quiet people have the loudest minds

Spinning like the seamstress spindle, the mind trails and wonders and functions through the steampunk mix between vines of creative thought and gears of structured thinking. “Quiet people have the loudest minds.” Silence is oh so necessary for the functionality in the mind. The silence allows the air to move freely between the nooks and crannies of the mind’s inner workings. The silence is like a blank canvas. Allowing an infinite of possibilities. This beginning emptiness, this blank page, is the foundation and birthplace of all creativity, love, intellection, wisdom, and all things excreted from the mind. 

the greatest love affair

the greatest love story every told was between the pen and its beloved paper. Forever destined to dance in their perpetual love affair. 

i have one fear

I have one fear in life. And that fear is reaching 20 years old and not having enough experiences to last my entire creative lifetime. I have 2 years left and I plan to travel, to live, to experience, to love, and to thrive enough to write a book or two plus a couple hundred poems. A writer is the sum of their experiences. I am on the voyage to capture those experiences. 

travel is...

"Travel is little beds and cramped bathrooms. It's old television sets and slow internet connections. travel is extraordinary conversations with ordinary people. It's waiters, gas station attendants, and housekeepers becoming the most interesting people in the world. It's churches that are compelling enough to enter. It's mcDonald's being a luxury. It's the realisation that you may have been born in the wrong country. Travel is a smile that leads to a conversation in broken English. It's the epiphany that pretty girls smile the same way all over the world. Travel is tipping 10% and being embraced for it. Travel is the same white T-shirt again tomorrow. Travel is accented sex after good wine and to many unfiltered cigarettes. Travel is flowing in the back of a bus with giggly strangers. It's a street full of bearded backpackers looking down at maps. It's the rediscovery of walking somewhere. It's sharing a bottle of liquor on an overnight train with a new friend. Travel is 'Maybe I don't have to do it that way when I get back home.'" -Nick Miller

should we legalize same-sex marriage? is this a debate for the church or the state?

The legalization of same-sex marriage is one of the most controversial topics in today’s news. On one hand, there is the religious viewpoint where same-sex marriage is prohibited and considered a terrible sin. From the non-religious standpoint, same-sex marriage is accepted as the ‘modern family.’ These are the two main arguments seen in today’s society.  Then there is the small percentage of people who follow religious beliefs but are supportive of the freedom of same-sex marriage. 

This belief begins with the idea that everyone has a choice, a freedom, to chose what they want to believe and follow, even if it is different or even the opposite of what they themselves believe and follow. Claiming to not legalize the freedom of same-sex marriage because of religious beliefs is against the freedom of religion. The freedom of religion is the freedom to believe and follow whatever religious beliefs one choses as well as the freedom to not believe or follow religious beliefs. The freedom to believe in any religious affiliation or follow a non religious lifestyle is part of the definition of freedom. Freedom does not have constraints on belief. Even if a religion, such as Christianity may be completely against homosexuality, it is the choice of each individual as to their beliefs. This is the free-will God speaks of in the Christian Bible. 

Despite the religious beliefs of a specific group of people, marriage equality is a right that should be available to all. Allowing the freedom to marry for all sexual orientations is one of the steps toward true freedom in America and the rest of the world. Parts of the United States as well as other countries have already taken this step toward freedom by allowing same-sex marriage. In the article, “One Step Closer to Marriage Equality,” The New York Times gives a list of some of the states allowing same-sex marriage, “Since June[of 2014], three federal appeals courts have struck down marriage bans in Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Utah.” Within the Supreme Court’s new term, seven petitions asking to reject a constitutional right to same-sex marriage were not reviewed. “By choosing not to review those cases, the justices made it possible for same-sex couples in a majority of states to marry,” explains The New York Times. 

The main barrier working against the legalization of same-sex marriage is the people. In The Opinion Pages of “The New York Times,” David Blankenhorn states, “Surely we must live together with some degree of mutual acceptance, even if doing so involves compromise.” A compromise means agreeing to disagree. Allowing the right for homosexuals to marry has nothing to do with whether or not a religious person agrees they should or shouldn’t marry. Freedom includes the free-will for homosexuals to marry. Simply because one person’s religious beliefs disapprove of another person’s actions does not qualify as a legal reason to stop them from continuing to do so. Freedom of religion includes the prohibition of one religion controlling another people group who don’t follow that same religion. 

