Words

Words are magical.
It amazes me what multiple combinations of 26-letters strung together written or spoken by another human being can make us feel.
So here is a collection of some of the words that have inspired me, changed my perspective, helped me grow, made me feel like I wasn’t alone, and kind of changed my life.

“The thing about chaos, is that while it disturbs us, it too, forces our hearts to roar in a way we find secretly magnificent.”
-Christopher Poindexter

“You don’t need anyone’s affection or approval in order to be good enough. When someone judges you, it isn’t actually about you. It’s about them and their own insecurities, limitations, and needs, and you don’t have to internalize that. Your worth isn’t contingent upon other people’s acceptance of you- it’s something inherent. You exist, and therefore, you matter. You’re allowed to voice your thoughts and feelings. You’re allowed to assert your needs and take up space. You’re allowed to hold onto the truth that who you are is exactly enough. And you’re allowed to remove anyone from your life who makes you feel otherwise.”
-Daniell Koepke

“I am homesick for a place I am not even sure exists. One where my heart is full and my soul is understood.”
-Unknown

“Your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck. Your profession is what you’re put here on Earth to do, wish such passion and such intensity that it becomes a spiritual calling.”
-Vincent Van Gogh

“You have more to do than be weighed down my pretty or beautiful. You’re a fiery heart and a wicked brain. Do not let your soul be defined by its shell.”
-Unknown

“Students who are loved at home come to school to learn, and students who aren’t, come to school to be loved.”
-Nicholas A. Ferroni

“Refuse to be that person that, like so many others, is still driving down the same road, years down the line, mournfully longing to go back in time to be given just one more chance to take the road that they know they should have taken because they ignored all possible extraordinary signs. It’ll never get easier to make the leap and this is your chance, so make the change. Take the road now.”
-Victoria Erickson

“Unless someone can look into the core of your heart, and see the degree of your passion, or look into the depths of your soul and see the extent of your will, then they have no business telling you what you can and cannot achieve. because while they may know the odds, they do not know you.”
-Sandra Kring

“One belongs to New York instantly. One belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.”
-Thomas Wolfe

“The fact that our hearts yearn for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.”
-C.S. Lewis

“Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste your food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”
-Ernest Hemingway

Don’t Be Selfish

I came across this post on a friend’s Tumblr and fell in love.
I feel like everyone has had some sort of variation of these emotions, decisions, and feelings at least once in their life, if not more.
I love people who write with a sense of honesty and real-ness, even if it’s not the easiest thing to read.
I feel like the rawness of her emotions is what makes this so beautiful and relatable and emotion-evoking.

1. There will be several days that you daydream about stepping in front of a city bus. Don’t. It will not be beautiful. It will not be brave. It will be selfish. It will be broken. Your mom will cry.

2. Don’t write for him. Write for you. Write for others like you. Write so the girl that thinks about stepping in front of public transportation doesn’t. Don’t be selfish.

3. When you will yourself to sleep and it doesn’t come, get up. It doesn’t matter if it’s 3 am. There will be other 3 ams. Take a shower. Take two. Wash him out of your hair. Write a poem. Read the same book you’ve read 202 times again. Maybe the 203rd time will tell you something different. Don’t stay in bed. You will think about the bus again.

4. Don’t kiss him because he’s broken. Don’t kiss him because his laughter never reaches his eyes. Don’t try and fix him. Fix yourself first. Be selfish. He can’t save you.

5. Date yourself. Take yourself out to eat. Don’t share your popcorn at the movies with anyone. Stroll around an art museum alone. Fall in love with canvases. Fall in love with yourself first.

6. Dress up and wear red lipstick and get drunk with your friends. They’re the ones that will pick you up. Don’t kiss him. Don’t fall asleep on strange couches with strange boys. When his hand slides up your dress, walk away. Hit him. Don’t kiss him. He can’t save you.

7. Get another tattoo. Get five more. Get another hole in your ear. Don’t listen to your dad. You will still be able to get a job. Do you really want to be employed by someone who doesn’t like tattoos anyways? Haven’t you had enough of judgmental people already? Get ‘fuck you’ tattooed in tiny letters on your hip.

