you have to do things

"It's much easier to not know things sometimes.  Things change and friends

leave.  And life doesn't stop for anybody.  I wanted to laugh.  Or maybe get mad.

Or maybe shrug at how strange everybody was, especially me.  I think the idea is

that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to

share it with other people.  You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead

of yours and think that counts as love.  You just can't.  You have to do things.  I'm

going to do what I want to do.  I'm going to be who I really am.  And I'm going

to figure out what that is.  And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad

about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn't do or what

they didn't know.  I don't know.  I guess there could always be someone to blame.

It's just different.  Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I

think that the only perspective is to really be there.  Because it's okay to

feel things.  I was really there.  And that was enough to make me feel infinite

I feel infinite."

(Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky)

Perks of Being a Wallflower has become one of my recent favorite books.  I read it for the first time over a year ago, and it's the first book I've read in a really long time that I just couldn't put down.  I remember forcing myself to go to sleep only to wake up at 3:00 a.m. just to finish it. 

And then, I laughed and cried myself to sleep.  Sounds crazy, huh?  I thought I was delirious.  Maybe it was the lack of sleep.  But I say, it was the story.  It was the characters.  It was the words spoken in the voice of a young boy and the girl he loved that just touched every nerve inside of me, and evoked the passions and loves and aspirations of my fifteen-year-old self. 

photo via

young dreams die hard

 

          




















I finished the book!  And I'm a tad bit embarrassed to admit, but it made me cry.  Actually, it made me break down and cry.  Almost sobbing to the point that I had to stop for awhile (a few times) to wipe my tears, catch my breath, before I could continue.  Until the end. 

I haven't read a book that has made me feel that way.  Where I felt like I really knew the characters as I experienced their lives, apart and together, with them.  As if they were lifelong friends who I laughed and cried with.  As if I were them.  Because I felt the emotions that they felt.  Experienced their happiness, their disappointments, their pain, their loss, their love for each -- 20 years of these two characters' lives.  It was quite a journey ...

... that has inspired me to write.  Once again.  To continue writing.  Even if it's just here for now.  Until I find the time to write the stories I've been wanting to tell.  Honestly, sometimes, I think I may seem a little silly, y'know, keeping this blog ... but this blog keeps my passion for words, for photographs, for art, alive.  And David Nicholls, through his wonderfully crafted novel, has re-lit the fire inside my heart.  In a way, I felt like he read my journals and created Emma's character from them.  Y'know, her desire to be a writer.  Her young dreams of changing the world through words.

I can relate to that.

And her loyalty to love.  To loving Dex.

I could relate to that, too.     

I can't wait to watch the movie!

sometimes ...

... is all you can say.

sometimes, it's all you need to say.

sometimes, it's all you should say.

i believe those three words together, in its perfect sequence,

in its honest timing, is the most beautiful composition of words.

unfortunately, it's not used enough.  at least when it should be.

such simple words that, sometimes, require so much courage to even utter.

but find the courage.

say it.

i love you.

mean it.

and you'll see what a world of difference it makes.

i love you.

i love you.

do you see? 

do you feel it?

i love you.

*photo via le love

trust.

*photo via

amazing.

Some people are just amazing with words.  Tyler is one of them.  I discovered his site awhile ago, and fell completely in love.  I especially love love his "Daily Haiku on Love" posts.  And now, am falling in love with his posts about his adorable dogs - Calvin and Hobbes.  I think Wednesday would appreciate them, too.  Anyhow, check out Tyler's site here, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed. 

And just because I love love his haikus, had to share some here:

"The first time we spoke

       was the first moment I knew

  I've always been yours."

"Thank you for the fact

            that the things I cannot change

 are the things you love."

"You have translated

    pieces of my heart that I

     have never understood."

Amazing.  Just amazing. 

Now, you understand why I start my day with his words?  How can those words not make you feel ... ?  And well, now, I'm ending my day with them, too.  :)  I hope you fall in love tonight.