So often Christians are found ranking sins in degree of bad to worse. Mainly because of its current prevalence, homosexuality is quickly seen has a greater sin than the others. Christians with this mindset often are fearful of how the exposure to homosexuality will harmfully effect their children. However, with the abundance of temptations and sins in the world, it can be harmful to completely shelter a child from the world and all of its influences. This can cause confusion and fear lead to rash decisions in a child entering into a world that they have never seen, experienced, or been taught about it. Instead, an alternate solution would be to parent a child in such a way where they experience the world and are taught how to handle it; how to love abundantly and without restrictions while still keeping their own morales and standards.

Followers of Christ believe in the free-will and grace God has given to humanity, helping those in need of His grace, and bringing Glory to His name. Homosexuality is a temptation. A temptation equal to all temptations, just as alcoholism and pornography are temptations. The job of a follower of Christ is to love abundantly, especially to those who struggle deeply with specific temptations. The difference between a temptation and a sin is the actions made toward or against the temptation. This world is a world striving for freedom and free-will. Just as being a follower of Jesus Christ is a choice, rejecting His Grace is also a choice. Freedom is accomplished through the allowance of free-will to choose personal affiliation. Freedom is not the allowance to harm or affect others in any way but rather the allowance to affect or change a person’s personal lifestyle in the choices they make. Acquiring freedom is a tricky balancing game man has struggled with since the beginning of time and will strive toward till the end.

In The New York Time’s editorial “Mistakes and Confusion on Marriage Equality,” the editorial board states that, “On Monday[Oct 6], the justices said they were declining to review seven petitions on the issue, which allowed three appeals court rulings that overturned state bans on same-sex marriage to stand. On Tuesday[Oct 7], the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down bans in Idaho and Nevada. That raises the number of states where same-sex marriage is or will soon be allowed to 35.” Whether or not the Christian church or any religious affiliates support the freedom for same-sex marriage, the full legalization of it is in the near future. 

Ultimately the state should allow the ability for homosexuals to marry. Allowing the rights for marriage equality is a legal debate whereas the debate on whether or not they should marry is a debate for the church. The government should allow the freedom to marry. It is up to the church to decide whether or not they accept same-sex marriage among its members. 

loving someone can be difficult, stressful, and full of anxiety. However, being loved BY someone, now that is a beautiful gift all of its own.

“love me or hate me,

both are in my favor...

if you love me, I’ll 

always be in your heart...If you hate me,

i’ll always be in your mind.”

Shakespeare

and then my soul saw you and it kind of went, “oh, there you are. i’ve been looking for you.”

A kiss takes my breath away...so I can breath...

when we read, we start at the beginning and continue until we reach the end. when we write, we start in the middle and fight our way out. -Vickie Karp

“books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.”

“Faith. Humor. And determination. Gets you through life. If you don’t use it you’ll lose it.” A common statement my Oma says every time I see her. There are so many distractions in life. Everything we do is about finding ways to distract or entertain ourselves. TV, movies, twitter, Facebook, Instagram, tumblr, video games. What happened to the idea of going outside and rolling in the grass, running between the trees. Loving life is simple, it is us who make it complicated. Our generation can’t eat a meal without taking a good photo of it first, we can’t look at each other in the eye and have a conversation face to face, we can’t even go a moment without checking what the hottest celebs are up to or the greatest trends to wear. Who cares? Pardon me but, who gives a damn? Are we really so bored with our own lives that we have become accustomed to keeping up with the Kardashians? Teens don’t sit down with their parents and talk anymore. Parents become lazy and don’t even care to discipline their children out of harms way. There’s a saying with the teens I hear so often, “do what you want to with life, live how you please, no one gets out alive anyways.” This is true. I fyou live how ever you please doing whatever you please and don’t give a care to what’s important, you won’t get out alive. I fear for the adults that will arise from my generation. We are going to be extremely divided. If only we could learn to think for ourselves and stop trying to numb out the sounds of the earth with the buzz of the media. I guess you could say I was born in the wrong generation with how passionate I am about morals and values. But I think there’s place here in my generation for people to stand up and stand out. Those rare ones who see the problem, the diagnosis, and are now searching for the treatment. The treatment is simple. Jesus. Jesus had more faith than any man who has ever or will ever walk this earth. He was funny too. He was satirical and smiled and laughed. I believe God laughs a lot. And Jesus was determined. He was determined to see man saved, to reach salvation for all the poor and powerless. That is what will get you through life. That is what will get out out alive. Because with God, through Jesus, we live on eternally, we get out alive. So don’t lose Him. Use Him. He’s waiting for you, waiting with open arms, ready to love you, to love all of you. With your bruises, your scrapes, your rough edges. He wants all of what you have. All of your baggage, your demons, your tears, He wants to cleanse you. Allow Him to and you’ll make it out alive. 

