All Roads Lead To...

I don't presume that one opinion about life is more correct than another, usually. I say usually because I don't believe everything I've heard, or even waist time pondering on some peoples' beliefs (they are just too out there). The ones that make me stop and think are often inwardly based. I like to think that we ourselves control most of what happens in our lives and others. But I can't ignore fate. That power that pushes you into something amazing. Of course, you were traveling down that road because of choices you personally put to action, but fate is what a lot of people believe gives a happy accident that last tip over the edge.

Fate is what keeps life interesting; the unknown. You can never guess when you are going to stumble upon something life changing. And that is why it is always best to try to stay honest with yourself and go where that leads you. Fate usually takes care of the rest. Sometimes it is horrible coincidences or it could be perfect accidents.

Sometimes you need to be scared to death to learn how to live.

 Sometimes when all roads lead to the same place that means that is where you were meant to end up.

Relax

I feel like a wordy blog would take away from the calming quality of these shots.

So I will just leave you with this;

breath deeper this weekend

Negative Space

I learned about music in junior high (from a brilliant man that I deeply respect and miss, but that's another story). I was taught that there is beauty in the breaks. In the subtle pauses in a measure that build suspense and seduction. I found that in writing. The genius way the author would leave just enough to the readers' imagination for the story to be thought provoking. I believe there has to be negative space in a piece of art to help give everything else greater value and perspective. So why shouldn't that trend transfer over to our personal lives?

People grow out of those breaks they take from their comfort zone. It doesn't matter if they chose to do something different or if their life took an uncontrollable turn, those broken moments teach us the most. Out of the ugliest dirty grows the tallest trees. It is a trend in nature, there can only be so much bad before something beautiful finds it's way out of those holes in space.   

Pain vs Pleasure; Antonyms That Ride a Fine Line

How does a person know what they are doing is right?

How does someone discern the good outcomes from the bad?

Just because something feels good doesn't mean it is actually good for you. Some times amazing things can make you feel horrible in the moment, but when all is said and done you are much better for it. At the same time we can experience pure ecstasy, but wake up the next morning feeling lifeless and battered because of it.

I never thought is would be so hard to go through life without hurting yourself at every turn. Maybe parents are doing us a disservice by making all the corners in their house baby-proof when they get a newborn. I think it is a lesson we need to learn young.

"Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger"

I hate that statement. There is plenty that I have done lately that didn't kill me, but it definitely made me weaker in so many ways.

7:10 on A Wednesday is Just Criminal

Good Morning!

Try not to bark or bite, this early in the morning it doesn't matter which is worse, they are both still annoying.

It's a Brick House

Your friends are your support. The walls that hold up that beautiful glass ceiling that is your happiness, well being and sanity. They should be cared for and above all else trusted. It is silly to freak out and hide under the table during the earthquake because your walls should be strong enough to keep you standing. And it's just as stupid to punch a hole through your wall when you are frustrated at something else entirely.
So when you have to lie to them, you should get the hint that maybe it's something you shouldn't be doing at all. Well, I think I may have finally caught on....

 

Credit: Erica Knight 

Love:

is never saying "I told you so" even when they totally did.

City of Subdued Excitement

Between work, school and life in general it's hard to take a weekend to yourself. But I plan to. Before Thanksgiving...

Listening to the soft shutters from the wind shaking autumn leaves, feeling the satisfying tug from your worn muscles as you reach the top of the hill, breathtaking photographs, eclectic folk art, chilly placid beaches...

Urban Culture

It is hard to make a collage original. Everyone makes collages. So to have an assignment to do a collage is scary. How do I make it eye catching and original? How do I use design elements to organize my pictures?

Paper,

Glue,

Pictures,

Paint,

Scissors,

Paint brushes

What can I do with these six things that has never been done before?

Her Own Emerald Isles

LOVE LOVE

Release

Abashed, addled, anarchic, aching, aggrieved, agonized, all torn up, battered, bleeding, bruised, buffeted, burned, busted up, contused, crushed, at a loss, at sea, at sixes and sevens, baffled, befuddled, bewildered, come apart, chaotic, disarranged, disorderly, disorganized, haywire, in a muddle, in disarray, dazed, discombobulated, disconcerted, disorganized, distracted, flummoxed, flustered, fouled up, glassy-eyed, misled, mixed up, muddled, nonplussed, not with it, out to lunch, perplexed, perturbed, punch-drunk, punchy, puzzled, screwy, shook up, shot to pieces, obscured, lacerated, marred, mauled, miffed, mutilated, nicked, out of order, snafu, snarled, topsy-turvy, slaphappy, spaced out, stumped, taken aback, thrown, thrown off balance, unglued, unscrewed, unzipped, tortured, umbrageous, warped, wounded

I need to let those go.

