you call me a mountain and i call you the sea

seasons are changing... people are going along on their merry ways... and we find ourselves either bored, alone, anxious, or if we're lucky... all three. that's just how it is, i suppose. i personally, have been quite anxious lately. i'm trying not to be. so instead i've been looking at pictures from the summer and remembering some of the beautiful days from the past few months. this summer i made a number of new friends, some of which grew very close to my heart, and my favorite moments were the ones we shared when we would take late night walks.
we always took the same path.
we would turn around at the point where the road ends and trails off into the dark mysterious woods. it was very much like a scene from twilight or harry potter. i kid you not. everytime we ended up just standing and staring off into the starry night sky and the semi-frightening woods... crickets cricketing in the background... trains (that sounded like spaceships) going by... and everyone holding hands.

it was always inevitable for one of us to comment on what a beautiful moment it was.
and it's so true! to be with some of your favorite people, looking up at a beautiful creation and feeling like your heart is at peace & full of love all at the same time. that open field feeling is a perspective that's available to all of us, if we would just look for it. (hello, artsy fartsy sentence)
all in all, it's been a glorious summer and i'm thankful for the lessons i've learned. now it's time to go back to my family of friends : )

ps. the new ingrid michaelson album kicks boo-tay. do yourself a favor and give it a go.

the two Ts for the day

lately i've been remembering great things from spring semester. there was one night when a small group of us had walked to get food & smoothies from charleys and then the boys played chess outside. arielle got a danish but couldn't finish eating it. on our walk back we passed a homeless man and arielle said she wanted to give the danish to him, but was too afraid to go up to him herself. so i took the danish and we both went up to him. i can't explain the expression on his face and his words of gratitude. my absolute favorite thing was when he said "bless you. God is good!" he was so thankful for a half eaten danish and it made me realize that i am clearly not thankful nearly enough. correct me if i'm wrong, but i feel like that's the case for a lot of us. i know that i tend to wake up with an attitude that is slightly sour, instead of an attitude that's excited for a new day full of possibilities. i know i know... it's obviously easier said than done, but why can't we try harder?? i know i should anyway. even if it's just thinking of one thing every morning for one year that you're thankful for, that's probably a good 200 more times that you've taken the time to be thankful. sure, lots of things happen in our lives and in this world that upsets us or causes us pain, but there's a reason for all of it. if we can just TRUST that and be THANKFUL for the goodness in our lives... there's a chance we could all be much happier. nothing wrong with that. right?

ps. i miss new york more than anything ever.