and those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. -Friedrich Nietzsche

no matter what you do you will be judged by somebody. You can’t live your life worried about someone else’s opinion of you. You deserve to be true to yourself. when you are honest with yourself you will be surrounded by positivity. 

the function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought

i want a love so beautiful, like light reflecting rain

glistening in the darkness, makes you go insane

shining on the edges of the moon so high

I want a love so beautiful, it almost makes you cry.

i want a love so sweetly, it makes the poor boy smile

lighting up the world, like lily of the nile

spreading like wild fire across through every plain

i want a love so sweetly, makes you forget the pain.

i want a love so deep, the oceans oceans go green

with envy of such steep

i want a love so bright, the sun needs shades

lighting up the path, on days to better days

sharing all its love to each and every place 

I want a love so beautiful

I want a love so deep

I want a love so warm

you can feel it in the streets

a love spreading wide

a love digging deep

a love stretching high

you can feel it in your sleep

i want this love so meaningful

you can’t even sleep

without saying,

“hey beautiful, you’re someone I’d like to keep”

the beautiful garden

Let me tell you a story. A story about a beautiful garden. There once was a beautiful garden where everything grew. Careful if you drop a clipping because before you know it, it'll be 3 feet tall and covering the sky above you. A place where nothing grows in rows but rather patches, as they should. The soil is always fresh and filled with critters. Lizards, snails, spiders, all living at peace. Blue jays and ring neck doves come and go as they please. As do the finches and the bees. Then there's the butterfly's on every peddle of every flower, fluttering by. What a wonderland this garden is. A place where an orange tree will return every season as do the plum and apple and peach and lemon. Flowers shoot out wherever they please. There's a house in the garden but it doesn't end there. The vines and the flowers creep through every open window and door. The house is not separate from the garden and the garden is not separate from the house. They are one as a flower is to its root. And beneath every leaf or stone is a pile of shells, pots, or little chipped mugs. And the plants simply grow through each nook and cranny. This is the beautiful garden. A little taste of Eden. Over grown and beaten. Fruitful and flowering. Oh how I love this beautiful garden. 

music. raw music.

I like the unedited recordings because that is what music is. raw and true. music is the voice expressing what the mind can’t get into proper formatting. music is the truth and passion the heart wants to tell but can’t speak. the sounds of an instrument are the sounds of the heart telling what it feels, music is raw communication of the soul to the heart to the mind to the ears.

A handsome man of God...swoon

The most attractive thing a man can do is be whole heartedly madly in love with The Lord. If he thinks of Him before of me. When a man loves God and a woman loves God there is no need to worry about falling in love with each other because God's perfect love can interviene into their relationship and grow them into a love indescribable. You must go through the son to the father before He brings you to me. I don't know much of how that looks but I can easily imagine and dream of a man raising his strong arms in church and feeling weak in the knees at the presence of The Lord. Those are the moments my heart flutters and I feel bubbly from my head to my toes, from my soul to my nose. 

bless to bless never bless to expect

I think everyone has a right to believe in whatever they chose to believe. Who am I to tell everyone what they should believe. I should always give the same amount of respect and attention to someone's beliefs and opinions as I want for mine. If they chose to believe in the same things as me, then we can have a grand time discussing and agreeing, and if not, then we can still have a grand time but of debate and new ideas. "Do unto others what you want done to you". Live this way with others and you can be at peace knowing you did your part. If others don't do theirs, there's nothing you can do about it. You can live with that simple piece of humanity, right?

