“The thing that is most hardest to accept about the passage of time is that the people who once mattered the most wind up in parentheses.”
— John Irving, The Cider House Rules (via larmoyante)
(via shallyn17)
Don’t you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone!
Hyperbole and a Half On Depression
Hits a bit close to home. Totally didn’t realize what I was dealing with or why I was (or wasn’t) feeling what I felt until this.
“
After months of sadness and wishing, it came true. My love came back to me. Sure, her mannerisms aren’t the same; her hair’s a different colour; and I call her by a different name. But it’s back.
We take the same walks through country paths in the rain and the sun. I tell her those same stories of my past and future, and she nods and laughs – just like the first time. But it’s not the first time. My first time is gone.
My love is back now though. And every now and then, I see a glimpse of my first in her. It reminds me of how I will see, so vividly, the colour orange whilst chomping upon a Terry’s chocolate treat; a sort of homage to that sad citrus fruit with whom I experienced it first.
So, my message to all of you is this: do not become hung up on ‘the one’. Chase the feeling. There exists the potential in a billion souls. Do not be afraid to ignite that fire once again. Let it engulf your world. Let it envelope your senses. And when that last flickering flame turns on itself in anguish, don’t ever let yourself believe it’s been forever extinguished.
”
The Diameter of a Bomb
The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters
and the diameter of its effective range about seven meters,
with four dead and eleven wounded.
And around these, in a larger circle
of pain and time, two hospitals are scattered
and one graveyard. But the young woman
who was buried in the city she came from,
at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers,
enlarges the circle considerably,
and the solitary man mourning her death
at the distant shores of a country far across the sea
includes the entire world in the circle.
And I won’t even mention the crying of orphans
that reaches up to the throne of God and
beyond, making
a circle with no end and no God.
Love doesn’t always turn out the way you expect it to. Even beautiful moments can turn sour in an instant. I was so moved by the difficult and subtle truth this song is trying to express I had to take a stab at it. I hope you enjoy my one-take, live cover of Tegan & Sara’s “I Was a Fool”. We shot it outdoors in Culver City and even though it was freezing and I was the genius who wore shorts, it really was an intimate and tender session and I’m so happy to share it.
Acoustic Guitar: Elliot Kim
More info:
http://facebook.com/priskamusik
http://twitter.com/heresthelove
http://youtube.com/priskamusik
Download MP3 for “I Was a Fool (Live One Take)”
https://soundcloud.com/heresthelove/i-was-a-fool-live-one-take
Video produced by:
Naofumi Kudo
Sound recorded by:
Rickey Lumpkin II
Special Thanks:
Eberth Martinez
| Punishment for rape in Ancient Rome: | Rapist's gonads were crushed between two stones. |
| Punishment for rape in America in 2013: | 1-2 years of jail and victim-blaming, rapist-sympathetic media coverage. |
“There’s a thing in life where you have to come to terms with dyin’. Well, I haven’t come to terms with dyin’ yet. I want to come to terms with being sure that you understand that my love for you up to this point was as much as it could be and it’ll be as much as it could be for eternity.” -Danny Perasa, on his deathbed, to his wife Annie Perasa
Meet London - a Shiba Inu/Shetland Sheepdog mix - the smartest dog ever!
I got him when he was 9 weeks and 2 days old. He got potty trained in 4 days! He learned how to brush his teeth in 3 days! He has no problem taking a bath.
We’re working on his learning his name and following me now. But he should be a really quick learner. He’s such a cutie too. And bitches, he’s single ;)
“Wow… you guys should just get married.”
I said the following in response to two friends who were bickering about something stupid and one of them immediately responded,
“Isn’t it sad that we associate marriage with bickering?”
I’m not sure how I feel about that just yet. I definitely see his point, but there’s also strength in a relationship that isn’t stressed by bickering and there’s value in being able to be brazenly honest. I don’t think it’s as simple as he’s making it out to be.
But last night another friend did say that “life is a power struggle and you never want to show someone that they have all the power.”
In the heat of the moment, I agreed. But after thinking about it, this is actually one of the points I mentioned in a previous post:
#20. Don’t fear being hurt. http://deathtaxes.tumblr.com/post/46061454281/a-few-simple-and-not-so-simple-things
We should stop viewing interactions as a vie for power, because it’s a mindset that deals pain as an alternative to being hurt. It causes a depression in the social space - pushing someone down as opposed to lifting someone up, which I’ll call an impression - and places unnecessary pressure on those nearby.
Scott Simpson, of the blog YourMonkeyCalled.com, recently wrote a piece titled “You Are Boring.” In it, he recalls every conversation he’s ever heard between two people:
Stranger #1: Thing about my life.
Stranger #2: Thing about my life that is somewhat related to what you just said.
Stranger #1: Thing about my life that is somewhat related to what you just said.
Stranger#2: Thing about my life…
Why are we only interested in ourselves? And not in a good way where we’re introspective, but in a puffed up way where we want to pat ourselves on the back and have others give us kudos for the insignificant things in our lives.
Why don’t we ask more questions? Be more inquisitive? Find out the why and how of things instead of the what? Why not lift others up instead of putting them down?
I think this approach can also apply to the entrepreneurial landscape. I’ve recently been reading the book Blue Ocean Strategy. It talks about the diminishing returns of fighting in established markets (red oceans, made bloody by excessive competition) and encourages entrepreneurs to create new markets (blue oceans, free of limitations).
When companies fight ignorantly over existing markets, they make miniscule changes, add insignificant benefits to the consumer, and take on heavy burdens of extra cost. PT Barnum & Bailey and Wringling Brothers died because they focused on featuring stars (which no one cared about), marketed based on a 3-ring venue (which increased the number of performers needed with other cost implications), and their high concession costs discouraged audiences from making purchases and made them feel taken advantage of. Whereas Cirque du Soleil offered new benefits such as a story line, intellectual richness, artistic music and dance, and multiple productions. Apple under Steve Jobs was constantly innovating the consumer space. Steve thought intensely about how people interacted with electronics and always looked to improve that, and because he built products that enhanced people’s lives rather than competing for market space, he ended up building a beautiful company that is still loved by billions of people.
There’s a vast difference between helping someone because you want power vs helping someone and inadvertently receiving respect. The ends don’t justify the means. Coincidentally I also touched on this point in a previous post:
#21. Don’t chase love, affection, or attention. Those should be freely given.
http://deathtaxes.tumblr.com/post/46061454281/a-few-simple-and-not-so-simple-things
Let’s learn to love ourselves so we don’t have to bully other people into doing so. Let’s learn to live harmoniously. Let’s learn to build each other up. Let’s love.
“
Be with me,
not because I am kind
but because the taste of kindness is sweeter when we are entangled.
Be with me,
not because I am pleasant
but because all pleasantries aside, we are known by each other.
Be with me,
not because I amuse
but because things are less amusing when we are apart.
Be with me,
not because I am bold
but because the boldness of your character has found its match in mine.
This is a call for mercy
so that my poor heart can rest in peace,
rest in a peace that excludes death.
For we are not a stillness
But a wave cresting,
growing, expanding;
gaining momentum with every forward movement.
Be with me
not because you are able
but because you are unable
unwilling
unwanting
not to.
— Anon - Notes to a Fellow Wanderer
