There was never a duo like us

    someone told me to always live for the little things in life. 

live for the 5 a.m. sunrises and the 5 p.m. sunsets 

where you'll see colors in the sky that don't usually belong.

live for the road trips and bike rides with music in your ears and the wind in your hair.

live for days when you're surrounded by your favorite people who make you realize 

the world is not a cold, harsh, place.

live for the little things because they will make you realize that this is what life is about. 

this is what it means to be alive. 

(a.y.)

http://threefavorites.blogspot.com

What We Are

1. We are selfish.
Though we preach charity, love, and peace, we are a selfish group. We seek reward for ourselves in so many different aspects of life even when we do not realize we are doing it. It is rare to come upon a completely and utterly selfless person. It is important to note, however, that I do not necessarily see this as an automatic negative. Sometimes it is vital that we make conscious decisions that are focused on us in order to contribute to the greater good. Like most things in life, it is a matter of balance. The perfect balance of selfish actions and an awareness of the interconnectedness of our world, that your decision in some way affects everyone, everywhere in some way.

2. We think too much.
There is never a single, solitary moment in our short lives in which at least a dozen thoughts a second are not running through our brains. It is never simple even when we say it is. The wheel does not stop turning, and while this leads to human modernization and enables us to grow, it also complicates everything. There are motives and goals and plans; constant, ever-evolving plans that prohibit our natural inclination to spontaneity. We are a people of structure, but it leads to self-imposed shackles on our lives. It is imperative that we reach once again our animalistic tendencies to react every now and then. Truly and completely react.

3. We never stop talking.
Shut up and listen to each other. There is no other way to make progress in any part of life.

4. We refuse to slow down. 
The ultimate selling point on anything is how much time we will save, and I find that utterly disheartening. When did taking our time become a concept only relished by merely unmotivated individuals? The only way to learn something, is to envelope oneself with it. To live it, breathe it, feel it until it becomes something you cannot separate from even yourself. Time is something we are always looking to save, but for what reason? You cannot store it, or sell it, or take it with you when you die. We can only use it. Everyday you are given 24 whole hours to make a difference, to change your life. So do exactly that, and stop trying to quicken something that is so valuable and has so much potential. Great things take time, and our lives should not be treated as anything but exceptional.

5. We are always looking. 
Always. We are constantly searching, every single hour of every single day. I believe this is rooted in humans being given so much freedom that they are overwhelmed by possibilities. So we wait and wait and wait for us to discover something magical that will change our lives and point us in the right direction. We look for people, for love, for hope, for a purpose, for anything that will excite us and bring us out of our monotone lives. But there is the flaw: life is not boring EVER. If you think it is then you are looking at it all wrong. Every morning you get to open your eyes and see a world of intricate and inspiring things that you could never dream up on your own. You breathe life into your lungs. You interact with amazing human beings, the same as you, different from you, all kinds of humans. You live your day and then at night, you sleep. And all this is so you can do it one more time the next day. The first day of a child's life on earth is a miracle and it is the most astonishing thing any parent could witness. Why would we ever lose that astonishment? What you are looking for is all around you if you could just stop complaining long enough to realize.

6. We are a miracle. 
We are a completely miraculous phenomenon. Though our flaws are many in number and the bad sometimes seems to outweigh the good, deep down in our souls we are loving creatures. It is the bond we have with others that is truly unbreakable. We help each other, we see each other, we are fascinated with each other. Humans have a tendency to analyze other humans. We love to know why a certain person acts the way they do or what motivated a person's actions. The obsession with each other can be interpreted as more than just fascination. The way I see it, it is how we show we care. On the surface we are interested so we can apply it to our own lives or research. But I believe, deep down, we crave human interaction because its our natural instinct to care. We were never meant to be alone because we are too complex to figure out this crazy life alone.

“It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” – George Eliot

As I turned twenty this year, I could not shake the feeling that my life was going by faster than I could keep up with. My memories have started to string together and get jumbled in my head, I have lost touch with friends I thought would be by my side until I died, and it has finally hit me that this is my life. This is it. Today and every day. 

But twenty means something else to me too. It means it is time to grow up and figure out what my purpose is. I have had one too many meaningless nights and I can feel my priorities are shifting. My life is getting lost among the distractions and the sparkle. I always say we were meant to live not survive, and it is about time I start taking my own advice seriously. I am meant for something greater and I can do greater things than what I have been doing. I want a different kind of sparkle, the kind that inspires and grows and helps people. I refuse to be another body moving toward conformity. My choices should revolve around making myself a better human being, not immediate gratification. I want to run and jump and live life like the person I want to be. I want to read books and write and take naps and learn and teach. I want to be the person my heart is telling me to be. The people in my life deserve to be appreciated and loved with my whole self, and I need to become the person who can do that. 

