“If you’re really listening, if you’re awake to the poignant beauty of the world, your heart breaks regularly. In fact, your heart is made to break; its purpose is to burst open again and again so that it can hold evermore wonders.”
— Andrew Harvey
let’s get brunch and talk about anything and everything
i love people who are passionate about something. whether it is science or a new drama or cute pens or languages or music, please don’t feel like you would annoy people with it. you’ll never annoy me.
I just want to take a month long road trip up the coast with a couple close friends. it would consist of wine, canvases for painting, film photographs and film videos, running through flower fields, lazy surf days, being tourists in small towns, and spending most days under the sun without the presence of any social media. just our memories to keep
your health is important.
your dreams are important.
your future is important.
your happiness is important.
you are important.
thank you for being you
“Whatever has stood in the world leaves behind an imprint, an echo, a scent, a spirit. What is destroyed is also reclaimed. What has been lost waits to be found.”
— Jeanette Winterson, from “The Battles of the Sun,” publ. c. November 2009
in the breeze of the air, the shadow of a tree, the laugh of a friend, the setting of the sun, the taste of a coffee, the excitement of a child, the sweetness of a cookie, the melody of a song, the light of a star, the ending of a movie, happiness can be found; glowing and inviting.
“Yearn but still live. Dream but still aspire. Even if it doesn’t exist yet, place yourself in another world and wait for it to develop around you.”
— Megan Grant, excerpt from my journal 6 December 2018
“I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.”
who’s down to lay with me in a field and look at the stars and talk about everything
“She was made of flowers and satin and velveteen dreams. Put a bow in her hair and watch her eyes gleam.”
Cats are proof that you can be as much of a jerk as you want as long as you are cute
“Everything rough becomes delicate when you love it. More roses, more roses, more roses.”
— Juan Ramón Jiménez, tr by Robert Bly, from “Parsley Crown,” wr. c. 1916
Choose to be kind to someone today.
I need more stamps on my passport, books, skin care, scented candles, tea blends and lingerie
Can we skip to the part where I’m wearing my husbands tshirt flipping pancakes in a pretty house with a good job and two big dogs
Creative people are curious, flexible, and independent with a tremendous spirit and a love of play.”
- Henri Matisse
- Henri Matisse
Someone come with me to a foreign city and explore museums and cafés and local thrift shops
““You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.””
IF THEY DON’T GET YOU, SOMEONE ELSE WILL. IF THEY DON’T LOVE YOU, TONS OF OTHER PEOPLE WILL. IF THEY ARE NOT RIGHT FOR YOU IT’LL STILL BE OKAY.
I HOPE YOU FIND SOMEONE THAT MATCHES YOUR CAPACITY TO LOVE
SOMETIMES YOU DON’T GET WHAT YOU WANT, BECAUSE YOU DESERVE BETTER.
"Summer darkened her skin, lightened her hair and set a fire in her heart
““I think it’s very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone and not be defined by another person.””
“Simplicity, patience, compassion. These are your three biggest treasures.”
“The only two important things in life are real love and being at peace with yourself.”
The shortest poem is a name.”
— Anne Michaels
“If you have a family that loves you, a few good friends, food on your table and a roof over your head. You are richer than you think.”
“Two things you will never have to chase: True friends & true love.””
— Mandy Hale
““Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.””
“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.”
“Stop holding on to people that don’t want to be held. Use your time, space and energy for those that want you.”
“The most beautiful clothes that can dress a woman, are the arms of the man she loves and adores. For those who haven’t had the fortune of finding this happiness, Yves Saint Laurent is there.”
— Yves Saint-Laurent
you have dreamy eyes. i see the stars in them.
"Before my birth there was infinite time, and after my death, inexhaustible time. I never thought of it before: I’d been living luminously between two eternities of darkness."
— Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red
Dear friends and followers:
Language feels especially thin, especially today, so I’ll keep this brief.
