Home

Home is the entity that is so engrained within you that no matter how far away you are from it, or how deep inside you bury it, it will keep coming up.

The only thing that needs to happen is a trigger. A familiar song, phrase, picture, object.

Next thing you know, memories begin to pass in front of your eyes in bits and pieces.

You remember the ti

me you broke the rules and got punished.

The time when you exchanged a heart to heart with a friend on top of a beautiful hill.

The time when you cried because the movie was too sad or the death too unbearable.

The time when you did the wrong thing and never forgave yourself for it.

The time when you laughed because the suggestion was so silly.

The time when you exchanged a smile that was miles beyond a smile.

A smile that could not be explained by pages and pages of writing.

And you wish you could relive it all and this time truly appreciate every second of it.

Revisiting, Rewatching, Remembering

There's something intensely powerful about watching a movie that truly affects you deeply, over and over again.

There's something about the moment when you catch a piece of dialogue, a certain movement, a facial expression of a character, that you had missed previously.

There's a pure enjoyment, an "ah" in the new finding.

There's something about the emotion you feel, the smile that inevitably shows upon your face, the tear that you shed, the goose-bumps that you get on your arms that remind you of the last time you watched the movie and who you were with and how you feel about the fact that you're far away from them.

There's something magnificently beautiful in that experience.

And there's something beautiful about the perfect timing that God has for you.

You feel perfectly in sync with the plan.

Beauty

What is beauty? Who is beautiful? Who defines beauty?

Is the Megan Fox look considered beautiful? Angelina Jolie? I don't know... Salma Hayek?

Is beauty external or internal? What makes one externally or internally beautiful?

Take a moment. Think about those questions. Think about people who you consider truly beautiful and what qualities they have.

A friend today talked to me about a revelation she had about beauty and as I reflected upon our talk, I came to the following realization.

We've all heard phrases like "Beauty is on the inside," but what does that actually mean?

Have you ever met someone new who is definitely highly physically attractive but once you begin talking to them or knowing them better, you find out that they are not exactly the nicest or most morally conscientious person? If so, don't you find yourself lowering that person on the attractiveness scale?

I do.

And likewise, when you meet someone who's not the most good-looking person out there but is truly a good person in every way possible, they become more beautiful as you get to know them.

On a scientific level (or my attempt at a scientific explanation) this correlation between outward beauty and inward beauty may be reflective of what all of us think when we think of "beautiful." Perhaps, in one's mind, the word "beautiful" comes to consist of various different aspects and subconsciously if one factor is lagging, we perceive the individual as less beautiful.

So maybe internal beauty is reflective of internal peace, perhaps ever a divine connection...

Just thinking out loud

Late night blogging

Every person you meet is fighting an internal struggle to one degree or another.

If you find that individual ignorant, or upset, or illogical, bear with them.

Control your anger or frustration.

Do not antagonize them.

Love them.

Through kindness do doors of understanding open.

Don't forget to...

I remember junior year of high school, there was a girl in my math class who had an unpleasant, unfriendly attitude toward anyone outside of her group of friends. At the time I didn't really like her because of that. Later, however, during a retreat I found out that she was dealing with perhaps one of the most difficult situations that a teenager in America could be dealing with. I remember that I cried at the end of her talk, not only because I felt sorry because of the things she had to go through or because every other person in the room was crying but also because I was immensely disappointed in my own opinion of her and my failure to consider the reasons behind her attitude and cut her some slack. Since then, I've kept this in mind.

Tonight as I was revisiting the blogs of various friends I ran into this quote "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" -Plato. It perfectly describes what I learned from that retreat.

A friend yesterday asked me if I wanted to hang out with a random acquaintance that neither of us is too fond of. I was puzzled. Why would I want to do that, I asked. The answer my friend gave was fascinating. "Because I know that he's very lonely and sad and our company will light up his life, if only for a day." That, my friends, is what one calls sacrifice. Giving up one's own interests and desires in order to do fulfill another individual's happiness.

May it be the professor who speaks harshly to you or the person who tries to cheat off you on the final; may it be the friend who betrays your trust or the more-than-friend who breaks your heart; may it be the parent who yells at you or doesn't hear you out, or the sibling who gets mad at you and gives you the silent treatment for no good reason. Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Eyes

There are times in life when you take a step back and reconsider. You reconsider the ins and outs of everything. Your actions. Your mentality. Your friends or acquaintances.

There are times when what you previously deemed just a tradition becomes an immensely moving and enlightening experience. The type of experience that opens your eyes.

There are times when what you previously obsessed over and considered extremely important loses its value or significance because you now see better. You see more and you see more clearly.

You are reborn.

Truth

So a few nights ago (or maybe it was last night, I don't even remember days correctly any more!) my friend and I were talking about religion and spirituality and belonging to a certain group and such. During this talk I went on a rant about how "truth" or "the right way" is said to be such varying things by different ideologies. Why can't truth just be obvious? Think about it. It would eliminate all the animosity that exists between groups with opposite or different ideologies. It would eliminate wars. As I'm writing this the movie "The invention of lying" comes to mind.

I would continue my rant and perhaps be a bit more eloquent but... that's it for now.