14928.) Every night I picture you falling asleep next to me with your arm around me. I want it more than anything.

irishayne:

(via blogsecret)

Nanowrimo e-mail

lovebot:

skysignal: she-thinks:

“Okay. Jobs. Having a job is one of the greatest, trickiest things you can do as an adult. Employment brings perks like challenges and growth and (sometimes) money. But the longer you work at a job, the easier it is to confuse what you are doing with what you can do.

This is true whether you’re a dental hygienist, a stay-at-home parent, or Sirkka-Liisa Anttila, the Forestry Minister of Finland. Because careers tend to be all about specialization. Human beings, on the other hand, contain multitudes. Each of us has a wealth of talents spread broadly over domains both marketable and deliciously impractical. The tricky part is that we tend to develop the former at the expense of the latter. Passions become hobbies. Hobbies become something we swear we’ll get back to when we have more time. Or when the kids are grown. Or when the stock market recovers.

Which means we leave unexplored many of those paths that ultimately make us feel most alive—the moments of creating, building, playing, and doing that lead to extraordinary and unexpected things.

Like writing a book.

Or, more loosely, postponing the must-dos of the real world to spend 30 days exploring an attractive, improbable dream.

Giving ourselves that time is so important. Because the world can wait. It’s what the world does best, in fact. It was hanging out for 4.5 billion years before we arrived, and it’ll be waiting around for another few billion after we’re gone.

Our dreams, however, have much shorter shelf-lives.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from running NaNoWriMo, it’s this: Whatever you think you are, you are more than that. You possess a fearsome array of skills and abilities, and the most satisfying of these may be completely unknown to you now. Your curiosity is a dependable guide; follow it. Put yourself in unfamiliar places. Kindle passions. Savor the raw joy of making things, and then remake the best of those things until they take someone’s breath away. Wrestle bears.

Actually, skip the bear-wrestling.

But do keep trying big things, okay? Sometimes we can wait so long for a clear sign that it’s time to begin, that the opportunity sails right past us.

Life is so short. Adventures beckon. Let’s get packed and head out on a new one today.

I think it’s time.

Chris
NaNoWriMo”

People ask why it’s so hard to trust people and I ask them why it’s so hard to keep a promise.

irishayne:

(via eletheowl)

25 Questions that Provoke Thought

justbesplendid:

m-altruism:

1. What is it like to wake up every morning and pretend that you aren’t dying?
2. Do you believe in the death penalty?  What if someone murdered your mother in cold blood?  What if someone murdered a stranger’s mother, but saved your life the month before?
3. If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?
4. Would you rather be rich and paralyzed from the waist down or poor and able bodied?
5. What’s the most expensive gift you have ever received?  Is it the best gift you have ever received?
6. When was the last time you lied?  Is it possible to lie without saying anything at all?
7. Stealing is immoral, right?  But what if stealing was the only way to feed a starving child?
8. If I gave you $20, what percentage would you – really – save?  If I gave you $200,000, what percentage would you save?  Should there be a difference?
9. If someone could tell you the exact day and time that you are going to die, would you want them to tell you?
10. If you found out you were going to die today, would you have any regrets?  Would you be happy with the way you spent the last 24 hours of your life?
11. What’s your single greatest moment of personal failure?  Looking back on it now, did it make you weaker or stronger?  What did you learn?
12. Do the words ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ mean not being persecuted or discriminated against, or do they mean doing whatever you please?
13. Have you ever discriminated against someone?  Imagine that a street gang notorious for wearing purple shirts has robbed and murdered several hundred people in your town.  If a man wearing a purple shirt just rang your doorbell, would you answer it?
14. Is it crazier to choose to be poor or to spend 40 years of your life hating 40 hours a week?
15. Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time?  How many hours a week do you spend watching TV, or playing video games, or…?
16. Do you ever celebrate the green lights?
17. If you could be given another talent or ability, what would you want it to be?  Have you ever – really – tried to perfect this ability in yourself?
18. No matter how bad things get, are you aware that someone always has it worse than you do?
19. When you help someone, do you ever think, “What’s in it for me?”
20. Joy is found with simple awareness.  What does your joy look like today?
21. What’s the difference between ‘living’ and ‘existing?’
22. Are you willing to sacrifice the life of your child or lover to support a war?
23. Do you ask enough questions, or do you settle for what you know?
24. If you could do it all over again, would you change anything?
25. If your life was a novel, what would be the title and how would your story end? (link)

10 Random Oxymorons

justbesplendid:

1) Clearly misunderstood

2) Exact Estimate

3) Small Crowd

4) Act Naturally

5) Found Missing

6) Fully Empty

7) Pretty ugly

8) Seriously funny

9) Only choice

10) Original copies

(link)

First Grader.

abstractthoughts:

A first-grade teacher was having trouble with one of her students the
teacher asked,”Boy. what is your problem?”

Boy. answered, “I’m too smart for the first grade.My sister is in the
third-grade and I’m smarter than she is! I think I should be in the
third-grade too!”

The Teacher had enough. She took Boy. to the principal’s office. While
the boy waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the
principal what the situation was. The principal told the teacher he
would give the boy a test and if he failed to answer any of his
questions he was to go back to the first-grade and behave.She agreed.

Boy. was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he
agreed to take the test.

Principal: “What is 3 x 3?”

Boy.: “9”.

Principal: “What is 6 x 6?”

Boy.: “36”.

And so it went with every question the principal thought a third-grade
should know. The principal looks at the teacher and tells her, “I think
Boy can go to the third-grade.” the teacher says to the principal, “I
have some of my own questions.

Can I ask him ?” The principal and Boy. both agree.
the teacher asks, “What does a cow have four of that I have only two
of?

Boy., after a moment “Legs.”

Teacher : “What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?”

Boy.: “Pockets.”

Teacher : What starts with a C and ends with a T, is hairy, oval,
delicious and contains thin whitish liquid?

Boy.: Coconut

Teacher: What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft And sticky? The
principal’s eyes open really wide and before he could stop the answer,
Boy. was taking charge.

Boy.: Bubblegum

Teacher: What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a
dog does on three legs? The principal’s eyes open really wide and before
he could stop the answer…

Boy.: Shake hands

Teacher: Now I will ask some “Who am I” sort of questions, okay?

Boy.: Yep.

Teacher: You stick your poles inside me. You tie me down to get me up. I
get wet before you do.

Boy.: Tent

Teacher: A finger goes in me. You fiddle with me when you’re bored. The
best man always has me first.The Principal was looking restless, a bit
tense.

Boy.: Wedding Ring

Teacher: I come in many sizes. When I’m not well, I drip. When you blow
me, you feel good.

Boy.: Nose

Teacher: I have a stiff shaft. My tip penetrates. I come with a quiver.

Boy.: Arrow

Teacher: What word starts with a ‘F’ and ends in ‘K’ that means lot of
heat and excitement?

Boy.: Firetruck

Teacher: What word starts with a ‘F’ and ends in ‘K’ & if you dont get
it u have to use ur hand.

Boy.: Fork

Teacher: What is it that all men have one of it’s longer on some men
than on others, the pope doesn’t use his and a man gives it to his wife
after they’re married?

Boy.: SURNAME

Teacher: What part of the man has no bone but has muscles, has lots of
veins, like pumping, & is responsible for making love ?

Boy.: HEART.

The principal breathed a sigh of relief and said to the teacher,

“Send this Boy to College, I got the last ten questions wrong myself!”