open up your mind & see like me

one of my favorite songs of the moment is jason mraz's i'm yours. there's something to its lyrics & melody that radiates such positivity & lightness which so attracts me to it. which is why i play it on most mornings. it reminds me of the box i used to live in and the charmed life i'm living now, and the one thing that bridged the distance between the two. an open mind.

there used to be so much fear in me and all that made this life impossible. until i realized that imagination is indeed everything.

and so i wake up with the sun's first rays painting my window. i walk on sand & breathe the air that tells me i'm surrounded by the ocean. i live amongst people who see the essence of living simply & largely at the same time. i end my day with sunsets, moonrises & star spattered skies. and when i look up i hug my knees because i'm thankful. for this life is truly beautiful.

almost 4 years on the island and still i find the magic in everyday things.

shine on me

since the day i opened my window, the wind has blown more than dust into my life. strange & beautiful moments for instance. i watch them unfold in my windowless sky with eyes wide open. i have learned to lay down and gaze at the fireworks & stardust as they light up before me without the need to freeze the moment. instead i let the string of moments pass. time is but an infinite line.

photo by the happy factory

i live in the best place a girl like me could ever ask for. i dreamt of this when i was little until i realized that some dreams are never outgrown. i think it is in this way that we become eternally childlike.

i love this island because it made me embrace my restless soul and understand that not all who wander are lost. i like how living here has made me feel more connected with the world outside & within. there are little things that always remind me life is beautiful. like celebrating the night of the full moon each month. a few nights ago we were dancing in a little shack by the beach while rain poured around us. in the light of the moon we sang with friends & strangers, forgetting our differences, remembering that what we have in common is greater than what sets us apart. no borders lay before us that night. we were bound, as we are, by silver threads that connect everything in this world.

truth is always the heart of the matter. whether we choose to look away or not, neil patrick harris will always be gay. smoking cigarettes can kill. that the world does not stop for our grief. and some chocolates are indeed better than sex. but there is no greater truth than love that is unconditional. pure love. that is what i believe in. it is what i strive for my self. then we realize that having a partner to love in the same degree (and who loves you back in mind-blowing proportions) is a freaking bonus.

that night my friend rico said "don't believe everything i say - i'm full of shit". that's his take and he's downright honest with it. eventually we realize there is no need for masks, silly little playthings that they are. that what we have tried to hide & run away from is what we would one day seek. we define our own truths after all. and there is nothing greater for the soul than this.

think about it

i don't think love is sweeter the 2nd, 3rd or nth time around. i think we are the ones who get better at it. love has always been perfect.

neal donald walsch said that there are only two forces in this world from which we operate from. love & fear. i agree. this does not dismiss the other constant things like hurt & destruction, desire & sacrifice. but it cuts through them and defines each one for what it truly is, simplifying everything in life we've managed to complicate. since stumbling upon this discovery i have been asking this question each time i find myself in a dilemma or on the brink of a life-changing decision, what will love have me do?

forever young

smiles that lit up my night

everybody loves pizza

everyone here is ageless

because i truly believe that age is a number, a reason for small talk & an unreliable measure of one's maturity. gabriel garcia marquez summed it up perfectly when he said age is not how old you are but how old you feel. and on this island where the beach is our playground, the sun sea & wind our way of life and every single day is a celebration, everyone can't help but feel young.