#onliving

[hopelessvalentines]

im sorry. im sorry.

"I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible. And when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people."

1.Neil Gaiman, Good Omens// 2. Gwen Benaway, Holy Wild // 3. Jenny Slate, Little Weirds // 4. Virginia Woolf, Letter to Violet Dickinson, January 1909 // 5. Sue Zhao // 6. @qvotable // 7. @twoheadedfawnn // 8. Ruth Madievsky, All-Night Pharmacy // 9. Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart // 10. Kaveh Akbar, Calling a Wolf a Wolf // 11. Sarah Kay, "If I should have a daughter"

[thecaftanclique]

Kathleen Woodword on the importance of touch

[iknowwherethegrassisgreener]

To keep peace

No, you don’t need music so that you can write The sun shined upon you on a Saturday afternoon,  alone in the office and it urges you to write, to cry, to breathe, to look at things No, you don’t need to be in a nice café, though sometimes it helps.  No, you don’t need lullabies, soothing voices around to tell you you are real.  You are living, you are here. There’s no shame to have that much feeling There’s no shame to feel that strong and to let it out for the world to see. Wish I could give them all a hug, could listen to all of their troubles and tell them  that fear is only in the mind, and the mind loves doing weird things all the time that perceptions are all that we got but they are mostly delusional. And they need to get our of their head, out of the fictional scenarios manifested out of fantasies, desires and fears to be right where things are not those flashbacks of the past not those projections into the future not wishing things to be a little bit different than this solitude. Because you won’t trade this for anything else. It is the way it needs to happen.  So be there. 

[jasonmyersauthor]

#onliving https://www.instagram.com/p/B8-Ji6hhs-r/?igshid=23vgf2zmvv43

[samueladewole]

If you made a mistake, apologize. If you love someone, tell them now. If you are confused, ask more questions. If you miss someone, connect with them. If you appreciate someone, show them. If you want to feel lighter, forgive first. If you are stuck, ask others for help. #Onliving #onlife #askingforhelp #humility #relationships https://www.instagram.com/p/BpnFReGF7jO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ri6nku019v9k

[on--living]

4/20

Guysssss. Graduation is a month away. 

About a month and a half ago, I finalized my next move: I am moving to Tel Aviv in October.  I’ll talk about Tel Aviv more another day, but for now....

When the semester started, the talks of after-graduation plans really picked up.  My friends started hearing back from graduate schools, started having job interviews, started talking about what cities they were looking to move to.  Shit got real.  

One thing I really failed to think about during these 4 years is my post-graduation plan.  I still don’t know what it is I want to be when I grow up.  I look at Haily and envy her, she has wanted to be a physical therapist since high school.  She seems so sure of herself, so secure in knowing where her passions lie.  

Maybe I used the wrong language-- I hadn’t “failed to think” about my post-graduation plans, it’s just that every time I came close to making a decision about them, I was never satisfied, and that made me really distraught.  I was interested in clinical psychology, but not passionate about it.  I found I liked social work, but I didn’t picture myself making a career of it.  Marketing was cool, but did I want to commit to an MBA program if I wasn’t 100% invested? This inability to “figure out the rest of my life” used to really bother me, and scare me.  

The more I sat on it, though, I realized a couple of things:

1. The end of your undergraduate education is not the end of your life

2. I am 21, not 81. I have a lot of years left in me

3. I have to start somewhere, and where I start by no means has to be where I end up

So, I guess that is where I am now.  I’ve accepted that I’m clueless, but I also know that the only way to find what I am truly passionate about is to jump right in, to take my life by the britches and live it!!!!!! 

My path isn’t Haily’s path, it’s not yours, it’s not hers, not his.

All of our paths are equally valid and right, because they’re ours, and they’re authentic to us.

Just some thoughts to think about....

xxo,

Dani

[on--living]

Nothin’ like a drive

JUNE 6 UPDATE: I no longer hate the Rihanna song.  I actually have become very fond of it.

Sunny, 65 with a breeze.

I sit in the passenger seat of my car, shoes off, feet on the dashboard.  Max is at the wheel.  Both front windows are down, the sunroof is cracked just a bit (the wind can get really intense on I-70), and Kendrick Lamar’s “BLOOD.”, begins to play from the car speakers.  

“I don’t think I can handle it... ahhh!”

I listened to this song for the first time forty-five minutes earlier as I was driving home from College Park, and I am anticipating the inevitable gunshot noise that will come after Kendrick says, “you’ve lost your life...” BOOM.

I jump, then laugh at myself.  It wasn’t as bad as I remembered. I look over at Max, he rolls his eyes at me, but then laughs too at my impressive ability to hype myself up over something so miniscule.  

We are on our way to the mountains of Cascade, to go hiking on the Appalachian Trail and make it to High Rock.  We’ve done this drive many times before, as we both attended camp out here for yeeeears, and we occasionally come out here to hike.  

To be honest with you, I am really happy to be hiking, but the drive with my brother is the part I’ve been looking forward to most.  When we were younger, and our parents would drive us to camp, it always felt like we were traveling to some different country or world, even though it was a mere hour and 20 minutes away.  The highway is surrounded by farmland, quaint houses, and forest, while mountains, though in the background, make their presence felt. The air feels fresher and the world feels bigger.

My other favorite part about the drive: the hour and 20 minute jam session that inevitably occurs when the two of us are in the car together.  Today, we spent most of that time analyzing each song on “DAMN.” (we hate the Rihanna one, fyi...), and then replaying our favorites.  Music is one of the best things about life, and listening to music in a car is under-ratedly also one of the best things.

Here are some songs that I’ve been listening to a lot lately. Some are pretty new, some are really, really old.  I don’t discriminate.  Good music is good music.

all falls down // kanye west

biking // frank ocean feat. jay-z and tyler the creator

the less i know the better // tame impala

location // khalid

pride. // kendrick lamar

yah. // kendrick lamar

whenever, wherever // shakira

crooked smile // j. cole feat. tlc

get it together // drake feat. black coffee and jorja smith

help myself // knox fortune

coming home // leon bridges

like a rolling stone // bob dylan

love. // kendrick lamar feat. zacari

bed is the killer // the lentils

how did i get here // odesza

redbone // childish gambino

pale blue eyes // the velvet underground

Maybe you’ll listen to them in the car and it will be awesome.  

xxo,

Dani

[mabsmedia]

On goodness - what a wonderful book to read at the beginning of a new year. ON LIVING by Kerry Egan is a book about life and death, love and loss. It is beautiful beyond measure. Highly recommended. #onliving #kerryegan #death #life #books #reading #2017