I have determined that it is worth it to get up in the morning instead of sleep in when a cause is presented. Most any cause is worth it: even if you don't think it will be the day before, and especially the morning of. To sleep in can be to miss an opportunity that defines you and you wouldn't trade for the world.
Treat your sleep with respect at night. Do not idolize it in the morning.
1/30/11
Monday, January 31, 2011
Adventure
UNDERCITY from Andrew Wonder on Vimeo.
We crossed a bridge and jumped a fence to our own adventure.
1/29/11
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Unconditional
I'm reading "The Four Loves" by CS Lewis and he talks about the different forms love takes, and in my mind each one has been a completely different form and identify for love, but I'm learning that love is love. Your love for a person can change from affection, to eros, to friendship and it's not becoming something new each time: it's the exact same love. It hit me recently that I don't need to completely abandon my love for someone as it changes so that I can begin to love them in a new way: it's okay for me to continue to love, with the same love. Because I battled with the knowledge that real love is unconditional, but I felt like I need to stop loving to love a different way: that's not true. Love is love, and it's unconditional no matter what, and the way you express it may be different depending on the person or thing, but never do you need to make it stop so that it can morph into something new. That's a relief.
1/28/11
1/28/11
Friday, January 28, 2011
Renewed
When I thought of how much I miss the different epochs of my life and wish I could have them back, wish they had never left me, and I them, the Fall came to mind for the first time today. People always talk about how all the things that make us unhappy are a result of the Fall, which I'm not completely on board with, and having those times not be here now pains me, and so it makes me ponder how that could be a result of the Fall. And if it is, how will that be renewed and be made perfect in heaven? I can only hope.
1/27/11
1/27/11
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Of Deacon Ken

Kenneth Donohue, known to countless Anchorage residents as "Deacon Ken" for his role in the local Catholic ministry, died Jan. 23, 2011 of pancreatic cancer. He was 71.
A visitation will be held from 7-9 p.m. Friday and his life will be celebrated with a Mass of the Resurrection at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, with a reception afterward in the church hall. A private burial with full military honors will be held at For Richardson, his last duty station as a U.S. Army officer.
Kenneth Donohue was born June 5, 1939, on Long Island, N.Y. He grew up in Baltimore, attending St. Charles Minor Seminary, Loyola High School, and Loyola College. In 1961, he earned a business degree and received his commission as a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Reserves the same day.
He married Miriam Meisz on Sept. 9, 1961. Kenneth's military assignments included Baltimore, where son Brian was born; Asmara, Ethiopia, where Erin and Mark, their other children, were born; Vietnam; Fort Dix, N.J.; the Pentagon; and Fort Richardson. Following military service, he worked for the U.S. Civil Service until 1998. He obtained funding to build the Creek Course at Moose Run and the Army Recreational Center in Seward, Alaska.
Between military and civil-service careers, responding to God's calling, he became part of the Archdiocese of Anchorage's first formation class of permanent deacons. He was ordained Dec. 6, 1981. In subsequent years, he directed the formation program and served at St. Patrick's until 1995 and then at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's until his death. He counseled couples about marriage, officiated at weddings and funerals, baptized hundreds of babies, and frequently visited hospitals to pray with patients and comfort people in grief.
Deacon Ken perhaps most cherished his role teaching adults who expressed interest to learn about the Roman Catholic faith or to have a stronger relationship with God. Every year since 1984, he guided a group of adults through a months-long course in church values, culminating in baptism. The Archdiocese of Anchorage honored him in February 2010 with the St. Francis of Assisi Award.
Late in 2010, even after cancer, radiation and chemotherapy had sapped his stamina, Deacon Ken's spirit compelled him to teach a class to new aspirants to Anchorage's diaconate program.
He frequently credited his wife, Miriam, for the selfless love and encouragement that enabled him to pursue his vocation to God and the church. The couple held hands for more than 50 years.
Deacon Ken is survived by Miriam, his devoted wife of 49 years; by his son Brian, grandson Brooks and daughter-in-law Nicole, all of Seattle; daughter Erin and son-in-law Robb, of Anchorage; and son Mark, daughter-in-law Geri and grandchildren Emily Grace, Caleb and Jack, of Greenwood, La. He also is survived by two sisters and their spouses: Eileen and Chuck Lavin of Silver Spring, Md., and Carolyn and Gerry Gelazela of Surprise, Az., and their children. Other near family members include sister-in-law Dorothy Cooper of Easton and Henry and Karen Jeffries of Ellicott City, Md. Deacon Ken was preceded in death by his parents, Edmund and Lucia Donohue.
