COOKIES!

Let's just say my favorite sesame street character is, and always will be, cookie monster. In fact, I damn near lead a revolution when he was temporarily the "veggie monster."  WTF!

TANGENT
Does anyone want to know why all these kids don't eat healthy? BECAUSE OF THEIR PARENTS. I watched cookies monster everyday as a kid and barely ever got freaking cookies. Your kids are still overweight, because of you. Not because of teachers, or television, or whatever else you blame it on.
>> back to regular scheduled program

Ok, I am refocused to my love of cookies. Despite my recent stomach issues, I made some cookies at my mama's house - and ate a few. I did indeed have stomach upsetness afterwards due to my mystery virus. However, I feel it was worth the sacrifice. Cookies are too good not to be shared.

Since I cannot give you all cookies, I will give you some pics!

CHOCOLATE CHIP AND ALMOND COOKIES

BUTTER BALL COOKIES

ADORABLE CHASE EATING COOKIES

 

All pics taken on my iphone. Chase, by the way, is 2 years old and rockin a flyers jersey. Yes, he is freaking adorable!

Injury Chart

My friends... nothing is ever easy!

Let me tell you how painful my last few days have been!!!

1. INVISIBLE GLASS
It all started with a shattered glass cup a week ago. I thought I got all the pieces up. However I have been HAUNTED by little shards. The first piece that logged in there, I was able to fish out. Possibly due to the blood. However, the other day another piece got up in there. For the life of me I can NOT find it! As soon as I lift my foot i cant feel it anymore. If apply pressure while its upturned, I don't feel it. And it hurts. Every step.

2. MYSTERY FINGER CUTS
I have a chunk of skin off the knuckle of my thumb, and then a cut on my pointer and middle fingers. On the side, next to the knuckle. Apparently, everything I touch I use this part of these two fingers. Who knew? I hypothesize it is happening in my sleep. I am a kinda crazy sleeper and have recently been waking myself in the middle of the night when my face connects with the wall in some fit of dream movement. Cuts? In my sleep? Trust me, it is feasible with me.

3. THE PURPLE BIG TOE NAIL
This one is the serious one. It all started when I let my toenails get too long. I know, lol. But it happened. It seems that my long toe nail was jamming up against the front of my shoe as I walked. Well, it jammed up one too many times. I theorize my toe nail is disconnecting from my skin. It is, AT LEAST, as painful as it sounds. Every step is pain. Plus, the invisible glass is lodged in this very foot. In fact, on the opposite side as the toe. So no matter where I put my weight it hurts. (ps. I have trimmed the nail, but it is still getting worse)

4. JOGGING AGAIN
I have been jogging again. Which is good news, but bad news for my feet. Owwww! Running on glass infested, toe nail coming off feet is no bueno. Oh, and apparently the path I have been running is longer than I thought. I actually ran 3 miles this morning instead of the 2 I thought it was. VICTORY! (painful, but victorious!)

5. STRANGE STOMACH VIRUS
I have heard that this is going around, but I cannot verify. Last week I was even out of commission a day and a half due to this stomach virus that makes me feel like I have the flu, without actually having it. The worst part is, the bastard will not go away. I haven't had an appetite, and when I do I feel bad after eating. And anyone who knows me, knows I love food. This is uncomfortable and a bit sad.

In summary, whether I grab something, write something, walk, run, eat, or apparently dream, I am hurting myself. Deep sigh. This is life...lol

DIAGRAM 1: SARAH INJURY CHART

 Yes, I would like to be babied. 

DIAGRAM 2: THE PURPLE TOE NAIL

I am not kidding when I tell you that my toe nail is purple. And truth be told, it is a very beautiful hue, if I do say so myself. Not the usual dark bruise purple.

A little extra, thanks to the amazing iphone! Painful jog as it was... it was beautiful to watch the sunrise!

_________


UPDATES HAVE BEEN REQUESTED: (Jan 6)


1. INVISIBLE GLASS (in my foot)
This has disappeared thank goodness! It actually got kinda bad. I was walking on the heel of my foot. I think it got worse as my big toe felt better. Maybe the big toe pain was overshadowing the glass pain. lol. But its 100% gone and feels fine now!

