November 30.

First off... GOODBYE MOVEMBER!
Men can look normal again, with some more of them straying from purposefully ungroomed and ridiculous facial growths. Thank God.

Onto this month's last Quote of the Day. 

No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place. 

Zen saying

The above is a perfect nod to the home where I'm not at the moment. The home where Christmas really feels like Christmas, and when it snows, it really snows, and you don't complain and shut down whole cities, but move on, push it out of the way, stomp your way to point B - or just lay down and look at the stars while making a snow angel.

And speaking of persistence and not taking the easy route...I saw another quote today that goes together with this one, and also speaks of the fact that the place that we never wanted to be in, the place that we would've done anything in our powers to avoid, often teaches us things we never thought we could learn; things we now appreciate and find an invaluable part of who we've grown to be. I don't remember where exactly I read it right now, so I'll have to go with my rendition of the wisdom in someone's words.
But isn't it beautiful, though? How a perceived missed step, a wrong turn, or a series of unfortunate events can lead to some of the most beautiful memories and most love-filled, and growth-inducing experiences? I don't think I would've said it at the time, but thank God for the past spring and summer. I also am not quite convinced right now, but I'm hoping that one day...or maybe minute by minute from the moment I read that quote...I'll look on this fall of madness and stress, and I'll see that I couldn't have gone where I needed to go without it.

Happy December!

November 27. 28. 29.

Instead of a Quote of the Day,
we're doing three days' worth of quotes in an 
amazing text below. 

I had put this aside to post 
or put on my wall a while back, 
stumbled upon it while looking through old emails, 
and am so glad it can now serve as my past few insanely busy days' worth of wisdom.

Shhhh. I'm reading. 


this girl is taking bets | thea gilmore
        

this girl is a stencil of a brushstroke in the rain      

she’s a ghost of the city, she’s a body through the windscreen

this girl is the snowfall where the spring should have been

she’s the stains on the pages of a top shelf magazine

this girl is a black eye, she’s a bruise on your knee

she’s the ashes of the people that you really meant to be

this girl’s the resurrection, she’s the comeback,
she’s the absinthe and whiskey, she is

poetry and prozac

         this girl is taking bets
                              this girl’s a silhouette, can’t you see?

                              this girl is the flutter of fake lashes in the mirror

                              she’s a ragged edged fedora or a spanish souvenir

                              this girl is the clean cut, she’s the frozen ground

                              she’s a knife drawn down the side street when there’s no-one else around

                              this girl’s a forged ticket to a lloyd webber show

                               she’s the far end of the graveyard, up where the nettles grow

                               this girl is the rainbow in the dewy eyed stares

                                she’s the name tag on the toe of your long dead love affairs

                                                        this girl is taking bets

                                                                            this girl’s a silhouette, can’t you see?

                                                                            this girl is taking bets                                                                                    

                                                                                                this girl’s a silhouette, can’t you see?

this girl is the wild smile, the icy stare

she’s the crackle of the static, she’s the curses, she's the prayers

             this girl is the junkie in the children’s matinee  

she’s the four minute warning, she is hell to pay

this girl is the plunge pool, she is cocaine and kodak

now she’s out setting sail on the ocean of the soundtrack 

this girl is the shaking hand, the rattling cup

with a button and a note saying things are looking up

I LIKE THIS GIRL 

November 26.

http://www.123rf.com/photo_12251187_red-heart-in-a-box-of-chocolates.html

Quote of the Day.

Life is like a box of chocolates...
Momma Gump

Life's definitely delicious and often so so tempting!
But it can also make you feel sick, teach you - or fail to teach you - self-control, and brutally disappoint you (just think of those liquor-induced pieces...uhhh!).
Right now I feel like I'm finishing up the first layer of mostly amazing goodness, dotted with one or two pieces worth nothing more than a spitting into the nearest garbage can. I understand that there's a whole second layer waiting for me, just behind the little sheet that I need to lift, but am weirdly unable to enjoy the thought of it after piling too many pieces on my plate in the past minute or so.
So now I'm learning patience. And I'm learning that not all the good things are best had now. And I'm learning that it's good to know that some flavors are just not meant for you - so you don't have to try them just because they're chocolate.

www.fazer.fi

Or something.
But here's to more enlightened delight in the second - maybe even third? - layer of the sweet sweet life! And maybe even some actual chocolate. mm-mm.

November 24 + 25.

Quote of the Day.

Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace. 
Unknown

Quote of the 24th Day of November.

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. 

Dale Carnegie

I. CAN. GET. THIS. THESIS. DONE.

...and I can do it well.

...and sometimes it's ok to not care of that little question mark or point of confusion, because it really doesn't matter in the end. 

Or, as a wise woman told me - a PhD, mind you - just get it done. 

It's just something you write to get on with your life, n'est pas? 

November 23.

Quote of the Day.