In lieu of flowers, the Donohue family asks that expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to SEAS School/Parish Renovation Fund for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 2901 Huffman Rd., Anchorage, AK, 99516-2042.
Arrangements are with Janssen's Evergreen Memorial Chapel; www.janssenfuneralhomes.com.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/adn/obituary.aspx?n=kenneth-donohue&pid=148091757&eid=sp_shareobit
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I didn't know any of that about him. Here's what I knew.
Deacon Ken was apart of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. When I attended their elementary school he gave me smiles, communion, guidance, and read me stories. He was humble and happy. His presence was always accompanied by that of Father Scott: they're inseparable in my mind.
Deacon Ken embodies a portion of my childhood that I hold with great affection. That school and that church that were the definition of my experiences and culture contained him as apart of what make them what they are in my memory. He is apart of the smell of the sanctuary, the look of the stained glass, the culture of the mass, the love that place exudes, the mystery it encompasses, and the lightness of childhood that I experienced.
Years after I had left St. Elizabeth's and was in high school, I went back to a mass there. I walked up the aisle for communion, wondered if after all these years and changes he would recognize me now from the elementary kid I was, and sure enough as he picked up a piece of communion and looked up at me a smile of sentimentality and recognition spread across his face, and I returned the favor: "The body of Christ" "Amen." That's the last memory I have of him.
Things we have eternal affection for will fade away. Churches will be knocked down and replaced, teachers will move on to different jobs, different priests will take over your parish, playgrounds will be expanded upon, and the places that you once knew will not be the same. They will, like everything, die. I'm learning that this is true in all areas of my life: that those experiences and times of life that I love, with a passion deeper than words, will pass away. But they leave an impression that never withers, and never falters, and never dies. When I think of St. Elizabeth's it is the same to me as it ever was, it feels the same as it did eight years ago. Deacon Ken is the same to me as he ever was, and that doesn't change, even now.
Deacon Ken, thank you for being who you were, and still are.
1/26/11
Monday, January 24, 2011
Me too.
Curiosity
"DaVinci was an artist and a mathematician and an engineer. He knew everything! He did everything! I wish I was awesome. I wish I was DaVinci."
"You just have to be curious."

I live in the land of Google and wifi. Any piece of information I want to know can be at my fingertips at a moments notice. I live in the land of opportunity. I can go to a university and choose to study absolutely anything I want. I live in a land of convenience. I can regulate the temperature, sound level, and brightness of my environment. I can cure myself of wet hair, hunger, exhaustion, and boredom at a moments notice. I can flip a switch, press a button, and turn a key to solve most of my life's problems. I don't need to know how modern technology works: it just does.
Has our culture lost its curiousity? With everything provided for us, and no reason to understand why, I've lost the need to know. In a world where you had to perform work to survive on a daily basis and not live in complete comfort daily, your thoughts for progress would be much more prevalent.
I want to be a DaVinci. I want the end without the means. I need to get outside of my plush and royal existence and live in a way that demands my curiosity.
1/23/11
"You just have to be curious."

I live in the land of Google and wifi. Any piece of information I want to know can be at my fingertips at a moments notice. I live in the land of opportunity. I can go to a university and choose to study absolutely anything I want. I live in a land of convenience. I can regulate the temperature, sound level, and brightness of my environment. I can cure myself of wet hair, hunger, exhaustion, and boredom at a moments notice. I can flip a switch, press a button, and turn a key to solve most of my life's problems. I don't need to know how modern technology works: it just does.
Has our culture lost its curiousity? With everything provided for us, and no reason to understand why, I've lost the need to know. In a world where you had to perform work to survive on a daily basis and not live in complete comfort daily, your thoughts for progress would be much more prevalent.
I want to be a DaVinci. I want the end without the means. I need to get outside of my plush and royal existence and live in a way that demands my curiosity.
1/23/11
Sunday, January 23, 2011
"I have nothing but time."
