caps & gowns & best friends

you know it's june when you start feeling a little more relaxed (coupled with a touch of recklessness during off hours); there's just something about the summer air that recircuits your body and mind. you also know it's june when there's an overload of wedding photos being curated all over social media mediums (june is the ever-so popular month for weddings) and graduation photos as well. graduates galore!

empire of love

Sitting here at work, wishing I was back at Lightning in a Bottle.

This music festival was such an amazing experience--so much love, you felt it everywhere! It was definitely refreshing to be in a place where the focus wasn't partying hard but spiritual rejuvenation, a break from the everyday to get back in touch with the universe. Met so many amazing individuals, beautiful souls all of you, and I can't wait to go again!

there and back, again.

Well, it certainly has been a while.

I've been meaning to start blogging again, but every time I thought about the act of sitting down and taking the time to write out the words as I feel them...I would get hesitant. Admittedly, I've been denying myself the joy of writing for quite some time and now that I want to get back into practice I get stuck. Words used to come so easily to me, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe I've silenced that part of me for too long.

24.

I've been very silent lately, using my time to rearrange a few things about my life and the contents of what I'm about to share with the world through the internet (coming real soon, I promise!). Finding, or rather making, time for myself and my passions has proved itself to be a bit more of a difficult task than I thought--working full-time drains my days and it's much more easier to succumb to lethargy (shameful of me to say) once I set foot into my home. However, I've been pensive lately, writing lists and setting goals, both long and short term, and I've also been getting quite restless in my own skin as I'm seemingly watching the days go by.

My birthday passed a little over a week ago and I think it finally hit me that I'm nearing a quarter century. Twenty-four seems a little daunting, given where I thought I would be at this age and where I really am now. Before, this would be enough to send me spiraling down, but right now I'm at a place with myself where I understand that this is the ebb and flow of life. Things don't go according to plan, life happens the way it wants to and it's either I learn to adjust to its constant changes or I get left behind.

In retrospect, however, there are things I'm not proud of. Actions that weren't thought through, things I've said fueled by emotion, things I haven't said out of consideration.. Growing and maturing is a painstaking process, and it's hard having to constantly keep reminding yourself to move forward and on, to realize that you need to cut certain things and people out of your life in order to do so. Life's too short for you to worry about things and/or people who don't do anything for your own growth.

I'm not going to sit here and type out some profound entry on how gaining a year to my age has helped me figure shit out. I'm nowhere close to figuring my life out, or even myself at that. To be honest, thinking about what the future holds scares the fuck out of me. But I know what I'm going to work towards, I clearly see who I want to be by the next couple of years and I also know that I'm more than capable of rolling with whatever right hook or roundhouse kick life might have in store for me.

Right now, I'm thankful that I've lived to see another year. Right now, I thank the universe for granting me another breath to fill my lungs and I thank the sun and the moon and the stars for the strength I've found in myself, much thanks to the nights I've been through.

a little reminder

"we all have good days and bad days.

no one has the perfect life we think they lead.

we revel in things that make us happy and are

inspired to be better to the people we love,

but we also get annoyed with ourselves over

our faults and occasionally show fits of

anger or jealousy.

it's okay to be upset or frustrated,

just like it's okay to be happy and in love.

feel everything.

you can't sustain if you always try to

be perfect for everyone around you.

show moments of weakness, be inconsistent,

and throw an occasional tantrum when everything

just happens to go wrong on the same day...

but wake up the next morning and try to

improve one thing, no matter how tiny

or insignificant it may be.

we can't control everything that happens to us,

but we can change how we happen to others."

words of wisdom from a certain fog i love.

via @karlthefog

habits

some habits are formed from when we're very young,
while others become a part of us as we grow.
there are good ones and bad ones,
ones that benefit you and ones you can really do without.
most times, they gradually become a part of your life
without you even thinking twice about it.

pause

so many words swirl in my mind but i don't have the urge to speak them.

there was a time when i longed to be heard, longed to feel like i mattered and that i made a difference, an impact, in the lives of those who walked in and out of my life. nowadays, i'm no longer desperate for acknowledgement and i don't care much for what others think of my thoughts and actions, much less care whether or not i resonate in the memories of people i myself am beginning to forget.

maybe i can say that i owe it all to time, to my growth, and to the recent experiences i have gained in my days of living. i can't quite put a finger on the way that i have been feeling and the introspections i have made as of late, but i can definitely say that i'm on a good path with myself.

lately, i've been experiencing a dry spell with my creativity but today i've felt a resurgence of my passions. i'm excited to see how the plans i've made with a few friends begin to unfold and manifest themselves.

it's also the beginning of the second phase of 2013. this year, as i keep saying in past posts, have been nothing short of amazing so far and the remaining six months look very promising as well!

changes. lots of them, and they couldn't have come at a more perfect time.