It is never your job to decide the future of someone else or make their decisions for them because in the end all the opinion is to them is simply that, your opinion. There is no way to obligate someone to do what you tell them. You can only simply give advice and love them and hope for the best. You never cease to bless someone for fear of how they will take it or abuse it. You just bless them without any expectation of anything. You simply bless others to bless and nothing more. This goes for knowledge, money, food, anything and everything. Bless to bless never bless to expect. 

if i were a bird

i’d live by the sea

i’d go by the wind

and walk by the sand

i’d sing with the roar of the waves

dance in the moonlight shadows 

if only i were a bird

love, darling, is tragically beautiful and gracefully painful.

some people are just wonderful

and some people just aren’t

It’s is a wonderful feeling to know that someone loves you

even if you don’t feel the same in return

but it’s a terrible thing to love and not be loved in return

yet, when you do love and it is returned

it is the greatest thing to ever learn

and it will never leave you

not for the wind

not for the sea

not for time

it is the most powerful force in all of existence 

because it is the only truest form of emotion to be

so when hearts full of love are broken

it is the most painful experience imaginable

all the existence of the most beautiful sorcery

held together by the fragile strings of a heart

pounding together and bringing light to their eyes

breaking such sweetness

is the darkest

most evil

terrible thing

a human being 

can do

What is the difference between love and infatuation?

Infatuation is the state of being completely lost in the emotion of unreasoning desire. Love is a decision to commit oneself to another and to work through conflicts instead of giving up. Infatuation is associated with selfish uncontrollable desire where as love is associated with physical chemistry over a fairly long time. Love is also intimacy, commitment, security, and the desire to please and help the other person. Infatuation is short lived physical desire, crush, lust, hormonal activity, and addictive chemicals in the brain. This leaves the person not revived with the same person without a deeper feeling. It causes urgency, intensity, sexual desire, anxiety, high risk choices, and reckless abandonment of what was once valued. Love, however, consists of faithfulness, loyalty, and confidence. Love is willing to make sacrifices for one another, working at setting differences and being able to compromise so that either both “win” or at least give the other person’s opinion a chance. From person to person, infatuation is reckless commitment to satisfy one’s all consuming lust where with love, there is commitment to one another, genuine intentions, and thought about the other person’s feelings before acting. Infatuation feels like all-consuming euphoria, similar to recreational drug use, stupidity, and can risk everything for the next hit of adrenalin. Love feels like a deep affection, contentment, and confidence. Partners communicate and negotiate appropriate expectations. Love requires a lot of selflessness and polite assertiveness. You are loving your best friend. The results of love are security, peace, and a solid partner-ship which can provide the ideal atmosphere to raise confident secure children. The results of infatuation include emptiness and consequences of choices made while under the influence of mind numbing temporary lust. Infatuation also comes with the effects of being controlled by brain chemistry, not the heart, and loss of ability to make rational evaluations of what is true, valuable, and worthy. Now, the effects of love? Simply are, contentment and stability. Infatuation can be interpreted as not being able to be sustained without some portion of “love” and physical attraction. The desire to always be close to that person at any cost. Love is a partnership. It can lead to codependency if not tempered with self-awareness and self-guidelines. Over time, love will deepen were infatuation takes off fast and furious like a spark in dry grass burns out quickly and can leave feelings of emptiness. Infatuation is temporary in life and goes off after some period, but love, love is permanent commitment and stays throughout the life. Bottom line, infatuation is delusional, not real. Love is unconditional and the real deal. Infatuation is of the now. Love is a gradual process. it happens over time. 

So there.

You cannot have both. 

My question now is, can infatuation grow into love? 

Hello

Eating steamed veggies with rice and drinking flowering tea, I sit here writing to you. Writing with little understanding of myself and who I will become. I’m not very good at talking. I prefer to write, give myself time to think through each word. Reading and writing are just as much my outlet as swimming in the sea or painting a picture. So here is where I will write. Write my stories, adventures, trials, and thoughts. The world is a complicated and difficult place. We are all striving to survive this life to the best of our ability. Well guess what. No one gets out alive. So how then should we live? A great speaker once proposed the question, ‘why do we tip-toe through life in hope to reach death safely? Once we reach death are we going to think, “well, I am so glad I didn’t take any risks in life so I can die safely now.” I’d rather reach death at a screeching stop.’  Flying through life and taking every opportunity to experience the adventure it presents to us. So this is where my stories begin. With the intention to grab life by the horns, look it dead in the eyes and say, “have at it. give me all you got. I’m ready”