Tag Archives: life

Stories and streets are powerful venues for contradicting the imminent doom of loneliness. The public art we make of ourselves in the street, the languages of our bodies tracing postures and assuming them, the paths of our eyes grazing each other,  are either participatory or resistant. Here, in public, we can choose to change our immediate world by remaking our myths and telling our own stories, by remembering how to ask and listen, and by learning to show our most real faces to each other and celebrating them. Show your warts, and you defy the very process of airbrushing the truth. Risk smiling at the person sitting next to you on the bus, and immediately the message of isolation is undermined. Not just for the two of you, but also for these watching this unusual event unfold. The moment we notice that we can meake fresh choices every minute the moment we take Funky’s advice and think for ourselves, it’s easy to see that we’re all in this together. Isolation was somebody else’s bad idea.

pg 43-44 from ‘off the map’

There are so many ideas I agree with outlined in this piece. So many. I miss doing my own writing.

3 august.

life cracks open with just a little tap, pours sweet milky sap right down your throat. Learn to read the signs and you’ll find yourself right where you nee to be, another world open at your feet. This is the place we’ve been looking for since we were small girls chasing fairies in the garden, high schoolers in scowls  and witchy black clothes, angry young women who want to get out, out, out of the systems we hate & learn to shape our own lives.

This is a doorway, this beautiful ruined house with its facade of vines & mirrors, and the world behind it has a thousand faces. Faces like hte women who have lived here in Verottu Krottu for two years now, in steady encroachment of developers. Lucy walking like a warrior through cobbled streets. Annet slouched against the counter at the squatters pub, snorting with laughter ‘i’m not gonna work, not me.’ Micah leaning suddenly out a broken attic window, one arm around her scrawny cat and one reaching out ot toss the keys to su in the street below.

Sometimes this not-quite-secret world makes itself impossible to ignore; it’s like the brilliant dragon mural painted four stories high and 100 colours bright, leaping out from a s2quatted building in the heart of Amsterdam. It’s asking you – where can we go when we let go of what binds us? What do youw ant most in the world, in this world of the possible?

source: off the map by Hib & Kika, pg. 18

loveyourchaos:

callmekaters:cheejayschmeejay

I forgot how much I loved Harry Potter until reading this again. I can’t believe I forgot. It’s kind of funny actually, because I’ve been thinking lately about how the books really worth reading are gritty. What is the point unless something happens, unless theres change and resistance to it, unanswerable questions, inner turmoil. Impact. Unless people choose wrong and suffer for it. For these are as much apart of life as joy, euphoria, self-discover, love, fulfilment and the rest of the desirables. The negatives magnify the positives. The negatives shape us, force us to grow, adapt, learn, live. What sort of story do you have left if you skip all of that? (twilight? ahem..) And here I was forgetting that Harry Potter was not a simple, root for the good guys kind of story, just because it’s so popular. Geeeeeeeeeze. Now I remember it made me feel deep things.

The Unspoken Rules of Good Improv

1. Say yes to everything
2. Stay in character
3. Act on whims, impulse and intuition
4. Raise the stakes
5. Think outside the box

I think there is a real life parallel here

1. Take opportunities, try new things, welcome change
2. Be yourself
3. Do things that frighten you, deviate from your routine
4. Do big things with your life (small things can be big things)
5. Question everything, be an independent thinker, think critically

hamandheroin:

“Grant me the serenity to accept things we cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Patience for the things that take time. Appreciation for all that I have, and tolerance for those with different struggles. Freedom to live beyond the limitations of our past ways, the ability to feel love for myself and love for others and the strength to get up and try again even when we feel it is hopeless.”  

– Reinhold Niebuhr

Must. Remember. This. More. Often.

Things I’ve learned this year

okay, so here’s the deal, I’m graduating tomorrow. There’s a big ceremony and I’m giving a speech and everything. The next day is prom and the day after that I’m flying across the country for the first month of an intense summer – basically involving more school. I also, somehow in there possibly have a date with a guy I unexpectedly quite like and have gotten pretty positive signals from for the most part. My room is literally a disaster area and the floor is nothing but a faint memory. A ton of my family is in town, some coming from far as Vancouver. Life is hectic, but I want to slow down for a second and write down what I learned so that I don’t forget it.

  • calculus is different from algebra, and I am better at it. do not underestimate myself
  • i like pretty dresses
  • don’t forget the key
  • its worth the time to document memories
  • there is no point feeling insecure about something you can’t change, might as well embrace it and move on
  • laughing at yourself eases awkwardness
  • socks are an essential part of my wardrobe
  • once I’m behind on journaling  it is unlike that I will catch up again. Scratch that, it won’t happen.
  • blogging relieves stress
  • I have a long way to go when it comes to time management
  • don’t ever judge how someone will feel about you by how you see them and how you see yourself, it doesn’t work like that, try and think about how they see themselves and they see you, you might get closer to the mark
  • debating ethical questions is a fun hobby
  • I still like small classes better
  • I can always make more excuses. Stop and just DO IT
  • method is important when you’re lacking in inspiration, and there’s nothing wrong with that
  • it’s good to have all types of friends
  • slow dancing can be very awkward
  • it’s hard for me to tell someone how I feel about them in words, from my mouth, but it’s also much more grown up then texting/fbing/messaging which I feel is quite lame, although easy
  • make time count
  • let people surprise me
  • makeup is not evil
  • doing my hair does not mean I am conforming
  • try not to intrude
  • forgive and remember is harder to do than forgive and forget, but protects your heart better
  • feelings aren’t easy to explain, and usually don’t fall into a single category
  • Delilah is the cutest puppy ever
  • make time for the friends I love
  • any peace is good, even temporary peace
  • I change my mind a lot, I think that’s a good thing
  • I like people who know who they are, regardless of who they are
  • things are usually more complicated, or simpler than I think. oh well.
  • there are always people to miss, and things to look forward, it’s less stressful to focus on now
  • I have lots of heroes
  • There is never time for the whole story

And with that, I’d like to say goodnight, and goodbye to high school FOREVER