Farewell sweet 2014

A year of love and heartbreak. A year of pain and suffering. A year of embracing the unkown.

Thanks for the memories 2014.

I’m so thankful a new year is finally here.

A memory and moment

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.”- Guatama Buddha

Some days are just more memorable than others.

Practicing being present and living in the moment helps me remember.

Tenderly

“Before I went to work we were under the olive tree and

you were doing what you called psych patient smoking

and you said, I don’t want to be Satan but will you join

me and we pulled up our shirts to rub bellies and yours

was so much flatter but filled with garden bread anyway

anyway up went our shirts, solar to solar plexus, and it

was a comforting ritual we daily did and I said, Let’s do

this for the rest of our lives. You said, You look lovely.

It’s hard to remember tender things tenderly.”

– Bough Down, Karen Green

Life lessons

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”- Mother Teresa

Currently writing from an adorable cafe in Chiang Mai and sipping on the best coffee I’ve had all summer.

Today marks one week – one week left in Thailand and one week left traveling this summer.

Overall, the past three months have taught me more than I thought they would. It has been hard, really hard at times, but also incredibly important. Moments have been so beautiful others have been hard, but I’ve found they have all been equally memorable. At the end of each day, one thing is certain and that is I am incredibly grateful for this summer and all these experiences in places far from home and special.

Yangon days

Back in Yangon after three beautiful days in Bagan. Our days in Bagan were unbelievably good, peaceful, and happy.

I’ve smiled and laughed more than I have in ages this past week and I don’t want to go.

It feels good to be back in the beautiful city I’ve called home for the past month, but also somewhat sad to realize this is the last day I’ll have in the country (for a while). I don’t know when life will take me here again, but I’m hoping it will be someday soon.

Tomorrow, early a.m. I’ll be on my way to back to Thailand.

Burma thank you for being wonderful, challenging, and rewarding! Thank you for all the smiles, the generosity, and for sharing yourself with me. Beauty is everywhere here and I feel incredibly blessed to have had the chance to live, work, and play here for the past month.

“Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment — the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.” – Jorge Luis Borges

The dinner party

 

On Sunday night the NAFD crew gathered to celebrate the end of another semester and another season of our lives.

Some of us are staying here, some traveling to other countries, others are moving across the country, and another is biking across the country. Out of our darling group, we have a wide variety of different passions and loves and it is always exciting to see.

I love these ones more than most anything on earth.

“If I knew that today would be the last time I’d see you, I would hug you tight and pray the Lord be the keeper of your soul. If I knew that this would be the last time you pass through this door, I’d embrace you, kiss you, and call you back for one more. If I knew that this would be the last time I would hear your voice, I’d take hold of each word to be able to hear it over and over again. If I knew this is the last time I see you, I’d tell you I love you, and would not just assume foolishly you know it already.”- Gabriel Garcia Marquez

*Some photos by the ever lovely and talented Ora*

(Overly) inspired

According to the fat dictionary, the word inspired means “having a particular cause or influence.”

Lately, I feel that I’m just overly inspired and my interests are far too varied and vast. At times, I feel I’m going mad.

I’m currently in such a funny middle place between moods and seasons. Feeling impressively present and happy overall, but at times anxious about the big, bad future!

Being in NYC last week, certainly didn’t help, although I had the time of my life there! I constantly felt bombarded by contradictory thoughts and feels and the desire to feel and experience everything in life.

This photo is from one of my long, long walks through Brooklyn last week.

Many photos to come from Katherine and Caley’s beautiful Saxapahaw wedding and  NY.