Above

The currents will pull you away... just keep your head above.

~ Jack’s Mannequin

Mistletoe

Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it... But a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it.

-Batman Returns

You can’t demand others remove their masks if you’re still wearing yours.

Kisses, m.

Photo credit: Tongue Lashing by Olivia De Berardinis

Light & Dark

Within us all there is the potential to be both light and dark. The trick is embracing both your light and dark elements to find balance. 

-m.

I Will...

I will tell you to

Get up in the morning

And face the world.

I will tell you to be strong

And fight, keep going.

I will tell you everything

Will be okay.

I will push you, inspire

You, motivate you, and

Encourage you to be more.

I will not stop.

I will continue.

You are so much more.

You can be anything,

All you have to do is believe. 

But it is a shame,

How we know what is good

For others,

But don't know what's good

For ourselves.

Listen to yourself,

And listen often.

Doing so will be

the kind of thing that will

Save you.

Save you from killing yourself

Or killing someone.

Listen to yourself.

You know yourself better.

Don't let the voice inside

of you get away.

~ R.M. Drake

Glitter

A life without glitter is no life at all 

~ Toni Collette.

Everyone deserves to sparkle and shine. Love yourself and let it shine out like glitter on your face. 

Kisses, m.

PC: Rumi & Kozdra

Want Love

Everyone wants love yet they're afraid of it. We're all afraid to open up, be vulnerable & say to someone: you know what, I adore you, I love you & I’m afraid you might leave me one day.  

But I say it to people anyway. Some have left. Some have stayed. Either way... it isn't about me. 

I still adore them and love the people that come and go in my life. Do I always like them? No not always. You don't have to like the people you love or adore all the time. Why? Loving others isn't about them. It's about us. 

Buddhism helps me a great deal with the attachment part of my relationships & friendships. I can't say it's easy to see people go but I know their journey has to take them away from mine. Practicing non-attachment does soften the departures. 

You want love? Let yourself be loved by others and love others in return without expectation. Then you will have love. It's not always about romance and love affairs. Not everyone will love you back. Just know that love is there everyday. Everyone has the potential to feel it. It's up to you to be open to it. 

Receive love. Give love. Share love. Be love. 

Kisses! 

~m.

Letters

“A real love letter is made of insight, understanding, and compassion. Otherwise it's not a love letter. A true love letter can produce a transformation in the other person, and therefore in the world. But before it produces a transformation in the other person, it has to produce a transformation within us. Some letters may take the whole of our lifetime to write.” 

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Live Your Life

life requires a bit of effort, you get what you put into it. laugh when your happy, frown when your sad, dont be afraid to let the teardrops fall, soak it all in, dance to the beat of your heart.

when love knocks on your door, let it in.. dont be afraid to take a risk, cherish your friends, theres a reason they are there. 

play in the rain & swim in the ocean, accept that your heart will get broken, once.. twice, or a 1000 times and you will love again.

sing in the shower and dance in the mirror, roll the windows down and let the wind blow your hair, makes mistakes, dont regret them. 

realize there is no such thing as MR RIGHT or MS RIGHT, but if someone loves you, let them. They wont be a knight in shining armor, or a princess to be rescued, he/she wont sweep you off your feet, but they will catch you when you fall.. they're not supposed to make you happy, they're supposed to make you happier.. find happiness in yourself. its there if you look for it. 

Take lots of pictures with lots of goofy faces, eat popsicles & read the jokes on the stick. LIVE YOUR LIFE to make you smile and to make it worth while, cherish the moments you have because one day it'll be GONE.

~ unknown 

Wrap

Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present - and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future. 

~ Audrey Hepburn

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in life that we forget to enjoy ourselves. This is one of my favorite quotes from Audrey reminding us to enjoy the moment. 

Enjoy!

Kisses, m.

Self Love

 

What is self love? You probably want to smack someone when they tell you to love yourself but it's really necessary and an integral part of loving others. Taking care of yourself is a form of self respect and ultimately the relationship you have with yourself sets the tone for all your relationships. Here's a few examples of what self love looks like & it's not always about spoiling yourself... 

"Self Love means...

1. Choosing ourselves, even if it means upsetting others and not being popular anymore. Even if it means we leave a party before anyone else because we feel tired, overwhelmed, or just plain feel done with the crowd.

