shiny happy things

Pink Christmas Wishes

Happy Holidays!

Metamorphosis (Life of a Girl)

I. Cocoon
We struggle in the dark places.
Bones break.
Wings form underneath the skin,
rip through the back.
We transform in the warmth
of a folded leaf -
always in agony,
always quiet.

II. Transition
A tiny light grows.
The dark gives way to the sun
and the wings unfold -
still weak,
still unsure.
Then we move in a new way.
Once we crawled on our bellies,
now we fly above the flowers.

III. Weathered
Our wings are strong for a long time,
but the days are stronger.
We live and let go
and go back to that place of quiet darkness,
only this time,
not in agony.
The wings fold in -
a cocoon of color,
and that is where we say
goodbye.

Moon Flower

Photo by: Coop Photography

there is an orange moon
after sunset -
the kind that hangs heavy
in the sky -
low and blossoming
so close
you want to swallow it

All We Need Is Love

photo by love is the key

"Because we love, ruby-throated hummingbirds sip from plum flowers and the moon sings its silver fragrance to the swans and volcanoes and fields of wheat. Because we love, wild grapevines coil around the roots of the mountain, and mangoes ripen in the smoke of forest fires. Because we love, everything alive swims in an eternal river that glides through our dreams all night long."
~Rob Brezsny

Love List

tea and laughs with friends/a box full of craft supplies/a surprise antique typewriter and a/beautiful book on faeries/bubble tea/visits from family/singing and dancing in the car with my sister/cheesy waiters/my new bling ring and sparkly gold wallet/Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Now Shimmering Body Lotion/Benefit's High Beam and Benetint/Gala Darling's Love & Sequins (I bought #1 about self-love and it's amazing!)/Kandee and her fabulous makeup tutorials/vintage lingerie photographs/the many cute things my boyfriend says, one being "give me 10 to 15 minutes before you go to bed to cuddle."/the head, shoulders, knees & toes issue of i-d/hot pink nailpolish/taking my sis to Nia class and dancing our butts off

Inspiration

"Write the thing that

makes you feel the most alive."

~ From Francesca Lia Block's twitter

I needed to hear that.

That Explains It

"Creative people, like those with psychotic illnesses,

tend to see the world differently to most.

It's like looking at a shattered mirror.

They see the world in a fractured way."

An interesting article on creativity and mental illness:

Creative minds 'mimic schizophrenia'

summer day

summer day
a blanket of blossoms

rest your tired wings beneath this tree
blooming soft violet

all the worries in your palms
are sent into the wind

your limbs rest easy
in these pools of sun

let's sit among the dandelions
make wishes to the sky

Star Girl

photo via we heart it

She asked me why my skin glittered &
I said, because I'm made of stars
& so are you.
Then she smiled & I saw the universe.

if you love something...

image via we heart it

A bird came to me
wounded,
its wings open and tender,
its heart beating fast
from falling.

So I cared for the bird
for many days,
wrapped its wings,
held it in my hands.

Until one day
it wanted to fly away.
And I cried and cried
because I had grown
to love the bird,
but it had healed
and didn’t need me anymore.

So I held it close,
one more time,
to hear its wings
against my heart.
Then I set it free,
hoping that someday
it would come back to me.

When a Woman Loves a Man

When a Woman Loves a Man
by David Lehman

When she says margarita she means daiquiri.
When she says quixotic she means mercurial.
And when she says, "I'll never speak to you again,"
she means, "Put your arms around me from behind
as I stand disconsolate at the window."

He's supposed to know that.

When a man loves a woman he is in New York and she is in Virginia
or he is in Boston, writing, and she is in New York, reading,
or she is wearing a sweater and sunglasses in Balboa Park and he
is raking leaves in Ithaca
or he is driving to East Hampton and she is standing disconsolate
at the window overlooking the bay
where a regatta of many-colored sails is going on
while he is stuck in traffic on the Long Island Expressway.

When a woman loves a man it is one ten in the morning
she is asleep he is watching the ball scores and eating pretzels
drinking lemonade
and two hours later he wakes up and staggers into bed
where she remains asleep and very warm.