She stood relaxed in the kitchen, her weight shifted onto one hip in what was to me early morning light. She poured cocoa mix into a measuring cup, tapped the cup, poured more, tapped the cup and used a knife to make sure the cocoa was even before adding more. Someone noted that they would not have the patience to perform the task so lazily and slow, but she laughed and responded, "I have nothing but time." And as I stood there in my pajamas with my towel in hand, halfway between waking up late and hurrying to shower, I caught a glimpse of eternity. For one not slow or meticulous moment as she poured the cocoa I knew what it was like to live without a schedule, expectations, or deadlines. I knew what it was like to do in contentment. She was living in time: not trying to save a moment by holding it down or rush through it to achieve, but ticking in time with it. Time was all she had. It was peace. It was heaven. Shivering I scurried to the bathroom to shower.
1/22/11
1/22/11
to SING
I watched a woman sing this today. I wanted to die in my chair. I feel as though you need to be godlike to be able to perform this.
1/21/11
1/21/11
Friday, January 21, 2011
Ask and you shall recieve.
Why pray when God already has a plan? It seems rather foolish to pray for the future to be a certain way when God has already decided how it's going to be. As though we know best to ask for it to be a certain way.
Why try to build a picture of God from others experiences and opinions, and even our perceptions of what the Bible is saying, if we run such a high and probable risk of creating a false image of who God really is and then worshiping it?
I, and not just I, I have been reminded, am afraid that if I build up a picture of God I will once again discover that I have him completely wrong and have been talking to a figment of my imagination, because the god I've built is not He.
I'd like to know straight from him who he is and what he wants from me. Don't go telling me the Bible's all I need.
1/20/11
Why try to build a picture of God from others experiences and opinions, and even our perceptions of what the Bible is saying, if we run such a high and probable risk of creating a false image of who God really is and then worshiping it?
I, and not just I, I have been reminded, am afraid that if I build up a picture of God I will once again discover that I have him completely wrong and have been talking to a figment of my imagination, because the god I've built is not He.
I'd like to know straight from him who he is and what he wants from me. Don't go telling me the Bible's all I need.
1/20/11
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Love Poetry
For my Ancient World Literature class we got to read some ancient love poetry and songs. Here's one of my favorites: it's an Egyptian love poem from about 1570-1090 B.C.E. translated by W.K. Simpson. It just goes to show that situations and sentimentality hasn't changed. Nor the way we show affection.
The voice of the turtledove speaks out
The voice of the turtledove speaks out. It says:
day breaks, which way are you going?
Lay off, little bird,
must you so scold me?
I found my lover on his bed,
and my heart was sweet to excess,
We said:
I shall never be far away from you
while my hand is in your hand,
and I shall stroll with you
in every favorite place.
He set me as first of the girls
and he does not break my heart.
The voice of the turtledove speaks out. It says:
day breaks, which way are you going?
Lay off, little bird,
must you so scold me?
I found my lover on his bed,
and my heart was sweet to excess,
We said:
I shall never be far away from you
while my hand is in your hand,
and I shall stroll with you
in every favorite place.
He set me as first of the girls
and he does not break my heart.
And just to show that some things don't change after 3580 years:
I embrace her, and her arms open wide
I embrace her, and her arms open wide,
I am like a man in Punt,
like someone overwhelmed with drugs.
I kiss her,
her lips open,
and I am drunk
without a beer.
I don't care what people say
The rush is worth the price I pay
I get so high when you're with me
But crash and crave you when you are away
Because you're love, your love, your love, is my drug.
I embrace her, and her arms open wide,
I am like a man in Punt,
like someone overwhelmed with drugs.
I kiss her,
her lips open,
and I am drunk
without a beer.
I don't care what people say
The rush is worth the price I pay
I get so high when you're with me
But crash and crave you when you are away
Because you're love, your love, your love, is my drug.
K$SHA and the Egyptians seem to have a similar thought process.
I just love to see that 3000 year old poetry is still our poetry today. That love is the same as it ever was.
1/19/11
I just love to see that 3000 year old poetry is still our poetry today. That love is the same as it ever was.
1/19/11
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Intertwined
When I think of my friendships with people, I think of them as each being their own private entity. It never occurred to me that in sharing my story with someone else it becomes their story, and when they share their story with someone else my story is apart of that. When I think of being honest, I think of it as being a conscious decision that I have to make: one in which I have to give my approval for disclosure. But that's not the case. I'm honest about who I am every time I build a relationship with someone, and that honesty is spread out through a long network of friendships and community. I've been focused on controlling my self image and what people think of me, and hiding the things I don't want anyone to know. But that's impossible. I think I'm okay with that.