It is not happy people who are thankful;
it is thankful people who are happy. 
Unknown

I'm continuing on the topic of thankfulness for another day;
perhaps because I realize I have a lot to be thankful for,
perhaps to keep reminding myself that I need to let that thankfulness, those reasons for it, to really soak in and affect me.

November 22.

Quote of Thanksgiving Day.

Silence is a source of great strength. 
Lao Tzu


      As I sit down on my home couch, it's indeed good to be quiet for a while.
I'm a pretty huge people person, but I tend to be equally in need of silence as a source of healing, growth, and strength from time to time. Well, regularly.

      Tonight, for example, was an amazing night, filled with laughter, games, people, food, community, and love...new friends and old, young kids, adults, and those older...all joining in a meal and time of happiness and gratitude for what was, what is, and what is yet to come.
      And part of what I'm so extremely thankful for is the chance to retreat to the quiet and calm of my home, our peaceful bedroom, comfortable bed, and under the weight of the down comforter...with a perfect cool breeze from the open window dancing across my skin.

November 21.

No quote for the day, and I'm not beating myself up for it either. 

I'm just happy to get a break from all the madness.

And while the pile of work that needs doing isn't any smaller tonight, I'm letting it be for a day and concentrating on the things that are good as they are and worth being thankful for.

One of the smallest HUGE reasons for Thankfulness this year! <3

November 19 + 20.

The nineteenth flew by like no other.
So to honor that, no quote for that insane day.

The twentieth, however, gets a beautiful Quote of the Day,
in honor of Universal Children's Day!

How old would you be 
if you didn't know how old you are?
Unknown

There's no way my answer could be a constant.
I'd say my age span would be...7 to ...73..?
But it's a pretty good span; nothing to complain.

Somehow no pictorial evidence was found of the other end of the spectrum.. :D

November 18.

Quote of the Day.

Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, 
hold your head high, look it square in the eye, and say: 
"I will be bigger than you. 
You cannot defeat me."

Ann Landers

I know I can (I know I can)
Be what I wanna be (be what I...but what do I wanna be?)
If I work hard at it (if I work hard at it)
I'll be where I wanna be (and I'll know where that should be...yes?)

November 16 + 17.

Quote for the Days.

I swear, if I could feel my hands, I would tickle you until you learned how to smile. 
Mr. Bear on animalstalkinginallcaps.tumblr.com

Picture from: http://dejiss.blogspot.com/2012/08/the.html

Last year, when I discovered this website, I couldn't stop laughing for post after post.
Granted, I haven't been as impressed in the later posts he had, and haven't been following it lately, but goodness! So much fun! :)
Apart from the actual idea of animals being outrageously outspoken and witty, with pictures to match, I feel like this reallllly often. Sour faces, constant pickiness and complaining have me thinking screaming "how about a smile or a bright thought for once?!" on the inside. Obviously, most often it's not my place or business to go and tell people how to deal with their lives or different situations, but sometimes it's just too much. A number of years ago, I read somewhere that smiling at people you come across throughout the day helps brighten their day and may even give you a smile back, and I'm pretty sure I've proven this tactic to be true in my experience. I hope it hasn't only made me feel better about how I confront strangers on the streets of New York or whatever other city I'm in, but that it's made a difference in someone else's day as well. Not a big one, necessarily, but a difference regardless.

So here's to an upcoming week of more smiles shared!

November 15.

Quote of the Day.

I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way. 
Carl Sandburg


Two months to go!!
Next year, maybe I'll take on the challenge of sticking to a bigger and better goal.

November 14.

Quote of the Day.

Mexico City is like ... the human brain: a simmering, complex, ever-changing storehouse of history, art, fashion and food.
Rebecca Finkel for Metro New York

image from: http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/04/01/film-and-reality-mexico-city-mexico/

With a pitch like that, who wouldn't want to take the next flight out??
I'm so ready for the next trip out to...wherever.

November 13.

Quote of the Day.

This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind....Let it be something good.
Anonymous

November 10 + 11 + 12.

Is it failure that I can't seem to keep up with daily posts? 
It's all quite relative, because, after all, I'm still up and running..or should I say posting...and I'm almost done with the year. A month and a half, and the little voice within might quiet down some. 

Regardless, 
Quotes of the Day. 

10.
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful that the risk it took to blossom. 
Anais Nin















11. 
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. 
Anais Nin

12.
To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. 
Alan Cohen

The two pictures in this post are not the most recent, but every time I see them, I smile. It's not because I look sooo great in them, or they necessarily fit these quotes the best, but because they're moments when I a) fulfilled a dream or b) followed my instinct and forgot about what might be "appropriate." And good times followed. 

November 9.

