Archive for Life

Letter Read

{ February 8, 2007 @ 6:12 pm } · { Life, Music, Random }
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Before I even begin, I’m going to go ahead and ask forgiveness for whatever nonsense comes pouring from my brain, slightly filtered by my heart, straight through to my fingers, and unabashedly out onto this page.

Forgive me? “Sure, okay.” Good. Now that that is out of the way, let’s begin.

I’m currently listening to Rachael Yamagata again, and the song I am stuck on is Letter Read. I’ve had it on repeat for about an hour, and it’s just killing me … not softly. It’s got so much gumption, my eyes are burning. I don’t know, still love that girl.

It’s funny how I get stuck on songs for no particular reason. Right now, for example, I am feeling not one emotion similar to the words pouring out the speakers of this computer, but I am feeling something because of them. This is why I love music so, damn much. It may not mean the same thing to each of us, and probably not anywhere near what the artist intended when it was being written, but it certainly evokes something within each of us … and something is … well, not nothing, that’s for sure. That is, unless you are one of those crazy, soul-less people. If that is the case, I want nothing to do with you, anyway.

I mean, who doesn’t feel this?!

And I’m afraid, and I can’t breathe,
And I’m in love with you
But you are not with me
And I have put so much into a life
I made too much about you now to lie

Then again, maybe it’s just me. Who knows? Wouldn’t be the first time, surely won’t be the last.

I, myself, haven’t been in love in quite some time, or ever. No, no, no. That’s not true. I just have this on-going battle within myself debating whether or not it was actually love if it ended, and then amounted to nothing in the end. Maybe it’s the music, or the new-ish prospect, or the cheese-infested holiday that is lurking around the corner, but some thoughts on this matter have entered my mind lately. (Honestly, I think maybe it’s really to do with the possibility of falling all over again.) I’m sort of flying, not blind, but perhaps with some slightly foggy goggles on here. What I do know is limited, and what I have come up with is very simple at its core.

First of all, partnership. I can’t stress it enough. I’m no expert, but I do know that is what it’s about. 50/50, you know? It’s also about playing no games, and being present. What I mean by no games is no mind games, heart games, harm games. The bad stuff. Scrabble, Monopoly, Scattergories, Twister, Spades, Catch Phrase, Balderdash, and Trivial Pursuit are actually encouraged. And by being present, I mean not stuck in the past, and not too far ahead in the future. That one is tough. We are all a product of our past, and all zooming full speed ahead into the future with every second that ticks down on the clock.  But, you know, just be present.  Find a way, make it happen.

Communicate … that’s all I know to say. Communicate as much as flipping possible.

Ms. Yamagata will have a new CD coming out sometime this year. Not sure when, but I just cannot wait.

I wrote down some CD’s that I desperately need to get my hands on. I’ve either had these and “lost” them, or I have had certain songs downloaded from iTunes, but never got around to purchasing the entire album, or I am just flat-out behind the times with my CD-purchasing. If my Post-it were to be misplaced, discovered by someone else, and published in Found today, it would include:

‘Til The Sun Turns Black- Ray LaMontagne
Nightcrawler – Pete Yorn
Son of Evil Reindeer – Reindeer Section
If Songs Could Be Held – Rosie Thomas
When It’s Over We Still Have To Clear Up – Snow Patrol
With Teeth – Nine Inch Nails
Blinking Lights and Other Revelations – Eels

Those can also be considered my suggestions to you for the day, by the way. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but Rosie Thomas will just, absolutely break your heart. Her voice is so smooth, and her lyrics are incredibly poignant.

It’s worth a shot, anyway.

I’ve had some emails requesting more of my poetry on here … from people I don’t know, and have never, ever met … which is surreal … but nice. (Quick! Name that movie!)

My favorite emails are the ones asking where my book can be purchased. Well, I don’t have a book that has been published, but if one were to be requested enough, I would certainly consider (once again) publishing some of the poetry stuff. I’ll keep it in mind, one way or another. In the meantime, I’ll just keep posting some of my dabbles on here from time to time. So, to answer all of those emails collectively … soon, I’ll post another one soon.

I write and I write and I write and I write. It’s the only way I know. Pen to paper. Inside to outside. It’s who I am, all I know to do.

My new book, which does not have a “deal” (as I have not even ever tried to find one), and I have just started working on recently, will also include some of my poetry. The style in which I am writing it allows for this sort of thing, which is why I prefer it to any other way I have ever written. It’s coming along well so far. To answer yet another round of questions I have been asked recently … yes, I will maybe, actually try (like send it out to agents and publishing houses, try like never before, try) to get this one published. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.

