Letters for Noah

*warning: might be triggering*
*warning: might be a beacon of light*

what does the the mother of a depressed 12 year old do when she finds out her son is planning to kill himself?! she asks the world to remind him that there is life after depression, there is light, that life is waiting ... and the world replied ... 

http://lettersfornoah.com/

news story here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57573381/how-letters-from-strangers-saved-a-teens-life/

also: the amazing resource that is To Write Love On Her Arms has a similar project, called Letters of Encouragement, where people write to people in treatment centers to remind them that they are not alone.

skin

safety net don't hold me now

in this hole i've fallen down

secret home i've made and found

a new way to breathe

skin come off

i've had enough, 

in the city, you find pain

and the people you see there

that remind you of your own

let it go

skin come off

i've had enough

and in the sickness

you have faith

and in the thickness 

you'll find me

finally

the fleet leader

2 years to the day ... our lady Discovery bowed out ever so gracefully as she landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center wrapping up STS-133 ... in the end, she would be the gal who would work the longest and the hardest, as she did more space missions (39) than any of the sister ships, and for her efforts she was - and rightfully so - the first of the space gals to retire ... the true fleet leader, she deserved it! 

sonic booms at 3:54 ... the gals' ever so precious landing knock knock!

from 6:46 onward there's exquisite flawless landing footage!

bowing out

who we are, how we deal, how we live life (whatever time we have) is a choice! anybody who says otherwise is lying to him/herself (perfectly acceptable, whatever floats their boat) and wants others to believe that lie (yeah, nice try! pass! let's all be grown up and call things by their names, and yes, that includes our decisions!)  

please read this article about a reporter with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) who is facing life's toughest deadline: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/09/reporters-deadline-book/1974989/

strength

"The curse which lies upon marriage is that too often the individuals are joined in their weakness rather than in their strength, each asking from the other instead of finding pleasure in giving. It is even more deceptive to dream of gaining through the child a plenitude, a warmth, a value, which one is unable to create for oneself; the child brings joy only to the woman who is capable of disinterestedly desiring the happiness of another, to one who without being wrapped up in self seeks to transcend her own existence."
Simone de Beauvoir [The Second Sex (1949)]

oh snap ... nails all the common delusions of marriage and parenthood ... if you're not doing it for the right reasons, don't do it! but sadly too many people only think of themselves and never of others, and it's most painful when they don't think of their children. but hey, feed my fucking ego, right?! that's why i had you! fuck and off, sorry excuse for parents!

*signature.freedom.obsession* (= way less fucking up and fucking others along the way)

choices

‎"There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one." Kazuo Ishiguro

♥ *tears* *yes! this.one.right here!* ♥

March

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” —Charles Dickens

Photography Credit Tyler Knott Gregson via The Paris Review on facebook

crazy draws

«We are drawn to people like this in life, the crazy ones whose love is often too much to handle at once, because they make us feel alive. They are easy to get drawn to, they burn so hot that it can turn even the most stoic among us into moths. And it is only because that need for love, that unhinged desire to feel and be felt in every way and not sacrifice an ounce of life for propriety or not being labeled crazy, that is something all of us want on some level. We want to be pinched and know that we feel, know that we hurt, know that our highs and lows can still be thrilling and new. And though we are often quick to reproach a woman who demonstrates the spontaneity and rebelliousness that might have been sexy on a beat poet or charming guitar player, we must remember that caring too much and wanting too much are only symptoms of being human. To label something you love as crazy is to take away its magic and its meaning. Not everything we don’t understand is crazy, but writing off a wonderful person for being too intoxicated with love most certainly is.» Chelsea Fagan

31 years sans PKD

“The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.” Philip K. Dick

31 years today ... time marches on ... he is missed ...

«The art of asking»

“if you love people enough, they'll give you everything.” Anthony Martignetti

so, Amanda Palmer's TED talk is here ... in the end, it's about how you give yourself to the people in your life ... you do get what you give, but even when people are not able to give, it's about who you decide to be and give from yourself especially if you're not getting anything back. that's the true measure of who you are in your core ...

http://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking.html