1/17/11
My story is a part of a whole.
1/17/11
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Anger
"The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD."
~Genesis
The stages of grief and loss: Denial and Isolation, Bargaining, Depression, Anger, Acceptance.
1/16/11
~Genesis
The stages of grief and loss: Denial and Isolation, Bargaining, Depression, Anger, Acceptance.
1/16/11
Self Destructive
Occasionally (or sometimes not so occasionally) I feel the pull of self destructive urges. The desire to go do something irrational and irresponsible in the face of boredom or upset, and not think about the consequences at all. I'm carnal. (So are you).
In the past I haven't been very good at controlling my self destructive tenancies (of all kinds). To my grand surprise I've been demonstrating a firm sense of self control in my current life. I'm assuming that when my wisdom wins over my emotions in the form of self control within a lifestyle in which that doesn't often occur, it means that whatever that situation is it's a big deal.
When self control becomes easy I better damn well pay attention to what's going on because it means that situation takes special care.
The song is "Take It Off" By K$SHA. Yes, it means exactly what you think it means. Also it embodies a mindset: and that's the point
1/15/11
In the past I haven't been very good at controlling my self destructive tenancies (of all kinds). To my grand surprise I've been demonstrating a firm sense of self control in my current life. I'm assuming that when my wisdom wins over my emotions in the form of self control within a lifestyle in which that doesn't often occur, it means that whatever that situation is it's a big deal.
When self control becomes easy I better damn well pay attention to what's going on because it means that situation takes special care.
The song is "Take It Off" By K$SHA. Yes, it means exactly what you think it means. Also it embodies a mindset: and that's the point
1/15/11
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Vanity
There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is worthless and hollow, and a striving after wind. ---Ecclesiastes

These people will not be remembered. Not their names or birthdays, not their favorite colors or favorite pastimes. The things that they held dear like their grandmother sitting in her chair humming old tunes, the sound of their mother in the kitchen, the smell of the earth in the wind and the arguments before bed. Not their thoughts of strength as they went hungry, not their courage in the face of despair. What they were proud of in their lives, what made them who they are is gone. What gave their lives value is gone. They, in all their glory, are not remembered.
"Our life is a book to which we add daily, until suddenly we are finished, and then the manuscript is burned."
— J.M. Barrie
I won't be remembered either. Maybe my name, and maybe my birthday, but no one will know the value I found in the fireflies over that field, my love for boston creme donuts, the way I drink my coffee, or what I collect. No one will have my bike, my stuffed animals, or my dried roses. No one will remember my greatest accomplishments: the conquering of my temper, the summer I biked, the saving of my friend, the learning to love, and all the wisdom I acquire. All the wisdom I acquire has always existed before me and will be gone from me when I die.
I will not be remembered and everything I do is meaningless.
How am I to live my life?
1/12/11

These people will not be remembered. Not their names or birthdays, not their favorite colors or favorite pastimes. The things that they held dear like their grandmother sitting in her chair humming old tunes, the sound of their mother in the kitchen, the smell of the earth in the wind and the arguments before bed. Not their thoughts of strength as they went hungry, not their courage in the face of despair. What they were proud of in their lives, what made them who they are is gone. What gave their lives value is gone. They, in all their glory, are not remembered.
"Our life is a book to which we add daily, until suddenly we are finished, and then the manuscript is burned."
— J.M. Barrie
I won't be remembered either. Maybe my name, and maybe my birthday, but no one will know the value I found in the fireflies over that field, my love for boston creme donuts, the way I drink my coffee, or what I collect. No one will have my bike, my stuffed animals, or my dried roses. No one will remember my greatest accomplishments: the conquering of my temper, the summer I biked, the saving of my friend, the learning to love, and all the wisdom I acquire. All the wisdom I acquire has always existed before me and will be gone from me when I die.
I will not be remembered and everything I do is meaningless.
How am I to live my life?
1/12/11
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Nightmares
Most of my dreams involve someone chasing me, whether very near or very far away, and trying to kill me. This doesn't bother be very much anymore considering it's become a regular occurrence, and most of the time it ends up being much like a video game: if I lose, it starts over and I get a chance to try something new. I like to think my dreams give me an extra place to learn about myself, what works and what doesn't, and how to be courageous. I once went through a phase where I was terrified that if someone was in trouble, I would be too afraid to help them. I would have dreams that my friends were being attacked and I was hiding, that someone was in trouble and I was too afraid to go help them at risk of getting hurt myself. I kept having these dreams until I learned to man up and risk my life for the sake of others: sometimes I died, sometimes I lived. That literally translated over to the way I live my life.