Speaking of, Anna Nicole Smith died today, which I guess isn’t really all that strange when you think about it. My guess is drugs in general, and cocaine to be more specific. Either way, I always think it’s sad when people die, just like that, unnecessarily. I guess it’s the way of the world, but it still makes me sad.

Really … wow. What a sad, crazy world we live in today! Do you not agree? We’ve got Britney flashing her stuff, Lindsay in and out of rehab, Paris being … Paris, and Nicole getting arrested for drugs … and this is what we call “News”. I mean, this is quite literally what we have our younger generation of girls witnessing, and even trying to emulate. It scares the stuffin’ out of me, to be honest. Raising kids in the world today … scary, scary stuff. I don’t know. I wish it were different. I wish people had more values. I wish everything wasn’t so f*cked up. But it is. Plain and simple. It is. I guess the only way to balance that insanity somehow is to keep your feet on the ground, your head level, your values in check, your mind a little sane, and your heart in a good place.

Which, in a very roundabout way, brings me back to the music that I love. The music I listen to is what gives me hope, and allows me to believe in what I really want to believe. It sounds so corny, but it’s all about the human spirit to me. Not the people who try to ruin it, but the people who try to cultivate it, help it flourish, actually make a difference, be respectable.

I’m going off into a whole other realm of random with that kind of talk. Slow down now!

This is what happens when my head and heart go in about a thousand different directions all at one time. It’s okay. I kind of like it, even. I advocate so much for people who think, people who feel … might as well embrace being one of them, right?

In truth, I have thought a lot about starting a new blog and pouring all of my rumblings onto there, anonymously. I haven’t done it, and decided that I won’t. I resolved that I can just use this one, for whatever, and not be ashamed or embarrassed, or feel too exposed.

I’m a writer.

I write and I write and I write and I write. It’s the only way I know. Pen to paper. Inside to outside. It’s who I am, all I know to do.

PostSecret & Me

{ December 30, 2006 @ 2:34 pm } · { Books, Life, Relationships, Dating, Love, & Such }
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I get a book for Christmas every year. This year, I asked for the second installation (My Secret) of one of my favorite books ever purchased … a book called PostSecret. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it is a collection of postcards sent in to this guy (Frank Warren), who initially sent out something around 1000 postcards as an art project, asking people to write a secret on it, decorate it, do whatever to it, and send it back to him, anonymously. Well, the response was so overwhelming that he started a blog and published a book (two, now), each spotlighting selected postcards. I’m not sure, but something about so many people (real people!) sending in these truly genuine, sincere secrets really, really touches and inspires me.

Time said of the first … A fascinating public airing of private thougts – some dark, others funny, endearing or disturbing – written on homemade postcards … The range of efforts (meticulous, sloppy, artful, ponderous) will astound you.

I’m talking about it today because I always get a little reminiscent immediately before and for a little while after the start of a new year. I don’t know why. I guess it’s the general thought of, Wow, another year gone by … what did I do with it?

I always make a list of Resolutions … some I write not to keep, some I write hoping with all hope that I do keep, and some I write knowing without a shadow of a doubt that I will keep. Mine aren’t lofty … I gave those up a long time ago. You know … Win the lottery. … Shrink 5 inches to look like all the other girls. … Fit into a size 0 by February 1st. … the Blah blah blah resolutions, as I call them. Thankfully, I’ve wised up a bit and don’t make those foolish ones anymore. Mine are now more about things that I can control … that are feasible. Some are small and very silly … some are funny … some are sad … some are serious … I used to limit myself to 10, but I stopped that when I realized I can’t put a lid on that kind of thing. This year, I’ve decided I’m just going to write them all down, organize them, laminate them, and frame them right by my mirror in my room. Might as well, right? Right!

Back to PostSecret. (Sorry, I know I’m jumping around.) My favorite one in the new book is probably one that simply says, My heart is an idiot. It makes me laugh (belly laugh, at that) … because I relate so, so well to that statement. I’d just never heard it put quite like that: My … heart … is … an … idiot! Resolution: Make it smarter!

Gosh, I’m giggling now just thinking about all of the muck my heart has dragged me through.

My, my, my …

The cool thing is that hearts heal … and can be educated, in the good way! This, I have certainly learned in ‘06. The heart is an intrepid piece o’ work! Takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’, if you know what I’m sayin’.