Last week, a friend (if that word has the capacity to refer to a relationship of fleeting digital missives) crossed to the other side of the river. She was 28 years old. Her name was Jacqueline Winter Thomas, and her account was @heteroglossia. She was a poet of uncommon sensitivity, a thinker, who dwelled in language but more often dwelled in silence.
Jacqueline and I never met, but, in recent months, we shared our intellectual interests and discussed the tenuous possibility of studying together in grad school, a future that did not come to pass. First finding Jacqueline’s blog did nothing less than reorient my thinking and my life. So often, I wrote on here about writing letters that were never sent or waiting to write letters that could one day reach the other. Each time, I was writing to and about Jacqueline. As Derrida has said so often, Jacqueline now only remains in us and between us, the living, as memory.
@nemophilies has already shared some of her poems. Others include:
In what language does rain fall / over tormented cities? —Neruda
“For me, ‘I forgive you’ means ‘I forget you.’”
"It’s what writers and visual artists are trained to do: In the midst of a flood, consider the colour of the water."
— Abigail Dewitt, “When Writing Fiction Hurts the People You Love”
Air Signs - I love the way that your mind works, intricate cogs working tirelessly within your mind, conveying thoughts, concepts, strokes of genius each bigger and brighter than the one before. I admire the determination you hold for social justice, the way that you fight for a seat at the table to discuss your thoughts and ideas no matter who tries to put you down. You can be as strong as a hurricane or as graceful as a butterfly.
Fire Signs - Your warmth can be both gentle or overwhelming. I love that your personality can be comforting like a warm living room fire, or it could almost numb the senses with bonfire-like intensity. Your passion and desire is second to none and inspires a spark in even the coldest person’s heart. You provide warmth to the newborn infant, you strike fire into the heart of the revolutionary.
Earth Signs - How I wish I could see just how deep your roots grow. Your soil is rich and fertile, giving life to revolutionary ideas and setting them in motion every day. You are organised in your chaos, you grit your teeth and bare through where others would call it quits. You have the power tear the world down and the ability to build it back from scratch, don’t let anyone confine you to cheap labels.
Water Signs - Your waters may be murky at times, but when the dust settles and everything becomes clear - oh how beautiful it is to see through your lens. You hold such depth, depths that nobody else can reach. You remain a mystery to everybody else while working in your own intricate way, embracing the chaos in your emotion and loving every ounce. You hold an entire world within you, with the power to drown it out or bring life to the planet.
“You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.”
— Eliezer Yudkowsky
There are no boundaries. You may go as far as your heart desires, as high as your dreams may take you, and as deep as your passions may burn from within.
“You smiled at the stars like they knew all your secrets.”
Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world only, our own, we see that world multiply itself and we have at our disposal as many worlds as there are original artists, worlds more different one from the other than those which revolve in infinite space, worlds which, centuries after the extinction of the fire from which their light first emanated, whether it is called Rembrandt or Vermeer, send us still each one its special radiance.”
— Marcel Proust
“A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust
“A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. The great instrument of moral good is the imagination.”
— Percy Bysshe Shelley, from “A Defence of Poetry”
Art emerges from silence; silence, from one’s place in the world.”
— Anne Michaels, excerpt of Modersohn - Becker from Miner’s Pond
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Simplicity is not a goal, but one arrives at simplicity in spite of oneself, as one approaches the real meaning of things.”
— Herbert Read
…When I said I was considering something more creative, [my father] shook his head as if I’d been terribly mistaken and said there was no need for that; I was already an artist by blood; all immigrants are artists because they create a life, a future, from nothing but a dream. The immigrant’s life is art in its purest form.”
— Edwidge Danticat, All Immigrants Are Artists
“You seemed to me to be a person of enormous sensitivity, but strong.”