Sunrise, Sunset

Observation is something that is innate and inherent to humans. We all go about our lives seeing and hearing the same things differently. The reason we are all so complex in how we view our environment is our emotions. Fear drives, sadness suffocates, happiness elevates, and ambiguity muddles our outlook. I can look at a beautiful sunset and if I am feeling happy and satisfied I might see the lit up horizon as a perfect background to the end of my day. A sublime natural miracle to better set the mood for the evening. The ways the last orange rays reach toward the horizon as if to catch that last glimpse of a day well spent. But that same sunset to someone who has had the worst day of their life will most likely be viewed much differently. They might see those same reaching rays as the last tearful goodbye to the time they have let pass away. The vibrant peaches and fuchsias trying desperately to lighten the mood yet only succeeding in making that person feel smaller and even more insignificant.

This one sunset could be anything to anyone.

Standing Between My Rocks and the Hard Place

I never appreciated certain songs before I was single. Or, I guess, before I had my heart broken. Single isn't  the key point, it is how I got to be single and how that has damaged my esteem. Experiencing different emotions makes you hear and observe your surroundings much differently. Music has changed for me. Songs sound better and the lyrics make more sense now. I can finally appreciate a good woman empowerment song, or a sad love song. How the words seem to mock and jeer at your excruciatingly similar feelings, leaves you with a pumped, perhaps even masochistic, energy. Art has always stood out to me. I can understand and feel the meaning behind a piece of work quite viscerally. But the songs on the radio were just words to me, set to a catchy tune and synthesized to be audibly pleasing. Lyrics were constructed out of preset words that rhymed and grooved. But for some reason something opened my ears and mind, because I can hear the messages that are so similar to my experiences.

I am stronger and better now, my senses seem to be clearer and I am viewing my world as almost new. Retraining your system to feel and act differently is tiring, but sometimes it's your only choice. And when fate intervenes and shakes the snow globe that is our world as we know it we have to adjust, evolve, change. Our situations and lives are in constant motion. Our relationships are blossoming and maturing and sometimes dying off to make room for something new to attract our attention. The constants in life are only visible from a far. Communication is constant however the assortment of words is endless. Music is a beautiful constant yet the musicians are ever changing. I can see the constants in my life now. Just like my newly formed musical appreciation my mind is opened to the truths I had overlooked so many times before.

   

Love Knows No Laws

Congratulations to my beautiful sister and my amazing friend for making that public promise and acknowledgment to only be with one another. They have loved, lived, cared, and learned from eachother for the past eight years, they know this is exactly what they want forever.
Finding another person who accepts you and still enjoys and respects you is the secret that ever guy and girl out there are looking for. It's not impossible if you expand your horizons, there are millions of people out there if you take the time to meet them. 

Another Seasonal Change

Seattle summers are calm and sedate with our temperatures very rarely passing the 90s. Kids play touch the fountain at the Center and Pike's Place is enveloped in a hazy aroma of body sweat and sweet summer lilies. Tourist crowd Seattle's confusing one-way streets and brave-hearted bike messengers defy all laws of the road and fear by cycling relentlessly through any intersection no matter the right-of-way. But when August draws to a close and September showers return the true Seattle natives stand tall and proud in the torrential downpour. Green and grey are the colors of the Emerald City and we who live and love here know those two shades all too well. Rain dumped out of the sky off and on all Labor Day weekend, but between music and arts festivals and gaming extravaganzas a little wet hair and cold clothes didn't deter anyone from their end of the summer celebrations.
The Space Needle was our pillar of strength, our constant reminder that 'a little rain never hurt anybody'; the lifelong motto of the area.

Float on Fluffy Fool

Yesterday was an interesting cloud day. If you were in the Pacific Northwest, and you happened to have your eyes to the sky, as I often find myself, you would have noticed that floating foolishly on top of the iridescent blue were fat, humorous, cotton ball clouds. At school, aspiring artists laid side by side on the grass transforming the bubbly white masses into majestic creatures and common household items. Driving through rural neighborhoods you could race after the rolling snowballs in the sky, on the ferry children were racing around the top deck under the watchful eyes of the chubby white Granny. Sitting in traffic on I-5 I found myself feeling jealousy for the giant balloons that got to billow free as a bird where ever the wind took them. 

New Love

Nothing can replace love lost, but a new kitten isn't too bad either.