Case & Point:

I was hurt a while back by someone who was very important to me, and I don’t think I ever really recovered from it. When I finally thought I had, and tried again … I fell in love (or something like it) again … and I was hurt … again. I would say that I was hurt worse the second time … because I felt like I should have known better, not given in so easily, not opened up, not believed so deeply … not after the first time. Both followed a pattern, and the only link between the two was me. Of course, I became really good at blaming myself for a long time … for the first especially, and then for a while after the second for that one as well. I then realized something … I’m better than blame, damnit! The only pattern that I really found is that I not only once, but twice, chose and fell in love (or something like it) with lying, philandering, selfish men who never had any intention of giving back what I gave. So, heck, what do you do? Well, you break the pattern … and you stop putting up with the ones who aren’t going to be good for you, right? Right! Damn, it seems so easy now. You can’t change people, and you can’t make someone treat you right, no matter how much you beg and plead. You can’t make someone love you, either … just like you can’t make yourself love someone. (Broken record, party of one!)

I haven’t thought about all of this in a long time … and, by a long time, I mean the better part of a year. That’s a big step for me. Recent events and a little bit of 2006 in review (which will probably be a whole new entry after the 1st of the year) has made me look at these things, albeit briefly, once again … I (finally and officially) lost not one, but two things this past year that I never thought I’d lose.

The part I never expected is that I’m better than ever because of it. It’s all in the past now, and I couldn’t be more excited, happy, joyous, stoked, thrilled, elated, giddy, pumped, jubilant, and celebratory about it.

L-I-V-I-N, baby!

There is a quote that one of my old friends shared a while back that was very poignant to me: We’re gonna rise from these ashes like a bird aflame … It’s from a David Gray song, called Shine. If there was one sentence I could choose for My 2006, that would be it. Rise above, I do feel I have.

Sorry … back to the PostSecret stuff. (This all ties in somehow, I promise.)

When I first found the book, I thought about sending one in, but then I realized that I had so many to choose from … I didn’t even know where to begin. So, what did I do? Well, I started a scrapbook, and put all of my PostSecrets in it. It’s almost full now. I guess that could’ve be my official PostSecret at the time … I have too many secrets to choose from.

The beauty … (in the breakdown) … it’s over. My life is different now, I’m different now. And, you know, it sounds cheesy … but I’m pretty much made of cheese, so it’s going to be okay … but discovering PostSecret kind of made me start looking at those things (as well as many others), writing them down, dealing with them, and filing them away … literally. I’m so much healthier now because of that. I guess you could say, in an off-base way, the book kind of made me a better person. I can’t give it too much credit, however … I’ll reserve that for mainly myself. (Ha!) It did start a certain process within myself, though. It would’ve happened eventually, but I’ll just happy I stumbled upon a catalyst sooner rather than later.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all do that? Be honest, be real, tell it, deal with it, and put it away.

I think so.

If you are interested in buying either book, here are some links:

PostSecret
My Secret

The Secret Lives of Men & Women (… one I didn’t know about until after I posted this …)

And, of course, the website: WWW.POSTSECRET.BLOGSPOT.COM.

Okay, now I’m off to go ring in this New Year of 2007 better everbefore … HAPPILY!! Oh yes … happily. Everyone out there be safe, have fun, and rock ‘07 out!!

P.S. This is the coolest cake I’ve ever seen!

‘07 is going to rule!

Nonsense & 2006

{ December 18, 2006 @ 6:51 pm } · { Life, Random }
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I’m so happy that it is FINALLY feeling a little like wintery goodness outside!  It’s December, and it’s been in the 70’s for who knows how long.  I enjoy cold weather, so the warm in the winter was starting to wear on me.  (There’s a little alliteration for you, kids.)  Either way, that Global Warming stuff is a bugger, and I’m happy that I finally have cause to start a fire in the fireplace, eat a grilled cheese with tomato soup, and read a book.  Heck yes!

So … 2006 is rapidly approaching its end.  I haven’t ranted any of my nonsense in a while, and I figure there is no better time than now.  A slightly bum-fuddled recap of 2006, this shall certainly be!

Where to begin?  Oh!  Okay …

Well, it started out … uh … crud … how did it start out?  If there was anything wrong with this year in general, maybe that’s it … I can’t even remember how I welcomed it.  It appears I will be needing to go a different route.  I’ll just run down a list of my choosing, how about?  Sound good?  Yeah, sounds grand to me, too!  (What do they say about talking to yourself?  It’s okay, as long as you don’t answer?  Well, I answer all the time.  I don’t even want to know what that says about me!)  Yowza!