In my dreams I choose my own actions, and I feel pain. Last night in my dreams I would wake up and be laying on a bed, or a table, and someone would be standing over me. These were people I knew and it was someone different almost every time. So I would wake up, they would talk to me for maybe a moment, and then would proceed to attempt to hold me down and eat me alive. I got no sleep, went in and out of terrified dreams all night, and woke up a sleep deprived bitch.
Why is this important? I want to find the value of sleep. Dreaming is a way for me to learn, to experience, to mold and shape my life. You'd be surprised by the character changes that occur after you've been chewed on and pulled out people's hair all night. Getting sleep allows me to learn, change, vent, adventure, experience, and renew. And if I don't get sleep I end up a miserable, deadpan, stuffy and sick disaster (like the whole of this morning): and that really affects the quality of my day.
Sleeping is not an extension of the day before you go to sleep, it's the beginning of the day that is to come. That's one reason why it's important.
PS This post it pending a picture. When I looked up a picture of what I wanted, it freaked me out so much that I'm not sure I really want to put it on here...in fear of the viewers sanity. And my own when reading this back. So...we'll see.
Instead of horrifying pictures you get this:
1/11/11
In my dreams I choose my own actions, and I feel pain. Last night in my dreams I would wake up and be laying on a bed, or a table, and someone would be standing over me. These were people I knew and it was someone different almost every time. So I would wake up, they would talk to me for maybe a moment, and then would proceed to attempt to hold me down and eat me alive. I got no sleep, went in and out of terrified dreams all night, and woke up a sleep deprived bitch.
Why is this important? I want to find the value of sleep. Dreaming is a way for me to learn, to experience, to mold and shape my life. You'd be surprised by the character changes that occur after you've been chewed on and pulled out people's hair all night. Getting sleep allows me to learn, change, vent, adventure, experience, and renew. And if I don't get sleep I end up a miserable, deadpan, stuffy and sick disaster (like the whole of this morning): and that really affects the quality of my day.
Sleeping is not an extension of the day before you go to sleep, it's the beginning of the day that is to come. That's one reason why it's important.
PS This post it pending a picture. When I looked up a picture of what I wanted, it freaked me out so much that I'm not sure I really want to put it on here...in fear of the viewers sanity. And my own when reading this back. So...we'll see.
Instead of horrifying pictures you get this:
1/11/11
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Alone Time
When things are going great with people and I'm frequently surrounded by loving friends, I find that I want alone time. It's not at all that I don't want to hang out with groups or that I'm tired of them, but I find that when I do get some hours of quiet time to myself, I can enjoy them with the comfort of knowing that I'm not alone because no one wants to be with me, but that I've been filled to the brim with satisfaction because of the time people have spent on me, and can therefore make my time alone something that is not sorrow or boredom and seclusion, but a time of renewal, peace and depth.
What I want to remember is that when I start hating my time alone and finding misery in it, it means that I have lost the balance in my life and need to spend more time with my friends, and in this case the lovely women that I live with and the others that love them as well.
11/10/11
What I want to remember is that when I start hating my time alone and finding misery in it, it means that I have lost the balance in my life and need to spend more time with my friends, and in this case the lovely women that I live with and the others that love them as well.
11/10/11
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Bedtime
I never want to go to sleep at night. That's why I stay up until insane hours and don't get any sleep. My theory is that I don't feel like I've accomplished enough in my day and I still feel the need to do things, even if they're pointless, so that I will feel good about having filled my day with activities. Possibly this can be cured by finding the value in sleep. What can I gain by sleeping, or what will I have accomplished by going to sleep?
1/9/11
1/9/11
Inherited Frustrations
Often I think that I've conquered my anger because I don't freak out at people anymore, and I can stay calm when I'm mad at people or a certain frustration. I've learned a lot of patience. What I haven't learned to control is the anger that hits me quickly for no reason. If I can think logically about why I'm angry I can stay calm and empathize with those around me. If I can't trace the root of my anger and I'm just pissed...things get out of control. I need to learn to be patient no matter what the root of my anger is.