— Clarice Lispector, from a letter to Olga Borelli featured in “Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector,”
“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”
you can fall in love at 30. you can discover your true passion at 40. you can go back to school at 50. you can learn to draw, or paint, or sing at 60. relax. just because you didn’t do most, or any, of the things considered “young adult milestones” doesn’t mean you never will. there’s no time limit on happiness.
“I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us. The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it.”
when I was younger, I used to think true love was tumultuous and intense. but now, I feel like real love is gentle. passionate in a soft, sweet way. not fireworks and drama, but a love that’s like coming home, the breeze on a still summer day. a balm to the aches of the world.
Men with feelings. Men who communicate. Men who are great friends. Men who care. Men who cry.
“Uwielbiam rozmawiać z Tobą w nocy, tuż przed snem. Jesteś najwspanialszym happy endem dnia, jaki tylko można sobie wyobrazić, bez względu na to, jak podły czy dobry ten dzień był.”
“I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
with the right person, sometimes kissing feels like healing
In everything, no matter what it may be, uniformity is undesirable. Leaving something incomplete makes it interesting, and gives one the feeling that there is room for growth. Someone once told me, “Even when building the imperial palace, they always leave one place unfinished.” In both Buddhist and Confucian writings of the philosophers of former times, there are also many missing chapters…"
— Yoshida Kenkō, Essays in Idleness: The Tsurezuregusa of Kenkō 
"Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but ‘steal’ some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be."
— Albert Camus, Notebooks 1951-1959
Some things could only be written in a foreign language; they are not lost in translation, but conceived by it. Foreign verbs of motion could be the only ways of transporting the ashes of familial memory. After all, a foreign language is like art—an alternative reality, a potential world. Once it is discovered, one can no longer go back to monolinguistic existence."
— Svetlana Boym, “Estrangement as a Lifestyle: Shklovsky and Brodsky”
- Cried watching Roma. Cried watching Il Deserto Rosso. Cried watching Hiroshima, Mon Amour. Again.
- Had coffee with an elderly poet and painter who advised me to keep my notebook wrapped in tinfoil so that my writing survives fire.
- Wandering the gallery halls after hours: intimate moments with strange forms.
- Preparing for my final interview for a position in Tokyo.
“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.”
— Thích Nhất Hạnh
You are alive and have witnessed the first blackhole to ever be seen in human history.
“Just be yourself. Let people see the real imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful and magical person you are.”
What do I do with the insane amount of imagery that exists inside my head
i’m a hopeless Romantic. walk with me in the graveyards of gothic cathedrals, transcend the confines of elitist and rationalistic structures of discourse, and join me in an eternal spiritual quest for the strange and sublime.
You can begin again. You are not behind. You are exactly where you need to be to get to where you want to go.
for 2019 i want to cultivate a beautiful lifestyle. i want to be the one to text first, to visit beautiful places, to take time preparing nourishing meals and to embrace each seasonal change from the daffodils and blossom, to the blue skies and warm air, to the autumnal leaves falling and to the frosty mornings and seeing your breath.
you need to give yourself permission to be happy now. not when you lost weight, not when you found your soulmate, not when you have more money. we seek excitement from future events, but once those goals are met, the temporary pleasures will pass and they will be replaced by the next fantasy. devote your full attention to your inner self and appreciate being in the moment. happiness is never external, but a way of living and appreciating life. it’s not reality, just the way you perceive it. so go and shift your focus from the outcome to watching yourself grow.
do you ever think about if you’ve ever been truly yourself around one person? I have so many different sides to me for so many different people and I don’t even think the ones who know me best truly know anything about me
Go into 2019 with a warrior mindset. You’re going to fight to make this year the best for you because you and strong and you are in control of your life. No one can take that away your positivity and your fighting spirit.
“Someone you haven’t met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.”
There comes a point in life where you just want better for yourself. A better life, better people, better energies, better routine, better faith, better health, better mental progression.
Know in your heart that you will attract everything that is meant for you.