Twenty is my time to grow up and be a better person. And it is the time for me to face my problems head on and learn to appreciate the next twenty years. My life is in need of a little turn around, and I am excited to experience the new me. 

Dear RSB

Dear Rach,

Hey baby girl. It's me, your cloth buddy. I wish you could see yourself right now, and how strong you have become. I remember the first time I met you and you smiled at me with a glow that would stop anyone in their tracks. I remember our first lunch date. I remember our first night out. I remember the first time you cried when we were out. I remember when we became sisters. And I remember when I had to say goodbye to you. I also remember the person you were when you came into my life. Looking back on that girl now, I can hardly recognize you.

You do not stumble at adversity. You do not falter when asked to sacrifice something for someone you love. I know when something does not go how you planned it all out in your mind, you count it as a failure. But I have to let you know something that I do not think you were ready for until now. You cannot fail. The strength you have inside you is not done evolving, and when you least expect it, you will look at your life only to realize how happy you finally are. But you must stop looking. Stop searching for that perfection. Stop worrying about what happens next, because you cannot predict it.

He is coming. You may have met him, you may have loved him, you may have never laid your eyes on him. Know that for every day you have spent searching for him, he has been searching for you too. He imagines what you may be like, and wonders what you will teach his children, what kind of music you listen to, if you will love him as much as he already loves you. And one day, you will know what it is like to have your heart connected to someone so strongly, that nothing could tear you apart. The kind of love that cannot be broken or tarnished. One day it will be yours.

Know that you are beautiful. And the things you hate about yourself, everyone else envies them. The things you wish you could be are insignificant compared to the things you already have. The day you see that is the day your life will become exactly that: your life. Just you. Stop looking at everyone around you and making them feel better about themselves, they will be just fine. Be selfish. I am giving you permission to tell yourself you are beautiful.

Take one minute today to list the things you love. I can help you. You love Jews, cats, snuggling, naptime, Netflix, documentaries when you fall asleep, not wearing pants, wearing Hippie clothes, your mom, your dad, writing, making people laugh, dancing, your belly button, a good book, a good cry, and your sues.

Your mom always says you have a sticky mind. And one day it will stick how you make the lives of people better, simply because they met you.

i love you.
-me

Here's To You

Here is to all of you.

To you who told me I could never make it. That my life would never be a product of my abilities, but rather the consequence of the world I was born into. That I could never make a difference. That I would be the person everyone told me I was meant to be.

To you who told me I could. That my dreams would never be maximized. You showed me all the world could give me if I only gave to it. You painted the walls of my soul, and awoke me to all the possibilities I was told were out of reach.

To you who taught me that money is not everything. That this world could be so much more than it is today. Money is only paper and we can do so much more than collect piles of it. You taught me to grow rich from experience, from life. That the value of my very being could never be a number; it could only be measured by how much time I had spent soaking up the rays of goodness in the world. You brought me out of a small world of artificiality, and into a universe.

To you who became my best friend from the time we were six. You taught me joy. You brought it into my life and you made it stick. You showed me how to dance with passion and fire and happiness. And you never told me no. If I needed you, you were there. If I wanted to talk of running away to Europe, you played along and asked where we would go first. You instilled in me the ability to laugh at myself, and to laugh at you. I am forever in debt to you and your glowing spirit. Don't let anyone extinguish your gingerness.

To the culprits of my broken heart. Boy after boy, and man after man, you all chipped away at it. It was not one of you, but all of you. You made me fall fast, and you broke what was never yours to break. To you I say, you will never break it again. Someday your heart will break too, but know that I never wished it upon you. I hope you never know the pain you have caused me. But I hope you never cause it again.

To you who loved me well. The five of you that I know are my soul mates. There was never a better reason to use the term soul mate. To you who makes me smile, to you who sees my soul, to you who picks me up, to you who never judged, and to you who melts my heart. To all of you who must know that life brought us together and will keep us together. That I would never be who I am without each of you. That you have touched my heart and brought a light into my life that could never have been found without you. Know that your life is more valuable than you will ever know.

And to you who I am waiting for. Someday it will no longer be you, or me. It will be us. You will love me and I will love you, and it will be just like that, nothing more. Because that is all we need.

Here's to you. The lovers and the haters. You made me the person I am today, and because of you, I am proud of me.

"Happiness is only real, when shared..." -Into the Wild

 

Are you ever tempted? To leave the life you lead and discover a more beautiful version of yourself, or to explore with no strings attached, nothing grasping to you to stay around. There is a fine line between what you are blessed with and what you take advantage of. The artificiality that consumes so many lost souls disheartens my ability to believe in a positive future for our generation.

Imagine the world that I do. Dream of a freedom we have never felt before. Not the kind of liberty we are constituted with, or the kind found in the world we are born into. This is true freedom. If tomorrow I sold my belongings, drained my accounts, and gave myself up to the world, how bad could it really be? Some may believe it to be selfish. How could I be given so much only to throw it away? But is it really all that much.