8. When you feel the yearning for a new city, start over. Take 200 bucks and three suitcases. Work anywhere that will have you. Meet strange people and forget your name. Call yourself Ruby. No one will know the difference. Remember to call your mother. Don’t be selfish. Come home when you find yourself with strangers in a small one bedroom apartment.

9. Don’t whisper evil things into your own ear. Other people are going to shout them at you. Be your own hero. Keep a sword on your keyring.

10. Don’t step in front of a city bus. It will not be beautiful. Live. Stay up all night with a boy that promises you everything and means it. Live. See shitty local bands with a friend. Wear another band’s t-shirt. No one will care. Live. Have a baby girl with tiny fingers and tiny toes someday. Live. Wake up. Staying in bed all day is not poetic.

Take Back Your Heart

Take your heart back from the past, take your mind off of the irrelevant, and take the time to be better.
You’re too beautiful to hide your heart.
You’re too strong to play it safe.
You’re too blessed to be impatient.
Don’t get discouraged.
The wait, the pressure, the hurt, it’s all for your good.
Let God work.
Everything is happening the way it’s supposed to.
Stay faithful, stay ready, stay humble.
Your time is coming.
Just promise not to let your disappointments distract you from your destiny.
Remain true.
The people of your past didn’t take away your ability to love, you just allowed them to destroy your desire to.
Get it back, while you still have time.
The good ones don’t wait around forever.

Rob Hill Sr.

Happiness vs. Excuses

I’ve lost so many times in my life.
I’ve trusted people with parts of me they didn’t deserve.
I’ve given time and energy to people that couldn’t appreciate it.
And, I’ve had faith in people that did nothing but doubt me.
Unfortunately, all the relationships I once treasured now seem to fit so perfectly in the box of memories I conveniently forget.
So I guess you can tell my guard’s up?
I guess I come off like I’m playing games?
But I’m not.
I’ve just learned to be patient and I respect that some things take time.
I’ve rushed it and got it wrong before, so I’m not trying to make that mistake again.
I get that I’m not the only one who’s been hurt, lied to, cheated on, and played with.
Believe me, I get it…
But what I don’t get is the cycle.
We say we’re tired of the games and the “getting our hopes up just to be let down” routine, but…
Nothing changes.
So nobody get better.
You were hurt so you felt the need to hide your heart.
I was hurt so I made it a point to run with my pride.
And both of us ended up missing out.
We over think it, crowd it with fears and assumptions, and we wonder why it doesn’t work.
We make things more difficult than they need to be.
The love we experience will only be as good as the effort we invest in.
The relationships will only be as strong as our ability to commit to them.
It’s all on us.
Let go of the past.
Get over those fears.
Allow yourself to be happy.
Trying won’t kill you, but the “ifs” that come from not trying at all can make you miserable.
It all depends on you and what you want.
Do you really want happiness or do you just want another excuse?

-Rob Hill Sr.

Daydreams

All her life she wanted to live in a city that never fell asleep.
What she didn’t know was that she already was the city.

-Unknown

Jessica Day is my Spirit Animal

So everyone that knows me knows I love Zooey Deschanel.
I’ve been obsessed with her since the day I watched 500 Days of Summer for the first time (my all-time favorite movie).
A few years ago, when I found out she was going to be starring in a new show where her character played an awkward middle-school teacher, I FREAKED OUT.
So in honor of the third season of “New Girl” finally being on Netflix, I thought I’d reminisce on my all-time favorite quotes and reasons I’m obsessed with Jessica Day.

And I saved the best for last…

Traveling With Twain

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness…
Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot
be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.

-Mark Twain

Tiffany’s

The blues are because you’re getting fat and maybe it’s been raining too long.
You’re just sad, that’s all.
The mean reds are horrible.
Suddenly you’re afraid and you don’t know what you’re afraid of.
Do you ever get that feeling?
Well, when I get it, the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s.
Calms me down right away.
The quietness and the proud look of it;
nothing very bad could happen to you there.
If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then-
Then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

-Breakfast at Tiffany’s