1/8/11
1/8/11
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Peer Pressure
Okay...so I'm highly susceptible to peer pressure. It's never as bad or as big a deal as I think it is. BUT. Truth I learned from someone else: it's easier to be judgmental when you're on the outside looking in. The second it's you, you realize it's not what you thought it was. And possibly even not as bad. And even if it is that bad, you learn to identify with other people, see where they're coming from, and no longer condemn them for what they do.
TOTAL SIDE NOTE: Jesus knew people and understood them without condemning them, that means he was on the inside and not the outside looking in, therefore I'm betting he did a lot of things that modern Christians would think are "sketchy" today. Such as fueling the alcohol for a wild wedding party. Go Jesus.
1/7/11
TOTAL SIDE NOTE: Jesus knew people and understood them without condemning them, that means he was on the inside and not the outside looking in, therefore I'm betting he did a lot of things that modern Christians would think are "sketchy" today. Such as fueling the alcohol for a wild wedding party. Go Jesus.
1/7/11
Friday, January 7, 2011
Pets
I hate to be alone. I'm learning to enjoy it in small doses. Mostly I want people with me, because the times that mean the most to me are the times when I'm being lazy and I have the presence of someone there with me, also being lazy, but still loving me. Pets that want to lay around with you all day, love on you and follow you around the house give off the essence of what I want from a person. They're unconditional and attentive.


You can call me the pug whisperer.
11/6/11


You can call me the pug whisperer.
11/6/11
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Science of the Soul
I was reading DISCOVER The Year In Science. It tells me that affection stems from the need to protect social networks, moral values can be changed by magnetic fields, and when love is felt, the part of your brain that gets activated is its reward system: in heartbreak, the neural pathways associated with cravings and addictions get activated, as well as those regions associated with distress and physical pain. I translate that to meaning that my affection is subconsciously selfish, my moral integrity is determined not by my soul but which neural pathways in my brain are activated, and the feeling of love is based also on selfish gain as indicated by the desire for rewards and cravings when it's gone.
Science makes me feel like everything I feel is simply because of logic based on self preservation and comfort. Knowing that my affection and love for others exists due to selfish gain makes me not want to feel affection or love at all. What meaning does it have if it's just subconscious self preservation and a change in my brain chemistry can change my ability to love and decide and do Good?
Where does my soul play into this? How does my soul play into this?
Science is a Good thing. I want to know how.
1/5/11
Science makes me feel like everything I feel is simply because of logic based on self preservation and comfort. Knowing that my affection and love for others exists due to selfish gain makes me not want to feel affection or love at all. What meaning does it have if it's just subconscious self preservation and a change in my brain chemistry can change my ability to love and decide and do Good?
Where does my soul play into this? How does my soul play into this?
Science is a Good thing. I want to know how.
1/5/11
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Intoxicated Behavior
Confession: my judgment gets impaired when I'm tired and/or when it's late at night. It's my equivalent to being intoxicated. I do more irrational things and spill my guts more in those scenarios than any other time. Most of the things I regret doing or saying can be traced back to this truth. And it's normally late at night and I am usually quite exhausted when I post on this blog. What does that tell you?
1/4/11
1/4/11
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
MY EMOTIONS ARE THE PINACCLE OF IMPORTANCE
I find my emotions and what I feel each day more important than anything else. I am consumed by what I feel.
Dear Toni,
There are lessons that you learn every day. There are new things that you realize and new experiences that you have every day. Every day is new. Every day is different. To compile those lessons and build one upon the other over time will help you not only learn about yourself but also help you become more wise and lead you to transform into who you want to be. By reflecting on the lessons that you learn and applying them practically to your own interactions with people and yourself, you will change. Reflect on what you see, hear, feel, taste and smell. Reflect on actions and what they mean. Reflect on your world. You will not change if you only look at yourself. If you think that all that matters are your experiences and your feelings, you won't advance. You'll stay stuck as the same self absorbed person you are in this moment. Stop thinking that staring in the mirror is going to change you: because it won't. You'll waste away as you stay fascinated, fixated and obsessed with yourself. Look at other people. Look at the world. Let those things affect you and matter to you and then you'll change. Stop blogging about your emotions: all that you can learn from them is that you hold them to be the most important part of your experiences every day. That's selfish and disgusting.
