Tumblr seems like the ideal place to meet a soul mate. Though I can only know the most wondrous, interesting parts of the folks I have met on here, for what it’s worth, it seems like they experience the world around them the way I have always thought it was meant to be experienced: in awe. The very nature of the medium calls out to those who are enraptured by beauty, people who can’t help but want that beauty to be part of them as soon as they come across it. That’s what the reblog is, I think. It’s a way of doing what we cannot do in the real world, grabbing the gorgeous we see every day and tucking it away for later. This blog, this mirror, is an archive of all the beautiful shards we have shared with each other, a small glimpse of the ineffable wonder that has crossed my eyes over the past two years. It is a snapshot of my soul’s trajectory. It is my heart’s arc, spun into song.
Hey now, this is my desire,Something Beautiful - Need to Breathe
consume me like a fire.
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it’s so hard?
It’s not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I’ll tell you one thing, it’s always better when we’re together
- jack johnson
This was really fun and our students really enjoyed it! Go Gators!
We rarely have the opportunity to get to know people for who they are holistically. Typically, we only interact with people in certain settings. Our associates may know us as the girl at church, the scholar in school, the leader in an organization, or the care-taking family member. However, we have multiple roles and operate in various realms, yet people tend to evaluate us in the one dimension they experience us in. What makes this more complex is people seem to present themselves differently depending on the space they occupy.
Living a called life demands congruency and authenticity. This simply means follow and express your intuition. If something feels right, do more of it. If it doesn’t feel right, try to limit that person/activity as much as possible. With your gut as your guide, who you are will become transparent no matter where you are or who you are with. How I interact with my academic colleagues is how I relate to my family, sorority sisters, and close friends. Regardless of status, ethnicity, accolades, dialect, I am who I am no matter where I am or who I am with. I would be lying if I said this was an easy process, for me it only happened two years ago when people I respect challenged my thoughts and actions, but it is certainly worth the effort. This has served me well as a counseling psychologist-in-training because individuality is appreciated and I can model this for clients learning how to be themselves.
The thing is, we all have our stories. We all have our perspectives, roles, hobbies, strengths, and areas of growth. Helping people embrace themselves completely is my mission and one that I have discovered to be a mesmerizing and empowering occurrence. The goal is not to completely dismiss other peoples’ opinion, but give yours the most weight.
Morgan (24) has been influenced by her family and mentors. Contact her on twitter @Mo_Ro_Co.
Love
I want to be wrapped in love. Real love. I want peace in the midst of storms. I want to close my eyes and feel. I want to be centered and whole. I want to be so plugged in to the Source that fear falls away and courage thrives.
I want to see Spirit everywhere and in everything.
I’m getting closer, but I have so much further to go.
Disappointment tastes bitter for a reason. Some people swallow it. The called spit it out.
I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer. But I hated law school. There were so many rules about how I was supposed to look and dress and act and talk and even study. So many expectations. Everyone telling me who I should be, and what I had to do to be successful. And all these little distractions, all these rules about how to be me, camouflaged the reason I was there in the first place: how can I help you?
So I spent the summer after my 1st year working up the courage to do it my way. I’ll take a pen and paper over a laptop. Jeans over a suit. Flats over heels. Humility over praise. Listening over speaking. Hard work over easy rewards. And always, always, always passion over money.
There is a formula to success, especially in an established area like the law, and straying from it will definitely draw stares. But if you don’t walk, then how will others follow?
I realize now that those looks are of envy. Because I wake up every morning to do something I love. Honest work that matters for clients who appreciate it. Because I don’t need anyone else’s yardstick to measure my success. Because I am absolutely and completely happy with the person I am.
Life has so many flavors, taste it. And if you don’t like it, then spit it out. No one has to swallow your decisions but you. And we all deserve something sweet.
Jeanette Samuels, 24, has been heavily influenced by her family and teachers who always encouraged her to question everything and keep only the good. She can be contacted through twitter @JSAMU3LS
To be happy, it first takes being comfortable being in your own shoes. The rest can work up from there. The hardest situation to stay happy, I think, is when you’re trying to find love and yourself at the same time. It just doesn’t seem to fit well. So I believe that happiness is being able to wake up and just know that this is what you wanted, and not what somebody else wanted.Sophia Bush (via tryingtochangewhoiam)
You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.
-James Baldwin
(via motivesandthoughts)