2. MYSTERY FINGER CUTS
These have healed up too. yay! And luckily haven't gotten anymore. Recently I have strange bruises on my legs - I must be a maniac when I sleep. But in the winter who cares!

3. THE PURPLE BIG TOE NAIL
This one has been the most interesting. I no longer have any pain, but the purple has not gone away. It has just gotten darker. Essentially it is black now. And the other big toe is now slightly purple. It went though a day or two of being a little sore. I am thinking it is my running shoes. I need to invest in some quality shoes ASAP. I am a procrastinator though. Missy (whom I plague with pic messages of my hideous toe that say "my lucky toe says good morning") thinks I need to see a doctor immediately. Eh... I'm not sweating it. I know this is bad but doctor shmoctor.

4. JOGGING AGAIN
yay! this isnt really a problem... except that this past week I really haven't been as much. I have still been at the gym though!

5. STRANGE STOMACH VIRUS
All gone! I already had acid issues before the virus. So I still have some issues with that sometimes. But I still do not know what the stomach virus I had was.

In SUMMARY, I am feeling pretty good. I also jump started a new diet regime today. NOOOO, not "diet" as in starve myself so pump the breaks. I would never be able to starve, I am way too grumpy when I am hungry lol. "Diet" as in my lifestyle of eating! I am hoping with this new lifestyle I can live longer and healthier and have less stomach acid issues.

thanks for caring guys!

FREE NO MORE???

So.... with the exception of some quote posts that are a smidge more serious, this blog is a "let's all have fun" type of blog.

However, I am actually a very principled person that likes to look into different things, and not always accept what the news tells me. Why? Because EVERYONE has an agenda. I have recently heard rumors of some bill that could be passed that would end our bill of rights. I was kind of in disbelief, however I came across this video.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE watch this video.

please be aware

 

This is a real Bill. For a link for information on the Library of Congress website, please click here.

The Switching Game

Missy and I are very close in age. When we were young children, people often thought we were twins. (Was it the matching scrunchies and jelly shoes?) 

DIAGRAM 1: ARE WE TWINS??

Perhaps the jelly shoes and the scrunchies; and during the holidays our matching leggins, Christmas sweaters, scrunchies with tiny bells, and tube socks (Thank you Trisha! lol)

It did not take long for my parents to realize to get us the exact same of everything. Why?

Because we fought over everything. Even air. But in the end I ALWAYS GOT THE BETTER ONE. It did not matter which one of us initially received what.

How was this possible? Well through one of the following methods:

1. I was lucky enough to actually get the better one. 

2. Missy got the better one and I convinced Missy to switch with me through guilt or pity tactics 

3. Missy got the better one and refused to switch with me. Until… I convinced her mine was better and she would then beg me to switch 

4. Missy initially got better one and I just decided I would like mine better until I believed it. Then Missy would beg me to switch and I would refuse.   

In the end, Missy always wanted the one I wanted her to have and I got the one I wanted to have.

Poor missy. She never had a chance because she would take pity on me but I was STRICTLY business.

One of the most infamous instances was when I convinced her to switch a coveted stuffed animal cat (that purred…hello? AWESOME!) with my useless fools gold I got on a field trip. Now, I actually did like my fools gold. But I loved that cat. Missy even told me recently that she KNEW, as we were in negotiations, that there was no actual use for the fools gold. It was even called “FOOLS gold.” But for some reason she switched with me. Perplexes us both to this day. 

  

DIAGRAM 2: BEST CAT EVER OR FOOLS GOLD?

 

This stuffed animal cat was way more awesome than it looks here. 

I adored it for YEARS. Poor Missy regretted it for YEARS!

I tell you all of this to set up the following story:

One time we got these little carousel horses. Missy had the purple haired purple one and I had the white with yellow haired one. I did not want mine. I wanted Missy's. 

A CHRONICLE OF MY ATTEMPT:

"Missy you are blonde so you should have the blonde one."

She's kept playing with her perfect purple horse

"No I really like this one Sarah." 

She kept smiling and playing. Little bastard. 

"Ok well I just thought you would want this one since it is better and you say I am always getting the better one."

I got her interest. Reluctantly she asked: 

"How is that one better? I like mine" 

This was my chance. Gotta do this right. 