I know you: the pursuit of truth is what drives your life. You won't find any truth in your emotions. I promise. There is no Truth in your emotions. Change in yourself, transformation into a better person, is important but it's not the point. It's not just about discovering who you are and growing as a person. There is a big picture: pursue the big picture and chase after wisdom, truth, and love. You cannot produce fruit on your own: it's only by holding onto the vine that you will produce good fruit. And that'll happen when you're not even thinking about it. So stop looking inward and look outward.
Love,
Toni
1/3/11
Dear Toni,
There are lessons that you learn every day. There are new things that you realize and new experiences that you have every day. Every day is new. Every day is different. To compile those lessons and build one upon the other over time will help you not only learn about yourself but also help you become more wise and lead you to transform into who you want to be. By reflecting on the lessons that you learn and applying them practically to your own interactions with people and yourself, you will change. Reflect on what you see, hear, feel, taste and smell. Reflect on actions and what they mean. Reflect on your world. You will not change if you only look at yourself. If you think that all that matters are your experiences and your feelings, you won't advance. You'll stay stuck as the same self absorbed person you are in this moment. Stop thinking that staring in the mirror is going to change you: because it won't. You'll waste away as you stay fascinated, fixated and obsessed with yourself. Look at other people. Look at the world. Let those things affect you and matter to you and then you'll change. Stop blogging about your emotions: all that you can learn from them is that you hold them to be the most important part of your experiences every day. That's selfish and disgusting.
I know you: the pursuit of truth is what drives your life. You won't find any truth in your emotions. I promise. There is no Truth in your emotions. Change in yourself, transformation into a better person, is important but it's not the point. It's not just about discovering who you are and growing as a person. There is a big picture: pursue the big picture and chase after wisdom, truth, and love. You cannot produce fruit on your own: it's only by holding onto the vine that you will produce good fruit. And that'll happen when you're not even thinking about it. So stop looking inward and look outward.
Love,
Toni
1/3/11
Monday, January 3, 2011
The stage called "...Oh"
I'm learning that there are many stages of grief, pain, sadness, loss, and simply learning to be happy. They don't always occur in order, and sometimes I jump from one to another, go backwards then forwards then backwards again. I'm learning that becoming happy is much like riding my bike. This last summer I had to get in shape to do a 120 mile ride in two days. At the beginning of the summer I was doing 10 miles and hurting and straining muscles in my chest and neck just to breath going up hills. By the end of the summer I was easily doing 60 miles and I couldn't find enough hills to pose a challenge to myself. Having been at school for the last four months I'm back to the 10 mile basics and it's taught me that we all go back to the basics without upkeep. I learn to deal with my problems and my boredom and when it becomes easy I slack off and have to learn the same things all over again. I find that this is true with everything: just because I've reached a certain standard in the past doesn't mean I'm still there now. That's why I'm writing it all down now: to remember. So here is one stage of learning to be happy...for me it encompasses that first realization that you're gonna be just fine:
I know I'm stable and okay when I can sing a sad song that is essentially about me as well as sit at home alone and still be content and retain the ability to smile.
The song is "You Were Meant For Me" by Jewel and some parts apply and some parts don't but the general feeling is definitely something I can identify with, and I sang along to it on the radio as it played a couple days ago and realized the above truth. If I could make the video disappear so you could just have the audio...I would.
1/2/11
I know I'm stable and okay when I can sing a sad song that is essentially about me as well as sit at home alone and still be content and retain the ability to smile.
The song is "You Were Meant For Me" by Jewel and some parts apply and some parts don't but the general feeling is definitely something I can identify with, and I sang along to it on the radio as it played a couple days ago and realized the above truth. If I could make the video disappear so you could just have the audio...I would.
1/2/11
Sunday, January 2, 2011
I can do it?
Sometimes I feel happiness after a long period without it and it's almost painful: like stepping out onto the grass in "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis must feel like. I feel the need to make myself stop and bottle some of it away for later so I don't waste it all. I forget that I'm a confident courageous adventure-seeker, quick to laugh loudly and contagious in zeal. I forget that this is me:

Being with friends for New Years was revitalizing:
A story to start off the new year: a group of us were caught in the midst of a roman candle war and it was much like being caught in a war zone. There was diving into trees, bright explosions, hiding in the snow and one man down. I felt like an army medic crawling toward the yelling to find him in the woods and examine the damage: only minimal burns to the face after a firework flew over our backs and into his face as he tried to retreat into the woods. I felt as though I could be an army medic for a living.
