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