Quote of the Day

A true friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks. 
St. Jerome

I am extremely blessed to have this type of friendships. Not one, but several, including my relationship with my sisters. It took a while in my teenage years for some of my friends to get used to my matter-of-factness and (perhaps overly) honest sarcasm, but those who stuck around have not only learned to appreciate it after learning that it is not meant to be judgmental, hurtful or condescending, but have also begun responding with similar arsenal. So, if you ask me, we're in a good place now.
Now the above, while it may seem to make me seem like I didn't budge from my approach, does not mean there wasn't compromise and growth on my part. I've definitely had to learn to hold my tongue in certain situations, and I've come to understand that that doesn't mean that "you're asking me to change who I am!!"
So after years, with my two best friends it's been over a decade now, I feel what makes our relationship "true" and amazing and strong, is not only that it's honest and open, but also that it's comfortable. Unlike with so many others, we don't have to worry if one of us hasn't gotten around to keeping in touch for weeks or if we continue to seriously disagree on a topic that's extremely important to both of us. Such is life, and it's the differences - alongside the similarities - in us that are the attraction and glue.

To my loves,
MUAH!

Saw this amazing shot of love and laughter on a photography page online a while ago, but I can't remember for the life of me where I found it. Regardless, rights are not mine to give, and all glory to the artist behind the camera as well as the smiling faces in front of it. 

November 8.

Quote of the Day.

Life is too short to work so hard. 
Vivien Leigh

Choosing this quote definitely stemmed from midterms season anxiety.
I can tell you  now, and I could've just as well told you a year ago today, that every year, every month, and especially every midterms and finals week I flip-flop between two ideologies. One believes in this quote 110 percent, wants to follow my heart at a moment's notice, and tells me nothing's THAT serious that it's worth restless nights, premature graying, and stress over pages left to read. Life will figure itself out, it says. Only do what you feel in your heart as right, it goes on.
But the other keeps pushing through obstacles, over mountains, one gray hair at a time, with sometimes more, sometimes less enthusiasm, and the peak to be reached over one more stretch ahead.

If I knew which route is the one to take, I wouldn't be straining my soul with all this fence-dancing.

November 7.

Quote of the Day

Before you can conquer your chosen mountain, you must roam the valleys. 
me?

I'm not a huge believer in the whole notion of hitting rock bottom meaning that there's only one way and that is up, nor for that matter in that feeling down makes feeling good much more worthwhile, but I do think that surviving the down lows and fighting for that goal makes a difference. When something isn't as simple as one, two, three, you must really put some thought into it. By the end, you must have really decided that this means something to you and is worth the hard work.
This, specifically, is what makes your mountain your mountain. It's the hard work that you're ready to, and must, put in that makes your journey the one that you know you need to be on.

November 4 + +

Quote of the Day

Close your eyes and open your mind.
from: http://ffffound.com/image/e411301d4c89c5781e5db52bbfec9e1005244783

Sometimes you have to close your eyes to see what is possible, to look beyond the barriers, and to empower yourself.
True story.

November 5.

Writing is just half the knowledge. 
Prophet Muhammed

Humans. I wonder if all that really separates us from animals is the ability to perceive things beyond the facts and figures?

November 6.

For this day, I don't have a quote from last year.
Fitting, as all that's necessary to be said to sum up is:

from: http://bakatit.wordpress.com/

Here's to a successful second term, President Obama!

November 3.

Quote of the Day.

God is the friend of silence...

We need silence to be able to touch souls. 

Mother Theresa

November 2.

Quote of the Day.

Live the life you've imagined. 
Thoreau

Giving up is hard to do, but sometimes changing directions, finally following the dream that's been trying to realize itself for ages, allowing yourself to be happy with an aspect of life, requires letting go. Often times it requires taking a step back, to be able to gain perspective and momentum for a leap forward.
It's not easy figuring out whether a seemingly giant sacrifice will be worth it. It's even harder to let go of a dream you've followed, and are now coming to realize may not be the way to go..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEoUa0Hlso

November 1.

Quote of the Day.

Slow down,
calm down, 
don't worry, 
don't hurry, 
trust the process.
Alexandra Stoddard

First of the month, and I'm in need of a fresh start. Re-charged batteries and re-born inspiration. Reading this quote - sectioned like this - helps me do exactly what it says. Slow down. It helps me step back, take a breath, and allow myself a moment off.
A lot of times procrastinators, such as myself, get caught up in this vicious circle. I put off work to the last minute, because "I work best under pressure." That may be true, but what's also true is that putting off work doesn't equal putting off the stress. Rather, the stress seems to snowball on me as I'm going down the hill of - whatever - the semester, the nearing deadline..and I don't respond well to stress. Stressed out, I push work even further into the future, trying to grip onto these created moments of "freedom"...until even more worry, anxiety, and panic settle atop my chest.
Lately I've been really trying to push myself to create a different process of working. "Trust the process," I tell myself, and while my other half keeps fighting it, wanting to stick to the norm of cutting it as close as possible , I push to produce something a little earlier than "necessary." Perhaps I'll try to dedicate this month to victories - even tiny ones - in this arena.

And things will turn out just fine.