We all sat around a table and played the card game Mao of which you are not allowed to discuss the rules or talk during the game, so I won't get into any detail here. We competed, yelled, failed to follow the rules, laughed, and I found that the painful happiness wasn't so painful anymore.
I have been singing, dancing, laughing, screaming, feeling, and being extreme. When I'm this happy I feel capable of anything: of forgiving, loving, and even mourning.
The picture is a WWII poster by J. Howard Miller called "We Can Do It!", commonly mistaken to be Rosie the Riveter but in fact being Geraldine Doyle. This picture was my theme and motivation my freshman year of college and was a constant reminder that I could be a powerhouse. I guess roman candles, card games and happiness remind me of that fact.
1/1/11

Being with friends for New Years was revitalizing:
A story to start off the new year: a group of us were caught in the midst of a roman candle war and it was much like being caught in a war zone. There was diving into trees, bright explosions, hiding in the snow and one man down. I felt like an army medic crawling toward the yelling to find him in the woods and examine the damage: only minimal burns to the face after a firework flew over our backs and into his face as he tried to retreat into the woods. I felt as though I could be an army medic for a living.
We all sat around a table and played the card game Mao of which you are not allowed to discuss the rules or talk during the game, so I won't get into any detail here. We competed, yelled, failed to follow the rules, laughed, and I found that the painful happiness wasn't so painful anymore.
I have been singing, dancing, laughing, screaming, feeling, and being extreme. When I'm this happy I feel capable of anything: of forgiving, loving, and even mourning.
The picture is a WWII poster by J. Howard Miller called "We Can Do It!", commonly mistaken to be Rosie the Riveter but in fact being Geraldine Doyle. This picture was my theme and motivation my freshman year of college and was a constant reminder that I could be a powerhouse. I guess roman candles, card games and happiness remind me of that fact.
1/1/11
"Enjoy the Journey"
I found myself confronted with an image much like this for a couple of hours, and though it was a very dark and dreary picture, I looked at it and felt complete happiness. Happiness that I hadn't felt in a long time and I wondered if there had been something in my peach snapple to make my mood so uncharacteristic of the norm.

I'm learning what it means to wait on the Lord. Many characters in the Bible waited their whole lives for the fulfillment of a promise from God, and some never lived to see happier days. I'm learning what it means to not only live in the present, but live in it without change for long periods of time. To mourn for weeks and weeks that turn into months, and to live in that state with hope because I understand that it will not always be this way, but to also revel in the fact that this is a real experience. Both joy and sadness are both to be tasted and seen with full appreciation. And patience.
When I was 16 I was in my "Yes Man" phase. I said yes to everything and soaked in every experience to the fullest. I need to remember what it was like to enjoy every moment, no matter what it brings, and love the unchanging periods of my life for what I can learn from them, and for simply what they are. Because I do in fact enjoy feeling: I listened to an interview with J.K. Rowling in which she talked about how she knows what it means to feel great sadness, but her clinical depression was the absence of even that. Of all feeling. Therefore I can appreciate both the joys and tortures of my life.
And staring at that dark picture of trees and mountains and being happy was the equivalent of staring at these past months and patiently enjoying them in the present for what they are.
Picture is called "Mountains at Night" by lonewolfhowling on deviantArt.
12/31/10

I'm learning what it means to wait on the Lord. Many characters in the Bible waited their whole lives for the fulfillment of a promise from God, and some never lived to see happier days. I'm learning what it means to not only live in the present, but live in it without change for long periods of time. To mourn for weeks and weeks that turn into months, and to live in that state with hope because I understand that it will not always be this way, but to also revel in the fact that this is a real experience. Both joy and sadness are both to be tasted and seen with full appreciation. And patience.
When I was 16 I was in my "Yes Man" phase. I said yes to everything and soaked in every experience to the fullest. I need to remember what it was like to enjoy every moment, no matter what it brings, and love the unchanging periods of my life for what I can learn from them, and for simply what they are. Because I do in fact enjoy feeling: I listened to an interview with J.K. Rowling in which she talked about how she knows what it means to feel great sadness, but her clinical depression was the absence of even that. Of all feeling. Therefore I can appreciate both the joys and tortures of my life.
And staring at that dark picture of trees and mountains and being happy was the equivalent of staring at these past months and patiently enjoying them in the present for what they are.
Picture is called "Mountains at Night" by lonewolfhowling on deviantArt.
12/31/10
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