"Well..."

I had nothing. I needed to think fast. 

"... You see the colors of the roses in this horse’s hair? Isn't that one of your favorite colors? Plus there is no such thing as purple horses, so you would have the more realistic one. No one could say, your horse is so unrealistic.  Trust me missy you are gonna want this horse."

She was looking at me like I was the devil trying to trick her. 

"Sarah, you always trick me and end up getting the better one. You always do. I switch or we switch twice or you make yours look better and I always regret it. I still regret giving up that cat. This time I'll just keep this one. I like it a lot. "

This appeal to me emotion should have made me feel guilty. I should have said ok fine Missy, you should have at least ONE thing you prefer over mine. But I just could not.

After another 10 minutes of attempting to convince her she would not budge. I was in unfamiliar territory. 

"Ok that's fair. So, I noticed your horses tail is kinda long. Do you want me to trim it? I'm gonna trim my horses tail as well. "

My plan was this: to trim the tail too short so that Missy would no longer want hers and switch with me. Obviously, it was no longer about actually having the better horse. It was about getting Missy to switch with me. It was purely principalities that kept me going.

I do not recall how I convinced Missy, or if I just went behind her back. But I sure enough trimmed the hell outta that horse's tail. In fact as soon as I did it I regretted it immediately. Then I didn't want it anymore. My plan went too perfectly. Missy was horrified at my actions and the state of her purple horse. She MADE me switch. 

The moment the hair fell onto the ground I felt guilty about trying to trick missy annnd knowing that I was now stuck with it. Now I had a purple horse with a tail that made the horse look electrocuted. Stupid purple horse. 

DIAGRAM 3: I DID THIS TO MYSELF

 

What the hell was I thinking?

We never played with them again.

Surprisingly, that was the only time that my plans backfired on me. But I deserved it

MORAL:

Don't be so caught up in getting your way that you loose sight of the real goal 

Or

Don't Ty to trick your little sister outta her stuff

Or

You cant always get your way

Hurricane Force Oreos

When I was a little girl my dad used to have a friend named Dave. Dave lived on some property that had horses and tennis courts and all kinds of goodies. It was a wonderland for missy and me. My dad would go over there to play tennis sometimes, and take us with him. Would sound boring, but we were entertained. Sometimes we hung out with Dave’s super cool wife, who was from Sweden, or we ran around like banshees, or we pretended to play tennis ourselves.

Well one day after a wonderfully great day, we were all getting ready to leave but the super awesome Swedish wife lady brought out the ultimate treat: 

 

Oreos and milk.

DIAGRAM 1: OREOS AND MILK

 Please note the GLORIOUSITY being emitted from the milk and cookies. Awesomeness. 

  

Woop woop! 

Great Goodness! All is right with the world. My sister and I eagerly anticipated the moment the tray touched down to the table so we could wreak havoc! 

 

Luckily my dad was one of those "let's-go-but-I-am-still-gonna-chat-for-another-hour" types. Sometimes I HATED it. This time it was fine with me because I was all about those cookies.

 

[Insert long boring adult conversation] 

 

When my dad was finally ready to actually leave I was immediately concerned about the remaining Oreos. My thought process:

How can I leave them behind? 

Those are my deserved cookies.

When could I possibly get oreos again?

I can't believe I won't get to finish them.

I need at least a few more.

So I did the only thing I could think of: I jammed three in my mouth and chugged a big gulp of milk so I could at least close my mouth. I couldn’t talk but was satisfied that I had done all I could to not be cheated of my rightful Oreos. (Let's not forget that by now I had already been eating Oreos for like 45 minutes)

DIAGRAM 2: GREEDY BASTARD

  This diagram illustrates my natural ability to be greedy with milk and cookies.  

As I stood up to wave goodbye, I all of the sudden felt it coming...

... a sneeze.

This is gonna be bad.

There was no stopping it. With the milliseconds I had, I spun around away from the innocent bystanders just in time for the inevitable. It felt like rocks. It came out of my mouth annnnd my nose in full cookie chunks. Annnnnnnnnd all over Dave and the awesome Swedish wife lady’s lawn furniture. I mean everywhere. They say sneezes have the same force as a hurricane. Well I hurricaned my Oreos and milk all over the damn place. 