“Confidence is priceless. To look in the mirror and feel happy about your existence, to feel good about who you are. I pray that you feel that.”
If you see beauty in something, don’t wait for others to agree.
“Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it.”
— Maya Angelou
“You’ve got to really love yourself before you can let yourself be happy. You have to believe you deserve it. Otherwise you just can’t bear the joy.”
“Falling in love with someone who makes you feel like anything is possible is so wonderful. Appreciate the feeling while it lasts. Let that person make you happy.”
I want romance. Love letters. Someone watching me when I’m doing nothing and smiling just because I’m there. Someone to hold me close and tell me everything’s gonna be fine. Hold my hand and take me on an adventure. Sweep the tears from my cheeks. To dance with me and laugh and laugh and laugh. To let me lay on their chest and listen to their heartbeat and know I’m not alone.
"I shudder, I see the love, I’m doomed, my heart melts again — can’t stand not to be in love, can’t stand not to be melting with real tenderness, childlike need sweetnesses, that’s what’s wrong with me."
me seducing someone: I blog about you sometimes
a process is as hard as you make it be. even if sometimes that’s not what we want to hear - we have so much influence on how we perceive something. if you think of studying as something burdensome, something tiring you’ll never properly accomplish, then it’s going to be that way. sometimes life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. but if you “romanticize” certain aspects of your daily, social or academic life, that might make things much more bearable. try to find some joy, some positive aspect in everything you do and frame it that way in your thoughts.
something i learned today is to give yourself permission to imagine yourself as someone you aren’t yet. to give yourself permission to dream, to see that vision of yours that’s not true yet. allow yourself to see who you could become, even if there’s still a long way to go.
Running away from your problems will only make them worse. No matter whether through distraction or obsession. Nothing will suddenly make you happy or magically remove everything bad from your life. The faster you acknowledge, accept and understand what’s wrong, the faster you can work to improve your situation. No university, relationship, grade or book can fix them for you, so don’t pretend they can.
you’re going to get that dream job. you’re going to learn to love yourself. you’re going to realize your potential. you’re going to attract so many interesting, amazing people. you’re going to be happy - because you’re going to work hard for that.
4,320 NOTES REBLOG this year, try to: avert unhealthy coping mechanisms worry less about potential futures let your loved ones know just how much you care about them get to know yourself better and analyze your own patterns challenge yourself in your work, in your art, in your way of treating others stop comparing yourself to others instead of your past self be proud of yourself always have a little bit of faith in the universe realize that some things have to happen effortlessly realize that some other things do require hard work step outside your comfort zone while knowing your limits be your best self
Remember to take your time. Reflect on your surroundings, your relationships with others, and your own emotions. It’s so important to know yourself and what is best for you - what do you love to do, who do you love to be around with, how do you react to stress or failure and what helps you relax. Take a break sometimes. A few breaths. Or write something down each day - it’s a great way to learn more about yourself and see how to apply those lessons to your life and the goals you hope to achieve. Sometimes you even need to change your goals altogether, realizing it’s not what you want or what’s best for you anymore. And that’s okay.
Take this as a sign to create. To embrace. To really feel and engage with the world around you. To experience life; for its beauty and its sadness, to see both and accept both. Be delighted because of the small things: the smiles, the rainbows, the lights, and the book pages. Be delighted because of all the big things yet to come, too: the strangers who become essential, the creations you’ll make, the knowledge you’ll gather, the affection you’ll give and receive. There is so much waiting, and it’s up to you how you experience it. Live life like you’ve always wanted, and don’t let anything hold you back.
my word of the year is going to be delight. to be delighted by everything i do and put effort in. by the people i meet and the connections i form, by those i love now and those i have yet to meet. to be conscious about life, to enjoy it and to be mesmerized each day. both grateful for the past and excited for the future, but never forgetting the present, and how important it is to make the most out of it.
