Warm Nights and Starry Skies

I think I speak for us all when I say I cannot wait until summer.

The one thing that I have been obsessed with recently, however, is star-gazing. Now, I think we all agree that the best time to do this is on warm, clear, nights.

It all started this year, on a whim actually, and I decided to climb out of my window and onto the roof. It was a calm, warm, and clear night. I took a blanket out with me, a few lanterns, and a can of Dr. Pepper. I expected that I would need the lanterns to enable me to see, but what I did not consider, was the moon. It wasn't even full (First quarter, maybe), but it shined like nothing else. Once my eyes fully adjusted, there wasn't anything I couldn't see. It amazed me because we all live in a world where we fear the dark and use artificial light to chase it away, that we all have forgotten just how bright the moon can really shine.

I lay there, on my blanket, and I stared up into the sky.

I saw the stars.

I saw them shine and gleam, their old light reaching us from distances far greater than we can imagine. The more I stared, the more they appeared. I was in awe. I found the Big Dipper and marveled as his brightness and shape. He then pointed me to his lesser self and I couldn't help but be amazed. What are the chances of two constellations looking almost exactly the same? But despite all of that, here they were.

The Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.

Twins except for their size.

Truly amazing and I loved every moment of it.

I stayed out there for a while, soaking in the soothing scent of night and basking in the moons’ rays.

But like everything else, it had to end.

I picked up and went inside with a heavy heart.

However, I will never forget that experience.

I urge all of you to go out this summer and just gaze at the beautiful stars.

It is a beautiful thing that all humans should experience.

I want you to get out of your city and look at the stars.

I want you all to relax and see the beauty.

~Blog Out~

Do You Feel the Air We Breathe?

Our world is a pretty amazing place. It sustains live, has breathable air, flowing water, and beautiful scenery. But one thing I really noticed this past weekend was the wind.

I noticed this when I was on my way, with my family, to a graduation party. We were in my father’s big pick-up truck and I was sitting in the back. It was a gorgeous day out so hey, I rolled down the giant window right next to me.

And it literally hit me.

The wind.

It was warm and comforting like a silk blanket and it had a sweet scent to it like honey. I couldn't stop myself from closing my eyes and inhaling as much of that wind as I could. I let it blow across my face and through my hair.

I couldn't stop smiling.

I rested my head against the back of the window and just breathed. It was an intoxicating experience and I refused to roll up my window even when my father told me that we had the air conditioning on.

I don’t know what it is about the wind, but I can’t help but be literally swept off of my feet and into the sky. It is the pinnacle of freedom; It can go wherever it wants and however fast it wants it to. It seems to me that when the wind literally “pulls” you, it is actually begging you to join it. Begging you to leap up into the sky and dance with it. Dancing in the sky with your hair flowing around you, a smile across your face, and your soul and spirit being totally free.

What could be better than that?

I pondered all of this on the ride to the party (which took about 30 minutes to get there and I wasn’t complaining.) and I let the wind caress me with its soft gusts. It was almost like it went right through me and lifted my spirits. It made me feel utterly giddy, which is an emotion I thought I had lost.

And I let it.

I let it go through me and lift me up.

I allowed it to make me smile.

I let myself enjoy it.

And I did.

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I had to choose between wind in the car and wind on a hill, I would choose the hill. When you are in nature the wind is 100% different. It still has its soft satiny feel and its sweet honey scent; but when you are in nature, all of this intensifies. It then becomes the most beautiful and calming thing in the world.

So my advice to you, my bloggies:

Go out on a warm, sunny, windy day.

Go out and find a hill and let the wind take you away.

~Blog Out~

A Blank Mind

Have you ever sat down, fully intending to create something, and poof!

Nothing.

Not a single idea is coming to your mind. No moment of enlightenment to give you an extremely creative idea that you can create and call your own.

Your mind is completely and utterly blank.

This is my struggle right now.

My mind is not wanting to ponder things at the moment.

No creative thought is getting produced within the pink flesh of my brain.

My mind is completely and utterly blank.

It is almost a feeling of helplessness.

Despair.

Your mind, which can create the craziest scenarios as to why your crush isn’t texting you back, cannot come up with one single topic to talk about.

It is almost comical to think about.

I can already tell, as so can you, that this blog post is going to be an extremely short one.

Actually, right now I am really just typing down what comes to my mind. (Which is dangerous for both of us)

So I shall call this one good. Unfortunately I have nothing more to say. (Or at least I can’t think of anything else to say.)

So I bid thee a great week!

And I shall see you all, whoever you are, next time!

~Blog On~

Why Are We Together, but Totally Isolated?

Sometimes, when I am in a room with my peers, I look around and drink in what’s happening.

Nothing.

All I really see is a bunch of teenagers sitting slumped in chairs staring at white, blank screens. Occasionally scrolling up or down, sometimes a rare and quick smile flashes across their face.

And as I am sitting here, in this room full of people, I realize that I am completely alone. I may be in the company of twenty or so people, but they’re not really there. They are all in their digitalized world, communicating with each other without making contact. You attempt to make conversation with a person, but they never look up at you from their device, and if they do, it is only for a brief period of three seconds or less.

It is this action that can offend people. Is that person who is desperately trying to have a conversation with you not important enough to you? Do you really favor your electronic things to a human that wants to make a connection with you? How can you be so inconsiderate to not even see this happening?

Just recently, I asked a friend to hang out with me. We were at my house watching movies, discussing them, and having a pretty good time. However, the one thing that bothered me the most was how often they picked up their iPod or phone and either texted or checked some sort of social media. Really, it didn't bother me  that much, but I couldn't help but think, “I asked you to hang out and you agreed, shouldn't it just be us two instead of all of your social media and texting buddies?”

Because usually when I ask to hang out with someone, I want it to be just us two.

No distractions.

No other humans (unless they’re invited)

Just us, making human conversation and forming a real bond.

However, I can see that I am the minority when it comes to my thinking.

And I admit that whenever I myself am in an awkward situation, I get on my IPod to distract myself.

Hell, I am even blogging right now on a computer when I could be talking to the person sitting next to me.

But next time when you walk into a room, look around at the people on their phones, IPods, IPads, etc., and truly realize the extent of your aloneness.

Feel the absence of those humans’ company.

Let it soak in,

And let it change you for the better.

~Blog Out~

The Depth Of Your Being

“The most astounding fact is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on Earth, the atoms that make up the human body, are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars, the high mass ones among them went unstable in their later years they collapsed and then exploded scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy guts made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself. These ingredients become part of gas cloud that condense, collapse, form the next generation of solar systems stars with orbiting planets, and those planets now have the ingredients for life itself. So that when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up – many people feel small because they’re small and the Universe is big – but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life, you want to feel connected, and you want to feel relevant you want to feel like a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you. That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive…”

-Neil DeGrasse Tyson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU

I want you all to go right now to this video and watch it. I want you to watch it and take in every word, every image that is shown.

And I want you to ponder.

Ponder what he says. Ponder what is shown to you, for the things he says are truly worth thinking about. He is basically saying that we, us lowly Homo sapiens, are the universe. We are all connected in some crazy weird way, and that way is in the fact that a star went supernova, and gave its ingredients to create our planet so that it could sustain life; our life.

It’s alright if you cry while watching this video, I did too. It is also okay to watch it more than once, for I did too. I went to my room, locked the door, blocked out all visible light, and I just played it over and over again. It has a soothing feel to it, but if you truly think about what is being said, It can really put your mind, body, and soul at rest too.

~Blog Out~