2. Telling what is true for us, not swallowing words that express what we truly feel, think, or want to do.

3. Giving our body the nurturing, rest, exercise, and comfort it needs to the best of our ability.

4. Wearing clothes that make us feel good and fit our personality instead of wearing clothes that are in fashion that we use to impress others.

5. Building a life that we love while we are single instead of waiting for our prince/princess to show up to explore life and to be happy.

6. Accepting ourselves with the good, the bad, the ugly, the sexy, and the smelly—all of it—and appreciate ourselves as whole people.

7. Making time to do whatever we love, just to play, without worrying about wasting time.

8. Owning our inner and outer beauty and complimenting ourselves without feeling guilty, arrogant, or entitled.

9. Not rehashing our past mistakes and dragging ourselves to a dark place when we know that we can only learn from the past; we can’t change it.

10. Spending some quality, connected time with ourselves instead of always watching TV or wasting time on the Internet.

11. Using discretion when sharing our heart, self, and dreams with others.

12. Trusting the path that our soul is on and making a genuine effort to become a conscious co-creator of our destiny.

13. Not blaming our parents for our current issues, and looking for ways to heal our wounds and change our dysfunctional patterned behaviors by reaching out to ministers, therapists, coaches, and healers.

14. Following what our gut/intuition says instead of living out of our brain and ego.

15. Staying in our integrity, both when it comes to ourselves and when interacting with others out in the world. This includes keeping ourselves in check regarding patterns such as lying, manipulating, co-depending, withholding, and pretending.

16. Allowing ourselves to dream big, without contaminating these dreams with judgments, our perceived limitations, or a lack of sense of deserving.

17. Knowing how we’re spending our emotional, mental, financial, and physical energy, and whether these activities bring back joy, connection, nurturing, rest, and creativity to our lives.

18. Taking responsibility for all of our experiences. Knowing that we have the ability for deeper self awareness and access to our intuition when it comes to making life choices.

19. Not labeling ourselves with others’ opinions of us, while having the courage to look inside to see if there might be some truth to them.

20. Learning to set boundaries that protect and nurture our relationships, with ourselves and others.

21. Allowing ourselves to make mistakes and not berating ourselves for making them. Instead, choosing to appreciate our desire to learn and grow.

22. Refusing to seek permission or approval to be ourselves. Recognizing that we, like everyone else, deserve to take up space on this planet just as who we are right now.

23. Loving and accepting ourselves even when we fail miserably at some of these self-love goals."

Kisses, m.

Real Love

 

He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect.

But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold on to him and give him the most you can.

He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break.

Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect more than he can give.

Don’t analyze.

Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there.

Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.

~Bob Marley

Real Love isn't perfect.. It's not one-sided. There's no version of it. It's not a fairytale or a storybook with a happy ending and doesn't always come easy. Love is overcoming obstacles & facing challenges with someone who wants to face them with you. It's not about holding on and never letting go. The right person will have flaws and shortcomings just like you but they'll want to stay without being asked to and removing you from their life is the last thing they will ever want to do.. Leaving your side is the last thing they want to do but they'll do it if you ask them to because love only wants happiness for their beloved. Look, love is hard sometimes but it's absolutely worth it when you find it. 

Kisses, m.

Photo Credit: Tyler Shields

Being

 

“Be kind to yourself. Remember that when you abuse yourself, you will experience the anger, regret, and apathy of the bully as well as the depression, anxiety, and insecurity of the victim. Whatever you do, be kind to yourself.” 
― Vironika Tugaleva

Sometimes being is incredibly hard. It requires a moment to center yourself. Meditate. You have to remember that you are a human, and being a human is difficult. You want to do it all perfect, but sometimes things outside of your control force you to do otherwise. Those obstacles that stop you from doing what you want perfectly happen to get in the way sometimes. 

Take a deep breath. Try to remember that you, yourself are not your accomplishments or failures. The greatest way for you to move past critical thoughts, negative self talk and unclear feelings is by being gentler and kinder to yourself. Once you manifest positive voices on the inside and suppress the negative ones, your outlook on the outside will be improved. If you would wish someone else a great day, then have the same wish within your heart for your own great day. Self compassion is the key to feeling good about yourself. 

Having compassion means you don't mistreat others or let people mistreat you, including yourself. Having a bad reaction is human so don't beat yourself up. Even a zen master will give someone the finger in traffic if the right conditions present themselves. It doesn't make it right. Being kinder within helps you recognize & control yourself in moments where there's a more compassionate way. Love yourself.

