enough to post about. we have those days and we want to embrace them and post them anyway, and we want to give you the courage to do the same thing. we want you to know that you're not alone. that we are on your side. so this is us, seven girls and one mission, and we are dying to share it with you. 

bleah: I think that the point of blogging has always been a personal endeavor towards finding others who share our same thoughts and ideas, people who can enrich and shape who we are, and mainly just not to feel alone. This, I think is also the main going of AOU, one that in the past has been incredibly successful and I’m sure will continue to be. I am honored to be a part of something that will become bigger than any of the creators I’m sure will ever know. AOU, I believe, is a common goal to bring people together, relate, empathize, and grow. 

eve: In my eyes, AOU is a cozy little nook in which secrets are shared, dreams are dreamed, & extraordinary is found in the everyday ordinary. It's a place where simplicity is embraced, thoughtful reflections are coaxed out into the open, & where inspiration abounds in plenty. Our mission is to inspire, encourage, & chronicle the little & often overlooked moments hidden amidst our ordinary, & yet not-so-ordinary, lives.

abby: Ordinary is okay sometimes, you know? Sometimes it's in the quiet that we hear the loudest. Sometimes it's in the ordinary that we find something we've never found before, something real and beautiful and unique. I think the true meaning of “ordinary” has gotten distorted over time. Ordinary does not have to be boring, does not have to be dull, does not have to be same. Maybe you’ll find our lives a mix between ordinary and crazy. Isn't everyone’s?

stephanie: I believe that at AOU, we are an outreach. We are an outreach to bring hope. We want to form a group of girls of faith and inspiration. We are team of aspiring photographers, writers, and creative geniuses (in the making of course). We want to share a testimony of dreams and share it with others. We want to show that something can come from nothing if you just believe. We want to inspire the greatness in you. We want to make the world a better place one girl at a time. I believe our mission at AOU is to all these things, but simply to just be ordinarily us. To show that ordinary is just alright, but to show girls how to be a different kind of ordinary.

gracie: an ordinary utopia is a blog that is exactly what is says: an ordinary utopia. it is a place where flawed and ordinary lives come together to share and connect. it is a special place where we, as a collective of creatives all around the world, can come and share our ordinary lives in one place, with the hope of inspiring others to enjoy the ordinary, beautiful mundane. welcome to an ordinary utopia.

candace: AOU is place for reality to not only make a home, but to spread its glory for all to relate to. a place to cry, to laugh, to smile, to share, to make friends; a place to just be. AOU is on a mission to knock down the walls of pretentiousness and share the real lives of real people.

i hope that, one day, we'll all sit on one big blanket with our favourite treats and book quotes tucked behind our ears, up high for the northern lights, or even here, in my part of texas where the bugs are infinitely bigger. but hopefully we'll all be there, laughing and letting ourselves experience what we've been passing by for the majority of our lives.

and i know, i just know, that it'll be great. so welcome home to all of us on the team, and welcome to all of you. please, put your feet up. we don't allow shoes on in here; make yourself comfortable.
xx, jocee, gracie, abby, candace, bleah, eve, and stephie.