Life — In general, it’s been pretty good to me this year.  I’ve been healthy, I’ve had my great friends and family by my side, I’ve done really well in school … I can’t complain too much about life in an all-encompassing sense.  I am alive, after all!  That’s all we really need to know about that.

Projects — I started two large ones, and am currently considering taking on another.  The first?  My novel.  I’m still working on it, but I feel I’ve hit somewhat of a wall.  I can’t decide which direction I want it to take.  There are so many avenues I could puruse.  Which road to take, where to go?  I’m not sure just yet.  I’m thinking about it, but not rushing anything … just letting it work itself out in my head.  (Good plan, good plan.)  So, in the midst of taking a step back from the novel (while not completely stopping!), my friend, Mel, approached me about another idea.  We haven’t done much with it yet, but we intend to.  Busy times right now … busy, busy times.  But … it’s in the works, that’s for sure.  The project I’m thinking of beginning soon?  Selling some of my artwork.  I’ve been working on these ideas … that I can’t talk about just yet because some of my friends are getting them for Christmas.  They are simple, but I really like them.  As soon as the gifts have been given, and I actually decide to start selling more, I will put some pictures up and add them to my website.  Oh yeah!  Make that four projects!  The fourth?  My website.  It’s half-way done.  I had to stop it entirely to attend to the 18 hours of Senior classes I took this past semester.  Yikes!  You can’t do everything all at once.  I get it, I get it!  So, while none of the projects are finished, or anywhere near actual completion, really … I am working on them.  I guess what really matters are the ideas, and having persistence enough to hammer away at them.  Ideas … check!  Persistence … check, check!

Love Life — What?!  “Love life …”  Huh?  “You heard me!”  Oh yeah … that … got it.  Truth?  I don’t give a damn about time and when and where and how and why anymore.  I don’t even think about “It” too much these days.  It’s amounted to a grand amount of phooey.  Any hint of romance, or a love life this year (for the most part) has been overshadowed by a blinding/cripling fear of being vulnerable … mixed with the apprehension that love, real love, is a sham created by television, music, and the movies to make us all miserable in our pursuits … something known about, but never actually witnessed.  Ha!  No, no, I really don’t think that way.  I know love exists.  Hell, I’ve been in love before.  It seems like eons ago, but I have been.  I’m sure I will be again.  2006 has been an exploration in myself more than anything … learning to love myself before I love someone else, and buillding a solid, stable relationship with myself before I even attempt another with someone new.  It’s beyond important, I know this now.  “We must be our own before we can be another’s.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Dude knows what he’s talking about!  And, you know, I could wax all-knowing and wise until I turn purple and pass out, but the truth is that I’m just as clueless as the next person on this stuff.  I don’t know what it all means, and I don’t know if I ever even want to know.  Because, really, I have no, freaking clue most of the time what I want, much less how it should be.  So, there’s that. 

Theme Song — I finally found mine!  What’s yours?!  Mine is I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) by The Four Tops, baby!  I think you can instantly know a lot about a person by asking what their theme song in life is … also by the music they listen to regularly … but, you know, that’s a little off-topic.  There’s a lot to be discovered about me in my selection.  Uh-lot!  Not just in the words, either … in the music.  Lovin’ it!

New Things — I’ve become interested in things like knitting and sewing.  I realized that it doesn’t matter if it makes me sound old and boring, it makes me feel even more creative than before, and it’s actually fun!  In fact, the new artwork I’m working on in a mesh of these new skills I’m picking up … in a strange way. 

Music — I have officially fallen back in love with music this year.  Seeing who was actually behind the songs soured me for a while, but I have put that away and re-opened that door.  In short, the affair is back on and more intimate than ever!  With music, that is.  There’s this cheesy avatar that says something like “Music is my boyfriend!”  That’s a little like how I feel.  I can’t play an instrument, save a little dabbling in piano these days, but I sure do love me some music!  It’s almost transcendent for me … spiritual.  I’ve discovered a lot of great, great music this year, but I have to say that my favorites of the year are still Speak For Yourself by Imogen Heap, We Were Here by Joshua Radin, and 9 by Damien Rice.  Those are just the new CD’s, mind you.  Don’t even get me started on everything that didn’t come out this year!  I’d be here all week, and then I’d miss my family coming into town for Christmas … which would be sad.  But, yeah, I’ve been all about the music this year … again! 

