Life is Irrecoverably Wasted ...

There's something special about a new year. A fresh start. 365 brand new days for you to become whatever it is you want to become. These past 365 days taught me more than I could have ever hoped to learn. Some lessons were harder than others, but with the close of 2011, I can honestly say I am a stronger person, because of this year's experiences. This year, I learned that we don't have to settle.  Our lives?  We can control them. We can change our own path. We have will and we have ways.  We have the power to achieve happiness and to see beauty in darkness.  I learned that mean people are the ones that need kindness most. And no matter what anybody tells you, you're beautiful and worth it.  And most importantly, you deserve love and to be happy. I've learned that there will always be people with unkind things to say. There will always be hate, envy, and greed in this world. But there will also always be love and beauty and ki...

I always feel like I’m struggling to become someone else. Like I’m trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life, a new personality. I guess it’s part of growing up, yet it’s also an attempt to reinvent myself. By becoming a different me, I could free myself of everything. I seriously believed I could escape myself- as long as I made the effort. But I always hit a dead end. No matter where I go, I still end up me. What’s missing never changes. The scenery may change, but I’m still the same old incomplete person. The same missing elements torture me with a hunger that I can never satisfy. I guess that lack itself is as close as I’ll come to define myself.

‎My heart is drumming in my chest so hard it aches, but it’s the good kind of ache, like the feeling you get on the first real day of autumn, when the air is crisp and the leaves are all flaring at the edges and the wind smells just vaguely of smoke - like the end and the beginning of something all at once

For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

"This is what you do. If you feel low, you stand tall. You mess up, you move on. You want to try something, try it, and if it was a stupid thing to try, you look it in the eye. There’s no turning back. You apologize if you’re sorry, but know that the nimblest, strongest hands can’t rebuild a bridge out of embers, so cut new wood. Start from scratch. You love with your whole heart. If you’re jealous, talk yourself from the ledge. If you can’t talk yourself down from the ledge, have a good time up there, looking down on the world. If you have to lie to make everything true again, lie like you mean it. If you find yourself in a cage, reach out through the bars for the key, unlock the door, and run away. If running away gets dangerous, run home. If home doesn’t mean what it used to mean, decide what home will be in the future. If your best friend says she doesn’t trust you, hold her jaw in your hand until it hurts, and make her face you. That's all it takes. If you think you lov...

The beauty and love in the idea caught me by surprise. Because the world really does need more love letters. So I started writing love letters every week. Just little notes of kindness that I leave random places for strangers. Because sometimes we all need a bit of encouragement. So here's my love letter to you... No matter what's going on in your life- you can and you will get through it. You're beautiful and you're talented and your dreams will come true. Work hard and play nice. Don't forget to notice all of the beautiful things in the world.  It's good to have goals for the future, but this time right now? This is part of your life, too. So enjoy it.  Don't wait to achieve this or excel in that to start living.  Start now. And never, ever forget you are loved. All my love, -Me. If you're feeling brave, start writing love letters, too.  Because with a little more love, the world just might change.

We all get lost once in a while, sometimes by choice, sometimes due to forces beyond our control. When we learn what it is our soul needs to learn, the path presents itself. Sometimes we see the way out but wander further and deeper despite ourselves; the fear, the anger or the sadness preventing us returning. Sometimes we prefer to be lost and wandering, sometimes it’s easier. Sometimes we find our own way out. But regardless, always, we are found.