Forgive yourself for accepting less than you deserved - but don’t do it again

Trust the timing in which things are happening.

When the universe pulls you toward something, walk that way.

I grew up thinking that in order to live a happy life, I had to get good grades and go to a prestigious university and get a highly paid job. But as I grew older I began to realise that in order to life a happy life, I had to choose it for myself and not live a life that others expect of me, whether it be your parents, teachers or friends. This is your life.

I made a decision that I didn’t want to be successful and live in a big house with fancy cars in the drive. So, I packed my bags and got out of this little town that had suffocated me for the last 18 years and drank coffee in small shops in Germany, chased the Horizon in Australia, woke up with a mountain view in Singapore. How beautiful is it to know that your feet have walked the grounds of many different countries and your skin has felt the air of many busy cities.

Please darling, do not get lost in society’s belief that you are only successful if you have a well paid job, like I once had. As humans, we are going to die, that is one thing we are guaranteed in life. What will you care about the most while lying on your death bed, your fancy cars, big house? Or the stories and experience you have encountered on the journey of this beautiful thing called life?

So there’s one thing I ask of you: please travel. Whether you’re 21 or 49. It is never too early nor too late so see the beautiful world.

kinda wanna improve my French and move to Paris but kinda wanna learn Italian and move to Rome but kinda wanna learn Icelandic and move to Reykjavik but kinda wanna learn Japanese and move to Tokyo but kinda wanna  


Find someone who loves you well. Someone who never belittles you. Even in the heat of an argument. Someone who is gentle with you, but does not treat you like you are fragile. Someone who knows what you are capable of, and celebrates those pieces of you. Not someone who is intimidated by your strength. Someone who doesn’t make you feel guilty for being flawed. It is not love’s job to punish you. And remember the person you love is just as broken as you are when they fall short. No one is perfect – do not hold them to this standard. Find someone who is patient, forgiving, and apologetic. Someone who practices forgiveness freely and often. Love someone who is humble, kind, and empathetic. Not only with you, but with a beggar on the street, or a stranger in the supermarket. Common courtesy is important. Compassion is important. Kindness is important.

Don’t let anything stand between you and where you’d like to go. Push passed all obstacles as you head towards the direction of your dreams. Even if you don’t know exactly where that may be, go where your heart leads you.

Whoever wants music instead of noise, joy instead of pleasure, soul instead of gold, creative work instead of business, passion instead of foolery, finds no home in this trivial world of ours.

Today I’ve learnt that there’s a word in italian (”solare”) to describe a person who brights the room, who is warm and good and cheerful and worries about others and I think is so cute??? I love it

Find out what makes you kinder, what opens you up and brings out the most loving, generous, and unafraid version of you―and go after those things as if nothing else matters. Because, actually, nothing does

february is the month of: doing your best, trusting your ability, taking time to be proud of your achievements, not being too hard on yourself, going outside your comfort zone, gaining more confidence, being optimistic, living in the present, not falling into old behaviours, and taking baby steps for a big goal.

And then there are the times when the wolves are silent and the moon is howling.

It was as if she had her own language that you were required to learn if you wanted to translate the book of her soul

my bed is my cloud and i’m the little angel that sleeps on it

Am I in love? Absolutely. I’m in love with ancient philosophers, foreign painters, classic authors, and musicians who have died long ago. I’m a passionate lover. I fawn over these people. I have given them my heart and my soul. The trouble is, I’m unable to love anyone tangible. I have sacrificed a physical bond, for a metaphysical relationship. I am the ultimate idealistic lover.

I’m not running away, I’m moving on.

I can’t do this, but more importantly, I don’t want to

All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare

Je n'aime pas les hommes qui ont peur de la force des femmes.

In the world somewhere, right now, someone is pouring coffee in a hotel lobby in an island town waiting for the sun to come up, thinking about how in the world somewhere, at the exact same time, someone else is making tea before bed on a warm night in the countryside. And somewhere else, someone is waiting for a train in a busy city to get dinner with the girl he is breaking up with, who is putting on mascara across town thinking about her brother who’s bartending in LA and the open invitation she never thought she’d want to use. And no matter what you’re doing right now, and whether or not you’re happy with it, it’s oddly comforting to think that any life you ever dream of having exists, and at any given moment, someone else is living it.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete

the thing about her, is that she was happy alone. everyone around her was looking for a connection and something to grasp onto, but she was happy being free. she was happy being unchained, happy with no pressure of connections and love. all the love she needed was within herself, and everybody else was just a distraction from everything she was trying to achieve. she understood herself more than anyone else understood her, and that was the most beautiful thing about her

a woman who feeds her soul consistently, will have love in her eyes. when words fail, her energy will always speak for her


i just love old things so much. i love standing in a ruin knowing that it was once a city or a building real people lived and walked in, or seeing a weapon someone used to wield to fight for a nation that no longer exists, or a statue of someone who’s been dead for thousands of years. i love hearing songs that have been sung for centuries, or eating foods with ancient recipes. i love the idea that even when people have passed and civilisations have fallen there are still little pieces of the past we can feel today


