on happiness, chances and personal decisions

“And there comes a time in your life when you realize that if you don’t take the opportunity to be happy, you may never get another chance again.”

Richard Russo, Empire Falls 

this was essentially my realization this summer … so i finally walked away!

(image found on tumblr. sadly no source was listed. http://thoughtviolenty.tumblr.com/post/98539201539/life)

on night and becoming the moon

“sometimes the night wakes in the 

middle of me.

and

i can do nothing. 

but 

become

the 

moon.”

nayyirah waheed

on creation and destruction

unique and beautiful

please watch: Circle of Abstract Ritual by Jeff Frost

stills from the stop motion video

stills from Colossal's feature on this work of art: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/09/circle-of-abstract-jeff-frost/

on floods and worth

"And in the middle of the flood I felt my worth"

[Snow Patrol "The Lightning Strike"]

[Daphne Guinness & Iris Van Herpen: ‘Crystallization’ dress]

revert to type

Daphne Guinness on finding herself 

(taken from the book 'Daphne Guinness' by Valerie Steel, ed: Yale)

on finding meaning

“Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but “steal” some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.”

— Albert Camus, from Notebooks, 1951-1959

this.finding meaning.opt-in.privacy.solitude.not antisocial.not rejecting the world.careful about energy and others standing on different sides of the river.needing to breathe.needing to just be.my.self.choosing that.c'est la vie.

Daphne Guinness for the NARS Bento Box 2010 campaign

(photo found on http://www.beautystat.com/)

on the poetry of change

"The moment of change is the only poem."

Adrienne Rich

[Daphne Guinness for Tatler Hong Kong]

on the finiteness of loss

"Nothing is infinite, not even loss.

You are made of the sea and the stars, and one day

you are going to find yourself again."

F. Butler

[Daphne Guinness for Tatler Hong Kong]

noble melancholy

"A noble craft, but somehow a most melancholy! All noble things are touched with that." Melville (Moby-Dick)

all copyright Tess (http://tessbytess.tumblr.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/withoutmyface?fref=photo)

on surviving suicide on world suicide prevention day

world suicide prevention day ... depression takes on many forms ... just because our lives seem *perfect* that doesn't mean they are ... sometimes we fall hard and then have to return to a life that is still hostile to us and deal with depression and suicide recovery ... the difficult choice to come back to life takes years to process ... as a suicide survivor, i can only say this is an ongoing process for the rest of my life

please watch Break the silence for suicide attempt survivors

on location

“You had this expression on your face, like you weren’t quite sure you were supposed to be on Earth.” Iain S. Thomas 

yes.yes.yes. ... attempting to figure this out ... were i'm supposed to be ...

[Marilyn Monroe photographed by George Barris, 1962]

the art of being in the moment

"To be in the moment is the best thing you can possibly do.” Daphne Guinness 

working oh so very hard to do this as naturally as breathing ... not an easy task for me. 

to overcome depression you must journey to the past. to survive it you must not get bogged down in its mud. 

the future then becomes something you're not sure how to face. more often than not, it becomes a phantom limb of sorts with a view window where your worst case scenarios are readily played out.

and thus the present is never really lived. it's neverwhere (ha!) in the truest sense. you're never really anywhere. 

awhile ago i decided to start something. the first cycle of that journey is about to reach its completion. hasn't been perfect but it isn't a failure either.

there's always a rhyme and a reason ... when you feel the need to go back to primordial sources that have always helped you figure out selfhood and identity ... just go ... it will all make sense sooner rather than later.

i'm working to learn to be in the moment and it has been the best thing i could possibly do for myself indeed ...

[photo: Daphne Guinness obviously]