We have developed the habit of stitching together all the pieces of fabric we can find and calling it our life. A bit of happiness, a bit of discomfort, a piece of memories, and a swatch of disappointment. Our hearts are so set on getting by and not drowning that we never step back and look at that life. We do not see how the fabrics fit together in a way that makes sense. It is imperative that the world begin to see value in the memories we make, and the people we meet. A world that throws away the gold and replaces it with cooperation. That is the world I want to see.

Chris McCandless gave away his thousands of dollars to charity, changed his name, and wandered the world looking for satisfaction. Reading about such courage and vivacity awakened something in my heart. Of course I would never challenge someone who believes their life truly makes them happy. If you are meant to be at that desk and you are meant to work nine to five until the day you die, then you are doing what most people could never dream of: living your passion.

My passion is not ordinary. It cannot conform. It does not flow like society wants it to. Someday, I will live it. And someday, the rest of the world will finally understand what it means to be free.

My Angels

"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us."
- Epicurus

  We came together in the strangest way really. But I guess all friendships are strange. There is no definition of what friendship really means because it means so many different things to so many people. To some it is companionship and security. To some it is a shoulder to cry on. But to us it is different...to us, it is laughter and song and adventure. It is unity and diversity. It is what we believe in when everything is falling apart. If a stranger looked in on us, they would never understand how true the bond really is. But that is kind of the point of a true friendship; it means these people understand when no one else does.

 

First there is Kate D'Orsi. It really isn't a surprise that we met because we live together. But it is a surprise how easily our friendship blossomed. Kate lights up any room she walks into. I remember on move in day, she kept popping into my room asking to help and reminding me to do all sorts of little things on the registration check list. I think the moment I knew we would be friends was when we accidentally stumbled into the wrong suite, completely convinced we lived there until another girl came out and told us we were in the wrong building. We could barely walk down the stairs because we were laughing so hard. She is the glue of our group. She holds everyone together and unites us all with her charm and energy. Kate genuinely cares about other people, and would never let something go unjustified. She is on top of our plans from dinner times to movie nights. Without her we would lost...

Then there is Paige Kelloway. She lights up my world in ways you could never imagine. With the strongest heart I have ever encountered, Paige is passionate about anything and everything she does. On Kate's birthday, Paige walked over a mile to buy candy from a gas station down the road from school to bring back for her. Opening our door and seeing her standing there brought me to tears. She looked at me like it was not even a strange thing that she did. Paige believes in us. That's what she brings to our friend group. She never falters or forgets something important to you. Anything that you love she loves too, simply because that's what friends do. I can always count on a text or a call from her making sure my day went well. When we disagree with her, she listens. She is more valuable to me than she can ever know, because she reminds me of the emotion-filled, passionate person that everyone should always have around them. She is the kind of person who makes you better, just because she is there.

Next is my little rockstar, Rachael Siegel-Berele. I honestly have never met such an influential and talented person. She has this way of summoning a smile to your face, even when you never thought your mood could change. She dances with me, and impersonates everyone you have ever met, and we quotes endless movies together; basically my other half. Rach would not every think about putting herself before others, and she will always be there when you fall down. While she is so strong and steady, she is also filled with emotions that would put even the most incredible poet to shame. When she cries, I can't help but be proud of her. She feels every part of life, every single millisecond. She believes in the good of the world and in the people who affect her. Rachael is someone I would like my daughter to be exactly like. Independent, spirited, and alive. When I am sad or worried, she knows exactly what to say. She jokes about loving to diagnose people, but she doesn't realize that that is the quality that makes her amazing. She knows what is wrong and what can fix it. She keeps the smiles in our group everlasting. She would never let us get down on ourselves or get bored, because that would be a tragedy. She encourages our individual strengths, and isn't afraid to speak her mind. Rachael is the type of person that you listen to, because for whatever reason, she always knows what is best.

Finally there is Robin Gottlieb, our shining star. Robin is brilliant and is the type of person who never goes unnoticed in a crowd. She is beautiful and confident. But she is so much more than that pretty face of hers. Robs is the most positive person I have ever met. She is always smiling and making you realize it is all going to be okay. I never worry when I am with her. There isn't a rhyme or reason, but just because she is Robin. Plenty of our jokes are at her expense, but only because she can handle it. Robin is a doer. She makes us go out when we don't feel like it, she is sure to bring any of us out of a funk, and she never forgets to say her most typical sentence, "Awe babe I love you!". Robin always reminds you of how much you mean to her, and often has moments of clarity for all of us. She vows that we will all be in each other's weddings and babysitting each other's kids. And because of her, I know we all will make it.

"Many people will walk in and out of your life but only true friends leave footprints upon your heart..."