Nothing is more important than empathy for another human being’s suffering. Nothing. Not a career, not wealth, not intelligence, certainly not status. We have to feel for one another if we’re going to survive with dignity

Even the smallest spark of positivity can spread like wild fire to everyone else you come across. It’s amazing what impact even the smallest acts of kindness can have on the quality of someone else’s day

People start to heal the moment they feel heard



oznaczona KAŻDA ilość, nawet najmniejsza, KAŻDEGO patogenu, bez względu na liczbę patogenów - uwaga! pacjentka z grupy wysokiego ryzyka, ma znaczne niedobory odporności, nieoznaczenie ww. może spowodować zagrożenie zdrowia i życia". 


























pomysł na zdjęcie: trzymamy zapalniczkę i trochę benzyny, całujemy się nad nimi. Podpis: just as fire meets gasoline, only you can podpalić my heart











































i have little moments. moments where everything just makes sense. like a fog has been lifted from my eyes and it’s clear. it happens when i laugh with the people i love. it happens when i see a sunrise and im barely awake. it happens when my parents stare at one another like they’ve found their home. it happens when my grandmother tells me stories of when she was my age. it happens when i go to the beach late at night and feel the cold sand between my toes. it happens when that one song fills my headphones and it’s like my soul is dancing. it happens when it snows outside and the world is cold, but i am so warm bundled in blankets. it happened when i fell in love…and when i finally fell out. it happens when my niece holds my hand so tightly and looks up at me with the purest smile. or when my dog snuggles closer to me when i pet him. sometimes it’s even late a night when i see the moon and remember there are so many things out there and that i am only as big as i make myself feel. it’s these little moments when i realize i am where i need to be. it’s these moments that make me see i am a living breathing being. that’s i exist in a world where even though so many bad things happen…i like to think the good out ways the bad. i like to believe these moments are why i am what i am. it’s the little moments that make you see the beauty you’ve forgotten existed.

I have noticed that when all the lights are on, people tend to talk about what they are doing – their outer lives. Sitting round in candlelight or firelight, people start to talk about how they are feeling – their inner lives. They speak subjectively, they argue less, there are longer pauses. To sit alone without any electric light is curiously creative. I have my best ideas at dawn or at nightfall, but not if I switch on the lights – then I start thinking about projects, deadlines, demands, and the shadows and shapes of the house become objects, not suggestions, things that need to done, not a background to thought

To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June.

falling in love again, lots of books, endless cups of coffee, vacations, journals filled with poetry & stories, saving money, purging out toxic people & embracing the love around me in friends & family, working hard at my job, blooming into who i’m meant to be


You’re about to overcome something you’ve been dealing with. Your mind and heart will be at peace again. Be patient with yourself

Not everything is supposed to become something beautiful and long-lasting. Sometimes people come into your life to show you what is right and what is wrong, to show you who you can be, to teach you to love yourself, to make you feel better for a little while, or to just be someone to walk with at night and spill your life to. Not everyone is going to stay forever, and we still have to keep on going and thank them for what they’ve given us

The love you give recycles and circulates throughout the universe, no expression of love is ever lost or wasted

i want 2018 to be my year. and i know people say that all the time, but i want this year to be full of positivity and blessings. i deserve it.







You ever get in a Mood where you just wanna poof off to another country, erase your history, re-write your identity, and become a mysterious figure who’s never been photographed but occasionally appears in paintings done by unknown artists

Let me find myself, let me read all the good books before I find my favorite book. Let me travel all around the world and see the wonders. Let me major in everything before settling down for one. Let me get to know people who speak a different language. Let me stumble and fall then let me heal myself, let me love myself. Let me put myself together the way I want it rather than how someone else wants me to be.

People do not see you, / They invent you and accuse you

When I say I want to travel, I don’t mean a few weeks per year. I mean really travel, for months at a time, maybe even years. When I say I want to travel, I don’t mean just going to resorts or specific landmarks that tourists visit. I mean going to all sorts of beautiful places, small towns as well as large cities. Not having a plan. I mean trying new foods and learning about different cultures. I mean exploring the world without a time limit. That’s what I mean when I say I want to travel. 

You are mysterious…You’re beautiful, intelligent, and virtuous, and that’s the rarest known combination.

“Travel is not a reward for working, it’s education for living.” -Unknow

We are mosaics. Pieces of light, love, history, stars. Glued together with magic and music and words

And you must dare to do as many things as you dream of.

Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music.

shit i just want to go to like……. an isolated little town on the coast of like england where the waves crash against the cliffs and send up a spray and it’s always a little rainy and dreary and the green is so green with dew and life and the houses are small and cozy and always smell like baked bread and tea and it’s perpetually foggy outside and i can wear sweaters forever and read a book by the fireplace or out in the garden and it sort of just smells ancient and where everyone just minds their own business and life is good and once in a while i bike to the nearest village with a market and spend the day shopping around and maybe i’ll have a dog who likes to follow me around and we just….. live

Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with the insatiable desire to learn. To know astronomy and geography and language and architecture; to recognize each constellation, planet, and star; to speak and understand all languages, be able to decipher ancient Greek and Latin text; to grow my understanding of how the human body works; study the differences and similarities of each religion; recognize the use for each herb and seed and sapling.

I want to better myself, not for fame or recognition or power. I just want to understand. 

She was never quite ready. But she was brave. And the universe listens to brave

Once you have cultivated love and understanding in yourself, you have something to offer the other person. But so long as we don’t yet love or understand ourselves, how can we blame others for not loving us, or not understanding us? Freedom, peace, love, and understanding are not things we can obtain from outside. They are something already available within us.



The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It’s the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows & the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.



Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love

Remember yourself as a little girl, she is counting on you to protect her

i want to be the person you remember when you see the sunrise. when you see a girl in the corner of a coffee shop reading a book, not distracted by anything. i want you to think of me when you see animals and flowers and bees.

…But it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst… And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything…

you will do great

you are doing great

you are great

Here’s how you stop being average:
When you wake up in the morning and need to brush your teeth, and you have that thought, “Oh, I should actually floss too,” then floss.
When you go to make yourself breakfast and you have that thought, “Oh, I said I was going to eat healthier,” make the healthy choice instead of the unhealthy one.
When you go to head to train for work and you have the choice between taking the stairs or the escalator, and you hear that voice in your head that says, “Oh, I said I was going to be more physically active,” take the stairs.
When you get into work and you sit down in front of your first task, and you have that thought, “Oh, I said I was going to work on being more productive,” turn off all distractions and get to work—instead of browsing Facebook, for example.
When you leave work and you’re exhausted and you have that thought, “Oh, I said I was going to work on my book this week,” don’t go to the bar. Go home and work on your book.
When you get ready for bed and you feel like winding down, and you have that thought, “I said I was going to read more instead of watching so much Netflix,” pick up a book instead of opening a web browser.
Being average is a choice—that’s what a lot of people don’t understand.
You know what you need to do. And a tiny, faint voice in your head reminds you of what you need to do, or what you had said you were going to do, a lot more often than you might realize.
Start listening to that voice.

As college decisions begin rolling in, please remember you are not defined by an acceptance or rejection. You are so much more than any letter can ever say. You’ve worked so hard; no matter what happens, remember your passion, your courage, and your resilience. 




how to achieve your goals:
start

other people succeeding and achieving things (school, jobs, relationships, etc.) before you do, does not make you a failure. it doesn’t make you bad at these things. it just means some things are going to take a little more time for you than it will for other people. you have time. there are no rules or deadlines by which you have to achieve and experience things. there’s too much pressure to have all these things done by your early to mid twenties but you have your whole life to figure yourself out and do what you want. you are doing your best and that’s what matters. i’m proud of you and you are going to be okay

me: i’m so motivated. i’m gonna do this. i will achieve everything

me, a second later: you know my bed is actually just…. better

1. If you skip a topic or don’t study it thoroughly enough because you think it won’t be on the exam, it will be. Study that in particular so you won’t be surprised when it shows up as the first question. Unless your professor explicitly states that it won’t be on the exam, don’t skip any topics.
2. Put aside the content you’re comfortable and familiar with and start studying the things you don’t know. It’s hard and time consuming but that’s where the actual learning happens.
3. Start studying at least 4 days in advance. I always regret not starting earlier when I’m at the library 24 hours before the exam and not even close to being done. When I’m having trouble focusing, I’ll sit there and imagine myself an hour before the exam scrambling to finish up a topic, wishing that I had these extra few minutes, hours, or days that I have now. Take advantage of the time you have right now.
4. Changing up my location helps a lot when I’m studying. If I study in the same corner at the library, eventually my brain will start associating that spot with everything I do in that chair, including wasting time. For me, new location + new material = focus. A few location ideas: a quiet corner in the library, a noisy floor in the library, at your desk at home, a room with a view of the outdoors from high up, a bench/table outside, a cafe or brunch place.
5. Stay on top of studying and homework from day 1, not after syllabus week and not a month into the semester. When you submit a homework assignment, make it a point to 100% understand everything you just handed in. Homework is assigned for a reason; they’re meant as practice exercises for the material you learned and exams often mimic them. Once you hand in homework, you should know and understand the material. This saves you time when it’s finals week and you have old and new material to study.
6. Well before the exam, make a list of topics you don’t understand and get your questions answered. There have been so many times where I didn’t fully understand something and thought, “It’s okay, they’re probably not going to ask that,” and it shows up on the exam. When you get your question answered, branch out and ask things like, “What if it weren’t this particular situation/these particular numbers but a different one instead. How would you work through it this time?” (physics/math) or “What caused that/what came after that as a result?” (history). Try to understand all possible scenarios if you can.