Random:

– I started eating meat again, after being a vegetarian for 3 years.  It was a personal decision, just as stopping in the first place was a personal decision. 

– Uh … oh, I stopped wearing panties, then started wearing them again.  It’s true; hence, the line that almost made Melissa fall out of the car one night while driving … “He fell in love with someone else, so I stopped wearing panties.”  It was my headline on MySpace for a long time … and it will probably be again someday.   It’s just so … telling … so … me.  Besides, it makes me chuckle every time I say it/think of it/read it.  Classic!

– I started watching Scrubs re-runs and am hooked … likewise, I have a total schoolgirl crush on Zach Braff and have no shame whatsoever in admitting it. 

– Hmmm … OH! … I’m more blunt than ever.  I stopped caring about what other people want me to be and have genuinely embraced who I am.  No bullshit, you know?  If I exercise, it’s for me … just like if I shove my face into a pint of Homemade Vanilla With Strawberries, it’s for me.  I mean, that is, if I ate ice cream … I’m off it for now.  You get the idea, though.

– I’m inching ever-so-closely to graduation (Lord and everyone else knows it’s far past time).  In some unexpectedly weird twist of fate, I have started to truly enjoy my classes.  Strange how that works.  Nice, huh? 

– Oh, oh, oh!  I’ve decided to adopt a few British words and use them in my own, everyday speech.  Words like “wanker,” “bugger,” “shag,” “fancy,” “bits,” ”bollocks,” and “knickers” are used more often than ever.  I do believe “knickers” is my favorite, though.  As in, “No you may not take a peek at my knickers!”  It’s just great! 

– I also have a new catch phrase that I have mentioned once already … “Such-and-such is the junk!”  It suppose the best way to explain it is to say that it replaces “the shit” in sentences.  Like … “Happenstance by Rachael Yamagata is the junk!” 

– What else, what else?  Oh!  I started cooking more often, and I’m not too bad.  Viva La Chicken! was my most recent exploration.  A little bit spicy, but so yum-my!  I plan on getting superly-rockin’-uber-good at cooking within the next year.  In fact, I’m going to make it a New Year’s Resolution.  (More on those later, much later.) 

With that, I’m done with my nostalgic/narcissitic rant for the day.  If you are still awake/breathing/alive, you deserve some sort of medal!  I’ll conclude with a suggestion, or two …

Song – I Don’t Care What You Call Me by David Ford (Lyrics) (MySpace/Listen)
An old friend turned me onto it a while back, but I forgot about it after a while.  I heard it randomly yesterday and can’t stop listening to it (again).  It’s sad, yes … but it’s sad in that good way. 

“Rain it on down
What else can you throw at me?
I haven’t heard before

And tear me on down
I am unforgivable
So why don’t you just tell me what you really think again

Scream me on down
I am so forgettable
Yes, I know …”

Poem — The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot (Read it!)
It is one of my favorites.  I don’t know why, but it always makes more sense at this time of year.  Maybe it’s because of the air, or the weather … but it just does. 

“And indeed there will be time 
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street, 
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;         
There will be time, there will be time 
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; 
There will be time to murder and create, 
And time for all the works and days of hands 
That lift and drop a question on your plate;        
Time for you and time for me, 
And time yet for a hundred indecisions, 
And for a hundred visions and revisions, 
Before the taking of a toast and tea. 
 
In the room the women come and go        
Talking of Michelangelo. 
 
And indeed there will be time 
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?” 
Time to turn back and descend the stair, 
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—        
[They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”] 
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, 
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin— 
[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”] 
Do I dare         
Disturb the universe? 
In a minute there is time 
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. 
 
For I have known them all already, known them all:— 
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,         
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons …”

Oh, yeah … one more thing … Little Miss Sunshine comes out on DVD tomorrow.  Rent it, buy it, watch it! 

That’s all for now.  Good evening, friends!  Hope all is well, wherever you are.  :)

Your Story … DTRJH?!

{ November 22, 2006 @ 2:23 pm } · { About Me, Books, Life, Random, Relationships, Dating, Love, & Such, Writing/Poetry }
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My friend, Mel, and I have recently begun working on a project together.  We’re both really, REALLY excited about it.  I have a lot more to say, but think I’ll wait and explain in greater detail on here later (after the site has been frequented first). 

For now, go to http://www.myspace.com/129937616 (Your Story … Did That Really Just Happen?!) for more information.  We have yet to get down and dirty with the sending out of Friend Requests, so feel free to F.R. (like how I abbreviated it?  yeah …) us.  Also, we haven’t yet decided on a definite URL for our MySpace, so the one above to click on is obviously a work in progress. 

