tilt shift

Back to Bali

I spent a few weeks in Bali this past summer.

In all honesty, I left Bali thinking I would never care to return. I found Bali to be overcrowded and crawling with tourists. As lovely as the place was and as much fun as I had there, I know I could have done Bali differently. I would have moved around and spent time in fields. Big, green rice fields at that.

All that said, I’m glad I went. I’m happy I got to see and experience this side of Bali. Once I moved past Kuta and Legian, I found a whole new Bali. . .

And a Bali I could see more clearly and understand better.

The thing I loved and appreciated most about Bali [Java too] was the light. The light moves in such mysterious ways. I think LIGHT  is the main reason most everyone in Bali is an artist. It’s hard not to be when you are surrounded by beautiful LIGHT day after day. . .

“I like not only to be loved, but also to be told that I am loved. I am not sure that you are of the same mind. But the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. This is the world of light and speech, and I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear.” – George Eliot

[Photos: Kuta, Bali. 2012//Grace Farson]

more

+ interesting

+ please take 13 minutes of your precious time and watch weathering change – a short film about climate change and how it is disproportionately affecting women in the developing world. also, see my friend mandy‘s interview with PAI here.

+ paolo novelli in kenya

+ more white horses

+ this video should be on this website {thanks andrew for sharing}

+ covering the mayoral elections the rest of the day for reese {and i don’t really know what i am doing}

{photo: near kathmandu’s main durbar square}

delhi in black & white

“in the west we have a tendency to be profit-oriented, where everything is measured according to the results and we get caught up in being more and more active to generate results. in the east — especially in india — i find that people are more content to just be, to just sit around under a banyan tree for half a day chatting to each other. we westerners would probably call that wasting time. but there is value to it. being with someone, listening wihtout a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches us about love. the success of love is in the loving — it is not in the result of loving. ”

– mother teresa

. . .

delhi is still such a wonderful mysetery to me.

+ check out kandyce’s life in india right now

+ this because. . . well. . .  i miss india

{click any image to see it larger}

college: day 2

image from fiesole, italy

made it here.

made it to my new home.

made it to college.

. . .

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

– maya angelou

. . .

i read this today and i want this to be my new motto of sorts for school. . . isn’t it just so lovely? isn’t it so perfect for what i have started here?

mom was a dear-heart and sacrificed her whole day to help me pack and unpack yesterday. new roomie giz and i are loving our little room – full of prayer flags, quilts, and a handful of paintings {dorm post coming someday soon!}

new student convocation and fall fest are tonight. the madness has already begun. . .

even if i might not have been as excited as i should have been at first, a handful of things are getting me super duper excited these days. i am here and i am going to try to live my life to the fullest.

xoxo from campus,

g.

+ new photos from rome and new zealand over at grace farson photography!

+ when i think about what i want out of life, i just want to be a person with lots of skillz. really, i just want to be the female indiana jones. i want to work on archeological digs in the desert {*spoke with an art historian today who gets to travel back and forth to pompeii to play with art and artifacts! dreamy}, have knowledge, and to be able to kick ass. . . that’s all.

+ people reflecting on life in paris