When she says tomorrow she means in three or four weeks.
When she says, "We're talking about me now,"
he stops talking. Her best friend comes over and says,
"Did somebody die?"

When a woman loves a man, they have gone
to swim naked in the stream
on a glorious July day
with the sound of the waterfall like a chuckle
of water rushing over smooth rocks,
and there is nothing alien in the universe.

Ripe apples fall about them.
What else can they do but eat?

When he says, "Ours is a transitional era,"
"that's very original of you," she replies,
dry as the martini he is sipping.

They fight all the time
It's fun
What do I owe you?
Let's start with an apology
Ok, I'm sorry, you dickhead.
A sign is held up saying "Laughter."
It's a silent picture.
"I've been fucked without a kiss," she says,
"and you can quote me on that,"
which sounds great in an English accent.

One year they broke up seven times and threatened to do it
another nine times.

When a woman loves a man, she wants him to meet her at the
airport in a foreign country with a jeep.
When a man loves a woman he's there. He doesn't complain that
she's two hours late
and there's nothing in the refrigerator.

When a woman loves a man, she wants to stay awake.
She's like a child crying
at nightfall because she didn't want the day to end.

When a man loves a woman, he watches her sleep, thinking:
as midnight to the moon is sleep to the beloved.
A thousand fireflies wink at him.
The frogs sound like the string section
of the orchestra warming up.
The stars dangle down like earrings the shape of grapes.

Question

If you could jump into one painting, what would it be?

Mine would be Mary Cassatt's "Summertime"

Photo of Alessandra Ferri via weheartit

Her feet moved like small creatures

over the floor, quiet & unconcerned

with anything but the business of dancing.

(Story of the Day - Story People)

Hearting...

via we heart it

gypsy love tea (it tastes like roses), red lipstick, wearing dresses, sunshine & blue skies & warm weather, white eyelet dresses, lacey & ruffled things, ballet flats decorated with purple blossoms, picnic baskets, writing, yoga, my beau, pretty teacups with matching saucers, this dress, Tipping the Velvet (an amazing book by Sarah Waters), Alice in Wonderland, neverending inspiration from Francesca Lia Block, lavender

incurable_hippie

"You can never have too much sky. You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky. Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful. Still, we take what we can get and make the best of it."

~Sandra Cisneros

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not at all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exsists. It is real...it is possible...it's yours.

~Ayn Rand

Octopus

we heart it

sea-bottom
ink blot

we heart it

Happy Valentine's Day ♥

To-Do = Done

Looking back at my to-do list from almost a year ago (can you believe it?!):

1. Get over ex (it will be a lot easier when I get back to Texas and not have to see him all the time) Check
2. Get a job (preferably one that I like) Check
3. Keep looking for better jobs if I don't hit the jackpot the first time Check
4. Get a place to live Check
5. Get my wings (tattooed on my back) On the to-do list for this summer
Most importantly - BE HAPPY and find happiness in myself and not in others. No more looking for validation. Love myself. Check check check!!!

Within 10 months so many things I never thought would happen, happened. In fact, it was only three months ago that I was at my breaking point. I was still unemployed with no hope in sight. Even the idea of getting a place of my own seemed impossible. And now, everything has kind of come to me in a whirl wind. I haven't touched ground yet. It still feels frantic and scary and impossible, but what a journey.

I love this fortune cookie fortune I got. I posted it in my journal to remind me that...
"You do not have to know where you are going to be headed in the right direction."

Dose of Courage

You learn you can do your best even when it’s hard, even when you’re tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage. ~ Joe Namath

Courage is more exhilarating than fear, and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve. ~ J.K. Rowling

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself. ~ Søren Kierkegaard

The spiritual warrior hides from nothing. We jump into the fire, we dive into the ocean. We become the sea. ~ Charlotte Kasl

Isn't That the Truth

Steven Brisson

When I told him I had a major in
English, he said, too bad for you this
is America & he started me out at
the bottom.

From Story of the Day on Storypeople