More Truth Is Said In Jest...

...and it makes me smile!! :)

PS--Despair.com=AWESOMENESS

Pictures

I have always loved pictures!! :) The ability we have to capture a moment in time; to literally see the world through the eyes (or lens) of another; to be able to discover new ideas and concepts, to meet new people, to visit new places, to experience new...things...is AMAZING!!

But pictures have also scared me.

I have always disliked having my picture taken, with rare exception. Perhaps like some Native American tribes, I secretly believe that photographs can "steal" your soul!! ;P Nah...but something like it. I think I am afraid of having such a fixed moment in time define me. I am not "done" yet!! Photographs can make me feel trapped, as if I can no longer change.

However false I realize this is, it has been hard to shake. I simply try to remember that most of the time we see through a glass darkly. Our eyes, ears, and other senses all deceive us from time to time as we try to discern reality through that "dark room," the mind.

Making sense of the world is a tricky thing. Our minds have the power to bend and shape reality according to our thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. We must indeed be mindful of such power. I would add to Descartes,' "[As] I think, therefore I am."


Disclaimer: I have so source for Native Americans' stance on photography and soul stealing...it's just something I have "heard" before!! :)

PS--I make too many "I always..." statements!!!! :O
PPS--I am thinking about 'pictures' because I have just started a Photography class...which I LOVE!!! Awesome teacher, great class...all-around AMAZINGNESS!! :D

A Psalm of Life!!

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! --
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,--act in the living Present!
Heart within, and god o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There's A Reason Why Longfellow Is The "Poet And You Know It" Guy!!

Let us then labor for an inward stillness,
An inward stillness and an inward healing,
That perfect silence where the lips and heart
Are still, and we no longer entertain
Our own imperfect thought and vain opinions,
But God alone speaks in us, and we wait
In singleness of heart, that we may know
His will, and in the silence of our spirits,
That we may do His will, and do that only!

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

New Beginnings

Where to begin?! It has been ages since I have seen most of you!! This blog is an attempt to reach across the boundaries, both geographic and otherwise, which currently separate us. It has been awful to be so alienated from so many that I love. And that seems to include...just about everyone!!

My own doing of course.

And I suppose it could not be helped.

But this does not make it any easier!! People we meet, places we've been, all that we love, interact with, hold dear in our hearts...these all become an integral part of us. I hate separation. The pain of not having my parts all together!! If I were to be really dramatic I would say that I am a humpty dumpty, broken and without hope of being reineggated (I know, I know...that was terrible!! But at least I make myself laugh!! :) ).

But I am no humpty dumpty!! I'm much too coordinated to fall off a wall! ;P Rather, I would argue that I am a Miss Potato Head. I have all of my parts within me. Always. However each of these parts manifests itself...whether latent or dominant...and sometimes you just wear them all!!! :)

Talking about falling and new beginnings...I just want to share with you one of my theme songs from the fall. A song by Joshua Radin called Brand New Day. I ran the Philadelphia Half-Marathon in November, and I listened to this song the entire time!! YES, All 98 minutes!! I didn't even get sick of it...it just got under my skin. And the song seriously makes you happy!! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhUfVcLLvjo

Reader, I warn you...I will probably share with you every song and poem I know before a year has spun around!! Bahaahaha!! (yes...this is my evil laugh!!)

Not to prove a point, but another song I recently discovered just a few days ago really took me out of myself and has been under my skin ever since!! It was so sweet. The song is called Always With Me by Yumi Kimura. The singer, Nataliya Gudziy, has a beautiful voice and persona. Her performance was lovely and moving...and, BONUS, seems to be a really neat person!!

Nataliya is a Ukranian who lives in Japan and before the song tells a little of her story. She both speaks and sings in Japanese, but the words she gives before her song is translated in the side bar with a direct link to the translation of the lyrics. For those who just want to hear the song you can click to 5min28sec on the first video or directly click on the second video (which has no lyric link!). Wow!! No wonder I am so bad with directions!! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry_WACFd8Ds&feature=related#movie_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JiOQ1UBkzU&feature=related

So...I tend to give one giant "tell-all" which burns me out of correspondence. I just can't write for five hours at a time every day!! So I will leave you now so I can return to you all the sooner. :)

I love you. I miss you. And I will be seeing you soon...'Cause Becca's back!!

...or is at least beginning again. :)

PS---Please don't tease me too much about that "reineggated!!" In my defense I will tell you how sleep deprived I am...but then again, I am always sleep deprived. I just already feel stupid and self-conscious about it but am really just trying to be myself self and stop thinking so much and blah, blah, blah.....don't you just miss my ramblings?! ;)
PPS--Sorry for the bio terms, ie latent and dominant...what can I say?! I'm studying the human genome!! :) Seriously out-of-this-world AMAZINGNESS!!
PPPS-I just had to add one more!! :)