Days of Discovery

When you die you’re not taking your house or car or fancy clothes with you. So don’t focus on that. Focus on living.

[daysofdiscovery]

Tell me about your first date. Where did you go, what were they like?

My first date was actually a school dance in 8th grade. My parents have always been extremely traditional Muslims, so I was never allowed to date. In fact, the first time I ever asked my father (at the age of 7) when I would be allowed to date, his…

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[daysofdiscovery]

Why is it true that you are right so much of the time and everyone else gets things so wrong?

(I'm not kidding, this really is a prompt in my magical book of prompts.) I think this is a funny topic. I'd like to say it's because I have an old soul and I find myself to be more mature than the majority of people I hang out with. It almost worries me that I get more and more old-fashioned as every day goes by, and now little things I used to do five years ago drive me insane when I see others doing them. I don't intend to judge; everyone is capable of making their own decisions. However, I can disapprove of a person's actions without judging them for it. It simply means that it isn't a choice I would make, though I don't think less of the person for making it. Oh look, I'm rambling. Anyways. I am not so deluded that I think I'm superior to anyone else. I know I fall right in line with the rest of the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world. I know I have plenty of wrong moments. Well, maybe just a handful. In any case, I think the conundrum of this question is that every person is wired to think differently and believe in different things. So it's easy to convince yourself that you are right and the other person is wrong if you truly believe in what you are arguing (whether it is correct or not.) This would inevitably lead to you thinking that you are right most of the time, but it doesn't determine whether you are in the right. For example, if a woman believes that men and women can be just friends, and her husband does not - they can sit there and argue all night, believing they are each in the right and the other person is simply mad when in reality, that is just their own personal belief and opinion. So in all honesty, I could be right all the time and everyone else would just not see it and be stumbling along their own path of wrongness. But I could also probably be wrong half those times. Probably not. But maybe.

[daysofdiscovery]

Describe the face of someone you love.

My favorite part about his face are his eyes. Those twinkling, honey-colored eyes with the eyelashes that are enviously longer than mine. I could look at those eyes all day. He has a strong nose that he hates because he thinks it's too big. I tell him it adds character, because I think it fits his face perfectly. His jaw is lined with wiry brown facial hair that reddens if he lets it grow for more than a couple of days. That's the Irish in his blood. It gets so unruly if he doesn't trim it, but I don't mind. It's a manly kind of unruly, the kind that makes you think of lumberjacks and burning firewood and petrichor. It scratches gently against my cheek when he leans in for a kiss, and I can't help but run my fingers through it when I press my mouth against his. His lips are soft and they match mine exactly, though his bottom lip is slightly fuller. I trail my fingers up the side of his cheek; those pale cheeks that flush so adorably when he ingests even the slightest amount of alcohol. His whole face reddens and he almost looks embarrassed but I can't help smiling because he's looking at me with those puppy-dog eyes, his auburn-in-the-right-light hair flopping all over his forehead and I'm just melting inside because he's so damn handsome.

[daysofdiscovery]

In your journal, write a letter to yourself at thirteen years old. What advice would you give yourself?

Oh, poor naive young me, Forget everything you think you know. I realize you think the choices you're making right now are finally allowing you to live, but trust me when I tell you that you are sorely mistaken. They're holding you back so much more than you think. The guy you think is "the one," who will be your first everything? Not only will he rip your heart out and punch it harder than the time he'll punch your face into a window (brace yourself, sweetie,) he'll ruin the tight-knit relationship you have with your closest friends and family. He may be introducing you to a lot of new things and people, but none of those things or people will ever do you any good. All the rebelling you think you're doing, all the drugs and the parties and the distance you're putting between you and your family, it's all going to blow up in your face. I know that words from anyone, not even your future self, will mean anything to you at the stage you're in right now. I can't make you walk away from the mistakes you're going to make and all of the potentially disastrous and deadly situations you're going to put yourself through. I could save us both a lot of trouble if that was possible. Just know that you'll learn from it all one day. You'll wish you did a lot of things differently, and you'll know exactly where it all started to go wrong. No matter how many nights you spend wishing you could just cease to exist, just know that it will get better. Much, much better. Maybe you have to make those mistakes to fully appreciate everything you'll be blessed with years down the line. Who knows. Your time to be happy will come, though. I promise you that. Just be patient; good things come to those who wait. Love from,

Yourself in ten years.

[daysofdiscovery]

365 Days of Journal Prompts.

I need to write more. So I will begin the undertaking of a project many people do when they reach this point: Selecting writing prompts at random every day and writing about them. I can imagine myself doing more than one a day, or perhaps skipping several days. I'm going to aim for at least one, though.

Here goes.