Champagne

 

"I only drink Champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not" 

- Coco Chanel

Photo Credit: Tyler Shields

Life...

No one is going to save you but yourself. You want something, go out and get it, do it or make it happen yourself. It may not be easy but anything worth doing or having is worth what you invest in it. The universe owes you nothing. 

Sleep: Dreams and Nightmares 45

Sleep is my lover now, my forgetting, my opiate, my oblivion.

- Audrey Niffenegger

It's no great mystery that I obsess over my circadian shifts and sleep related things because of them. Once in a while I have to explain to people that my unique sleep patterns aren't insomnia, I don't lose sleep or get tired and most of the time I'm fully rested and look it. I just sleep at odd intervals and my body adjusts to it. No clue why. It is just how I function. I go with it! But I do love my caffeine regardless if I need it. 

Do you sleep?  

Enjoy!

Kisses, m.

BIG Deal

“Women forget that to somebody, they’re a big deal. You might not have met that person yet…but you’re someone’s Angelina Jolie. You’re someone’s giant great big deal and they won’t be able to believe that they get to wake up next to you every morning. But you have to believe that about yourself.

You know – someone is going to be your Ryan Reynolds someday. Someone is going to be your thing, like “How did I get so lucky?” But if you don’t treat yourself with value, the person that will also value you is not going to come. 

Women don’t remember that they’re going to be a big deal to someone, because they have that panic of wanting to lock something down and wanting to feel that they’re something to someone instead of everything to the right one.”

—  Amiira Ruotola

Head or Heart

Stop insisting on clearing your head — clear your fucking heart instead.

~ Charles Bukowski 

Dear

Dear Future Love of My Life:

I know. I should have written before. Forgive me. But I got the feeling that you were beginning to think I didn't exist. But I do. And I wanted to let you know that while I might be as elusive as a unicorn grazing in a field of four-leaf clovers, I'm close. I'm around the corner, down the street, on Facebook, in your office, at our local coffee shop, a complete stranger. I made eyes at you once on the subway. I saw you across the room at a party. I swiped you right on Tinder. But it's not our time yet. And I know you're wondering why.

It's really not fair that you've had to wait this long, or go on blind dates, endure bad sex, settle for 'meh' relationships, feel misunderstood, cry from loneliness, wrap your arms around a pillow as you fall asleep at night. I'm so sorry, my love. You deserve an explanation. So, here it goes. It's taken me a long time to even admit this to myself much less to you, so please know that everything I've written here is true.

The reasons we haven't met yet, in no particular order:

1. I haven't thrown out the list of things I think you should be.

2. I'm with the wrong person right now.

3. I'm not ready to be loved unconditionally.

4. Since my life isn't together, I think you'll reject me.

5. I still believe that drama is a show of love.

6. I've been intentionally keeping my head too busy to think with my heart.

7. I need to date more to understand what I do and don't like.

8. I won't be able to appreciate you until life has kicked my ass.

9. I'm too focused on my own needs.

10. I don't know how to create the feeling of home that lives in my heart.

Clearly, I'm not my best self yet. Or even myself -- I'm still figuring out who that is. I'm pretty sure even if we did meet, you wouldn't like me all that much right now. It's entirely possible that we did hit it off once, and I left without getting your information; or maybe I did get your number and never called because of any one of the above reasons.

Be patient with me, darling heart. Know that I'm working my way toward you. So don't spend any more time thinking about where I am or am not. Just keep making your life exciting and full, so when we do finally come together, we can bring each other joy, because we are already happy.

I know it's taking longer than you'd like. It's a hell of a lot slower than I could have ever imagined. But I'm here. This is me talking to you. And I'm not going anywhere.

Don't give up on me.

Yours, in perpetuity,

The Love You Haven't Met Yet

~ A Letter From the Love You Haven't Met Yet ByEmily Bracken

Truth

The truth is simple, lies are complicated. You can't convince someone who has being lying to themselves denying the truth; creating complicated lies maintaining they want truth. yet when it's there they don't believe it... There's nothing but truth crystal clear in the open. You don't need a confession just open your eyes and you'll see truth. 

Kisses, m.

First Love Yourself

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. Your really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.

Lucille Ball