putting my health and my dreams first isn't selfish
i should be proud of my accomplishments

50% crying, 20% research, and 30% coming up with funny titles for every paper that you write

Right now, I’m sifting through 50+ applications for a new entry-level position. Here’s some advice from the person who will actually be looking at your CV/resume and cover letter:

• ‘You must include a cover letter’ does not mean ‘write a single line about why you want this position’. If you can’t be bothered to write at least one actual paragraphs about why you want this job, I can’t be bothered to read your CV.
• Don’t bother including a list of your interests if all you can think of is ‘socialising with friends’ and ‘listening to music’. Everyone likes those things. Unless you can explain why the stuff you do enriches you as a person and a candidate (e.g. playing an instrument or a sport shows dedication and discipline) then I honestly don’t care how you spend your time. I won’t be looking at your CV thinking ‘huh, they haven’t included their interests, they must have none’, I’m just looking for what you have included.
• Even if you apply online, I can see the filename you used for your CV. Filenames that don’t include YOUR name are annoying. Filenames like ‘CV - media’ tell me that you’ve got several CVs you send off depending on the kind of job advertised and that you probably didn’t tailor it for this position. ‘[Full name] CV’ is best.
• USE. A. PDF. All the meta information, including how long you worked on it, when you created it, times, etc, is right there in a Word doc. PDFs are far more professional looking and clean and mean that I can’t make any (unconscious or not) decisions about you based on information about the file.
• I don’t care what the duties in your previous unrelated jobs were unless you can tell me why they’re useful to this job. If you worked in a shop, and you’re applying for an office job which involves talking to lots of people, don’t give me a list of stuff you did, write a sentence about how much you enjoyed working in a team to help everyone you interacted with and did your best to make them leave the shop with a smile. I want to know what makes you happy in a job, because I want you to be happy within the job I’m advertising.
• Does the application pack say who you’ll be reporting to? Can you find their name on the company website? Address your application to them. It’s super easy and shows that you give enough of a shit to google something. 95% of people don’t do this.
• Tell me who you are. Tell me what makes you want to get up in the morning and go to work and feel fulfilled. Tell me what you’relooking for, not just what you think I’m looking for.
• I will skim your CV. If you have a bunch of bullet points, make every one of them count. Make the first one the best one. If it’s not interesting to you, it’s probably not interesting to me. I’m overworked and tired. Make my job easy.
• “I work well in a team or individually” okay cool, you and everyone else. If the job means you’ll be part of a big team, talk about how much you love teamwork and how collaborating with people is the best way to solve problems. If the job requires lots of independence, talk about how you are great at taking direction and running with it, and how you have the confidence to follow your own ideas and seek out the insight of others when necessary. I am profoundly uninterested in cookie-cutter statements. I want to know how you actually work, not how a teacher once told you you should work.
• For an entry-level role, tell me how you’re looking forward to growing and developing and learning as much as you can. I will hire genuine enthusiasm and drive over cherry-picked skills any day. You can teach someone to use Excel, but you can’t teach someone to give a shit. It makes a real difference.

• Celebrate with a milkshake or whatever (I did that for my AP Euro exam two years ago and it was probably the best decision ever, but you do whatever makes you happy)
• Take a nap, naps are great (especially if you’re the type of person that gets REALLY tense during the actual exam and gets really tired afterwards no matter how challenging the test was)
• Just do at least one nice thing for yourself if you can, even if it’s something small like looking at a cat video on youtube

Quick reminder, especially for you younger undergrads: Discipline is a skill, not a character trait. And just like any skill, it can be practiced and improved upon incrementally. Try not to get discouraged if you have a day, or multiple days, where you are less disciplined than you would like or need to be. Don’t quit. Don’t spend the next week binging Netflix because you think it’s a hopeless endeavour. Just get up the next day and try again. Each day you try is more practice, and each day you practice, you’ll get a little bit better, and that continual improvement will pay dividends in the long run





No one heals himself by wounding another.

She may be gentle
but know this, 
she is an indestructible warrior
with the universe within