Don’t worry if your goals seem too far away or unreachable — if people tell you it’s never going to happen. People are wrong. The only person who can set limits in regards to what you can or should become is you. You’ll grow, one step after another, and soon enough you will look back and realize that you’ve become the person you’ve wanted to be, the person they didn’t believe could exist.
Ask yourself what you want to do in your life. Not what you want to achieve eventually, not what the result should look like. Just think about what process would bring you joy. How do you want your life to look like, your mornings, your afternoons, your evenings? How do you want to spend your time? Stop chasing one achievement after the other, this will lead you, for the most part of your life, nowhere you want to be.
if you want something, go for it. ask her out, apply for that job, try that new hobby. life is all about your experience, and you shouldn’t let your own fear condemn you to a life you don’t want to lead. you’re stronger than that. take the risk, and see where it takes you.
me, after losing one (1) follower:
it’s not about the numbers. i don’t care what anyone else thinks, and i’m confident in myself and my blog. you can’t be liked by everyone, and better to be hated than loved for what you’re not.
me: …
me: …
me: please come back what did i do wrong
create happy memories. decide what you want your life to look like. decide what kind of person you want to be. change your attitude - you’re growing, changing, developing. let yourself do that. have fun, never forget to be kind. life flows, make the most of it.
if there’s a voice deep inside you telling you what makes you truly happy, telling you what you should do, don’t let it die.
you have so much time, so many opportunities. just focus on building the best life you can for yourself - filled with people that enrich it, and activities you truly enjoy and take pride in. believe in yourself and your abilities, never forget your worth, and everything else will set itself into place.
gentle reminder that you can do anything you set your mind on
Your good score isn’t any less good just because you worked very hard for it. Your grade isn’t any less admirable just because you invested a lot of time in your preparation. Hard work is nothing to be ashamed of, but rather something to strive for.
the biggest mistake you could make is to allow others to define you
today is the day to be a bit kinder. the day to be a bit braver. the day to be a bit more
go on. create. shape worlds with your thoughts, move others with your art, change something with your ideas. creation flows in your veins - embrace it
life is full of new beginnings. everything changes and you change too. you have the potential to be who you want to be - don’t be afraid. your past only helps your future.
Use your potential and use every opportunity. Nothing but you can limit who you might develop to be
me: very soft, tries very hard, worries a lot, sleepy, big dreams and aspirations
every new person you meet is an opportunity to grow. you can learn so much from them - gain a totally different perspective, find out more about their interests, or their general view on life. with every person you meet, your character can change and grow and improve, and that’s such a beautiful thing
be the person others can look up to. be kind, but know your worth. illuminate a room with your presence, compliment others to brighten their day. work hard for your dreams but know when to rest. enjoy the little moments, and remember that what will be will be.
the passion in your veins and the determination in your heart will never let you down
do it for the look on their faces when you prove them wrong. do it for the feeling of finally reaching your goal. do it for those who love you and will always be proud of you. do it for your future. do it for those you’ll be able to help. do it for your eternal thirst for knowledge. do it for your past self, who never stopped believing in you. do it for the new opportunities and possibilities. do it for yourself.
you can be gentle and confident. you can be soft and sharp. you can study on some evenings and party on others. you can be badass and a princess. you can be everything at once.
you are the future - you can decide your own fate, you can change the world, you can be the person you have always wanted to be.
concept: I am doing something that fulfills me and makes me genuinely happy, my life is filled with interesting people and projects. I feel at home everywhere in the world, and every day provides me with new opportunities and chances.
and one beautiful morning you will wake up, and everything will go just as you’ve imagined. because on some days, dreams do come true.
compliment people. not in the “fake” way, but in the sense that if you notice how great their hair looks, or how hard they have been working in the past few days, or how cute and inspiring their blog is, tell them. they’ll appreciate it, and maybe blush a little or smile, eyes lightening up, and maybe that little compliment or ask will make their day.
Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. William Jennings Bryan
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. Thomas A. Edison
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