Sponsor Highlight: Stephanie of Big Mario Life

Good Wednesday morning to you! I hope your week is off to a great start. Well, if not, then after reading today's guest post you should be rocking and rolling your way through the day. 

Today I have the gorgeous and very talented, Stephanie from Big Mario Life, posting for me today. Stephanie has, by far, the coolest blog name in all of blog-land. I promise my opinion has nothing to do with the fact that I grew up man-handleing a device that controlled the every move of a tiny plumber on my Nintendo. ;P

Be sure to stalk I mean stop by Stephanie's blog, and tell her I sent ya. Enjoy!

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Hello fellow Alisha-lovers!  I'm so excited to be here with you today.  When Alisha invited me to write a guest post, she said I could write about anything I wanted.  Anything!!!  The limitless possibilities left me a little stumped so I thought, why not share the meaning behind my blog name?  And, yes, it is totally inspired by Super Nintendo.

It happened the summer after my first year of law school.  I was a shell of the person I once was, with all my casebooks serving as horcruxes for my splintered soul. I decided that summer I would not turn down an invitation to revive my spirit – just say yes.*  With that motto in mind, I agreed to go on a hike in Middle Earth (a.k.a Northern California; a.k.a. NorCal).  While on this hike, a few friends and I used what little breath we had to chat for a bit.  We quickly realized that there was a distinct Super Mario Bros. analogy to law school.  Law school drains you.  Any motivation you once had is channeled into studying and nothing else.  You get mushy from lack of exercise.  Your sole sustenance is Lean Cuisines and coffee.  Your skin is pale, your hair is dry, and everyone, including your mother, thinks you look “tired.”  Anything could hurt you at this point – even a turtle.  And it was then The Big Mario Theory was born.  In essence, law school makes you Little Mario.

Now, perhaps I should explain this a bit more just in case you don’t see it.  Little Mario is a wuss.  I mean seriously, how can you call yourself a man if a turtle can kill you?   Little Mario needs his mushrooms.  The mushrooms make him big and strong.  The flashing stars of invincibility and fire power are even better.  All these extras mean a stupid turtle can’t kill him so easily.  But if Mario only focuses on the end goal - finishing the level - without picking up mushrooms along the way, he's practically doomed to fail.

I quickly came to realize that focusing on any one thing in life will demote you to Little Mario.  Balance is essential to success and, for Mario, mushrooms provide that balance.  So I’m seeking out the mushrooms life has to offer - food, photography, travel, friends, family, whatever else lends balance to life.  I'm writing about my quest for balance in the hopes that you find your own mushrooms, whatever they may be, and stay Big Mario.

I'll be the first to admit that having a video game plumber inspire your life philosophy is a little strange.  But it's come to represent so much more than that.  Now, whenever I'm debating whether to do something big (*ahem* ... like quit my law firm job and start a photography business full time ... *ahem*), I think "Is it a Big Mario thing to do?"  If the answer is yes, I go for it!

(* Full disclosure - this "just say yes" motto is the whole reason why I accepted a first date with The Boyfriend.  After almost four years together, I'm convinced it was the best Big Mario decision I ever made.)

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