I will not dispose of my thoughts by feeding them to Facebook.

"It was the time between the lights when colours undergo their intensification and purples and golds burn in the window-panes ilk the beat of an excitable heart; when for some reason the beauty of the world revealed and yet soon to perish...the beauty of the world which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder."

- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

Stealing from Shannon :

"We must trust with all our hearts that God delivers based on trust and not on needs."

Almost forgot :

It's stupid, maybe, but I almost forgot that I find joy in bringing other people joy.

No wonder I've been so dull lately. Too much time to myself, by myself, for myself.

Pure imagination :

When did we forget to think for ourselves?

Think about it. Now really, think.

I have an imagination, and I use it often. I frequent images that are not real, not to live in a wonderland, but to create. Art, possibility, hope, future. Whatever it is, my imagination is good, powerful, and true. It is the most vibrant thing I know, and something that I can forever keep within the confines of my mind.

Do it, I dare you. Consider the following:

- If you had a sock puppet that was pink and made out of wool and had yellow eyes and stringy yellow hair, what would you name it and why?
- Run your hand through your hair. Which hand did you use, and why?
- Touch every flower you see. Feel it and see how it compares to the others. They're all soft, but some are softer.

I don't know, maybe it's just me. But these are the things I remember to live for. That I have to remember to live for, when I get swallowed whole by work and school and the monotony of it all. These things are unique to me, experiences completely my own. Even though you - and you - and you - may be meandering through your gardens now, wandering through the plants in search of petals to feel, your experience will be completely unique to you.

Maybe you find out that your front or back yard houses a host of ladybugs. Or maybe you stop walking in the middle of a crowded sidewalk to reach up and take a leaf from the tree above you to work today, to take a piece of the outside with you as you are locked inside for the rest of the day. Or maybe you're at a park, and dig your hands into the grass and realize that though it may cause your legs to itch, it has always been a more comfortable resting place than your bed back at home. Or maybe you don't have a home, or you close your eyes and pretend that you don't. And you breathe in the air and you come back out of the world and into your own dreams, into the mind that is all your own, and realize that you were never searching at all for the nature around you. Maybe all that you adore is the dandelion that you picked apart a few weeks ago, seed by seed, and it reminds you of all the wishes you made as a kid. And one of those was to become something, truly something. And maybe you realize that now, you are that something - you are becoming. You are already someone. And you open your eyes to the world around you and realize that you can let go of all the wishes because it has already come true. You are living, breathing, existing, creating, imagining. You are in the wind, just as the petal in your hand is as you let it, and all the rest,

Go.

Hey, yo, SELF :

15. Failures are the stepping stones to success. Without failure, we’ll never learn how to succeed. So try to fail, instead of trying to avoid failure through fear.


19. The destination is just a tiny slice of the journey. We’re so worried about goals, about our future, that we miss all the great things along the way. If you’re fixated on the goal, on the end, you won’t enjoy it when you get there. You’ll be worried about the next goal, the next destination.


20. A good walk cures most problems. Want to lose weight and get fit? Walk. Want to enjoy life but spend less? Walk. Want to cure stress and clear your head? Walk. Want to meditate and live in the moment? Walk. Having trouble with a life or work problem? Walk, and your head gets clear.


24. Gratitude is one of the best ways to find contentment. We are often discontent in our lives, desire more, because we don’t realize how much we have. Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, be grateful for the amazing gifts you’ve been given: of loved ones and simple pleasures, of health and sight and the gift of music and books, of nature and beauty and the ability to create, and everything in between. Be grateful every day.


27. Create. The world is full of distractions, but very few are as important as creating.


37. Fear will try to stop you. Doubts will try to stop you. You’ll shy away from doing great things, from going on new adventures, from creating something new and putting it out in the world, because of self-doubt and fear. It will happen in the recesses of your mind, where you don’t even know it’s happening. Become aware of these doubts and fears. Shine some light on them. Beat them with a thousand tiny cuts. Do it anyway, because they are wrong.

The Screwtape Letters :

"Your patient will, of course, have picked up the notion that he must submit with patience to the Enemy's will. What the Enemy means by this is primarily that he should accept with patience the tribulation which has actually been dealt out to him - the present anxiety and suspense. It is about this that he is to say 'Thy will be done,' and for the daily task of bearing this that the daily bread will be provided. It is your business to see that the patient never thinks of the present fear as his appointed cross, but only of the things he is afraid of. Let him regard them as his crosses: let him forget that, since they are incompatible, they cannot at all happen to him, and let him try to practice fortitude and patience to them in all advance. For real resignation, at the same moment, to a dozen different and hypothetical fates, is almost impossible, and the Enemy does not greatly assist those who are trying to attain it: resignation to present and actual suffering, even where that suffering consists of fear, is far easier, and is usually helped by this direct action."

Say cheese?

Ever since I first began to set up shop at my favorite coffee joint, I've noticed that one of the baristas refuses to smile. Even when I ran into him at our school library a few days ago, he didn't smile. At all. No hint, no trace, nothing. So I mentioned this observation to one of his coworkers. As I retreated to wait for my tea, she called him over to her and whispered something seemingly discreet. When I came back and thanked him, he just barely lifted the corner of his mouth to one side. He could have been cringing, I'm not too sure.

I really wonder why people don't smile more. It's natural happiness. Totally organic, totally biological, built-in, free, releases endorphins, takes only 17 muscles to accomplish, and is completely capable of changing or altering one's mood, attitude, and positively affecting those around them.

SMILE, DAMN IT. Who knows who's looking for one of their own?

Dude :

I just spit out a paper on The Picture of Dorian Gray in relation to the Romantic era in an hour and a half.

Books and reading :

‎"She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future"

- Proverbs 31:25

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love."

- Washington Irving

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see."

- Hebrews 11:1

52. When you know that pain is temporary, it affects all of your decisions.

A moment, a day :

I met a stranger today, someone I hope to meet again.

I wonder if life is like this, full of limitless people and places and things and ideas and concepts and dreams and hopes and realities and futures and pasts and presents. I don't understand it all, but I aim to try. I will try, I am trying now.

I wonder if we'll meet again. Maybe this will be a wish best saved for a dandelion or two.

To philosopher and philosophers, cheers.

Make no mistake :

I LOVE YOU