Okay … I think the MySpace site should be pretty self-explanatory.  If you have any questions, there is contact information on that site … and, as always, you can send me an email or message on my MySpace page as well. 

Thanksgiving ‘06

{ November 22, 2006 @ 2:10 pm } · { Life, Random }
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I know… it’s been forever since I have put anything up on here.  I’m sorry.  I’ve been crazy, crazy, insane-o busy with school and other projects that I am working on.  (More on that in the post right above this one.  Look UP!)

It is Thanksgiving Week!  Yay!  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for a number of reasons.  The most important is that it gives all of us the opportunity to gather with friends and family, hang out, eat, enjoy each other’s company, and try to remember all the wonderful things we do have to be thankful for in our lives … without feeling the pressure of *having* to buy anything for anybody (unless it’s a small hostess gift, or food, or you simply want to be nice and do something unexpected) … and without the expectations that holidays like Christmas (sadly) seem to carry around with them.  Don’t get me wrong … I tend to LOVE all holidays … Thanksgiving is just my favorite.  Love the Fall, love to eat, love the sounds of family and friends laughing and talking, and simply love, love, love … Thanksgiving.  My family has a tradition of getting up early to all help with the cooking and arranging in our pajamas, getting dressed and ready while everything is finishing up in the oven, eating around 1 or 2, taking random power naps/watching the football game on TV/putting up leftovers/having silly conversations for a while, then gathering in the “Rec Room” to play some cards (or random other games), eat some more, and drink until late in the evening.  It’s so wonderful … makes me feel all goofy with happiness. 

No matter what each and every one of you have planned for this Thanksgiving, I hope you have a great one!  … And, really, please do try to remember everything you have to be thankful for.  It’s sometimes easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of life, but it is all certainly worth a thought on days like tomorrow.

Now, go eat until you dang-near pop …

25 Years Yields …

{ October 16, 2006 @ 7:42 am } · { Life }
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I, and only I, control my actions.

Laughter can heal just about anything.

Be yourself; no impersonations.

Read … educate.

Keep a journal.

Learn yourself first, then teach others who you are … not the other way around.

I am not perfect, I make mistakes.

Write handwritten notes/letters.

Play!

Demand respect.

Sing out loud as often as possible, even if it sounds terrible.

Make amends; give others their due.

Tell people what they mean to you.

Be nice to people in the service industry.

Spend some time alone.

Only say “I love you” when you know the meaning behind the words.

Timing is everything.

Listen to your intuition … it’s almost 100% fool-proof.

I define me, you do not.

Make mix CD’s.

Practice random acts of kindness on a regular basis.

Be accepting; don’t try to change people.

Questions are necessary, most answers are irrelevant.

Hang on when it’s love, let go when it’s addiction.

Be trustworthy … all of the time.

Find a theme song.

I can’t change my past, but I can create my very own future.

Nothing will teach you courage like having your heart broken once or twice.

Appreciate the rain.

Put your shopping cart in the designated area of the parking lot.

“I am important!” … what I think, want, feel, and need is important!

True friendship can get you through anything.

Be selfish sometimes, but never in love.

Travel.

Happiness is a choice; choose to be happy.

If possible, try to reverse your regrets.

Accept that some people will always lie, but it doesn’t mean that you ever have to.

If you feel you deserve better, you probably do.

Learn how to bend, so as not to always break.

Give of yourself without losing too much.

Recognize your beauty, no matter your shape or size.

Be confident.

Smile A LOT, laugh even more.

Small talk is cheap, make it worth more … mean what you say.

Expect nothing in return, so that everything recieved is a pleasant surprise.

Hold hands.

Celebrate … often!

Make holidays a big deal.

If you have a chance, write a song/story/poem with/for someone you care about.

Say “I’m sorry” … say “Thank you” … be polite.

Admit when you are wrong, stand your ground when you are right.

Be creative.

Don’t be shy.

Falling hurts, but it is no excuse to give up.

Mourn what deserves to be mourned, rejoice what deserves to be rejoiced.

Don’t waste your time, it’s too precious.

Dance … even if it’s awful.

Be silly.

Take care of your body.

“I complete me!”

Remember that life is too short be afraid … take risks.

Never speak out of anger, and always speak the words in your heart.

Be a good friend.

Live your life so that you can be proud of who you are.

Believe.

Hope.

Love.