DIAGRAM 3: ZOOM IN ON NOSE SPRAY

  Close up on the painful, painful escape route for my milk and cookies
with the force of a hurricane pushing it all out. 

DIAGRAM 4: HURRICANE FORCE SPRAY ZONE

  This spray zone easily covered some lawn furniture.
However, had I not spun around it would have easily covered numerous people.  

It was horrific and quickly followed with my dad, “DAMNIT SARAH!”

I felt bad. But I felt the most upset about those last Oreos. Never to be eaten. I had enough sense not to express what my truest concerns where. Thank God I had some milk in my mouth, or it woulda been ALL cookie- no lube. That’s rough.

That's what I get for being a greedy bastard. But in all honesty, how can you ask a kid to control themselves with milk and cookies??????? 

It is impossible. (deep sigh to reflect the truth of this)

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Option 1: don’t sneeze with food in your mouth

Option 2: if possible, spit food out of mouth prior to snneze. Still messy, but not as much force or spread.

Option 3: don’t be so damn greedy with the cookies and milk.

I'm back! + I Love My Fingers

It has been ridiculously long since the last time that I wrote on my blog! I apologize profusely to all of you! My life has taken quite a turn and the tempo has quickened rapidly- with me barely able to keep up! I am ambitious and also a Gemini! No, I am not two faced! I am multifaceted and passionate. I have a love for many things in life: a passionate love. I love my family, acting, my sorority, design, art, my production company, my blog, event planning, to name a few. It is hard sometimes to be so passionate about so many things. I am often torn and indecisive because of it: another trait of Geminis.

However, I have recently decided to funnel as much as I possibly can into fewer things. It has been bitter sweet. Rewards have been granted for my drive and focus, but my heart breaks for those things that have had to be pushed aside.

After all, nothing worth having is easily attainable. Even though I must continue to keep my focus and drive, I am going to MAKE time when there is none to keep up with my blog. It is very cathartic for me, and I have much to share. 

With that being said, let’s share a story, shall we?

When I was near the end of my 8^th grade year, I moved into my mom and Greg’s house from Trisha and Dad’s. Greg was my mom’s long time boyfriend from when I was in 7^th grade to junior year of high school. We had to do some major cleaning and rearranging to accommodate me. As we were cleaning out the spare room we got hot! So my mom, Greg, and I decided to setup the stand fan. It was about shoulder height to me. At some point the front guard fell off, but we were too hot and tired to care. We were moving crap from one room to another room that was next door. My mom would hand stuff off to me from room 1 as I stood in the hallway. I would then hand it to Greg in room 2. 

 DIAGRAM 1: THE MOVING MACHINE

As we slaved away in the heat and sweat and dust I really began to get in the zone. I was feeling like a moving MACHINE! Awesome.

 DIAGRAM 2: I AM AWESOME

OH YEAH! I was fantasizing about my future room and the awesomeness of our moving technique when I reached for a box from my mom. At that moment the awesomeness came to a dramatic halt…

… as I stuck my hand into the fan.

Not awesome.

  DIAGRAM 3: NOT FEELING AWESOME (PAIN DOES THAT)

******FLASH BACK******

I was a kid and telling my stepmom Trisha about this "cool" guy who stuck his hand in a moving ceiling fan and stopped it as a trick. She went berserk and told me that if I ever put my hand in a fan, my fingers would be chopped off. She had even seen it happen since she worked as a nurse in shock trauma. The horrific-ness of this possibility haunted me for the rest of the childhood anytime I was too near a fan.

******BACK TO EVENT******

“OOOHHH MY GOSH! Trisha knew this would happen!” This is what I thought while I collapsed to the ground in a scream of pain and horror. I clutched my fingers with my unmangled hand, convinced this was the only thing keeping my fingers from toppling to the ground. As I laid in the fetal position breathing deeply, trying to coach myself through it all, my mom and Greg were trying to figure out what was wrong with me. They hadn't seen anything, just me dramatically flailing to the ground clutching my hand.

“I cut my fingers off in the fan!”

My mom all but rolled her eyes. I was infuriated! “Let me see your fingers Sarah.” I refused. MOM did not want to take this tragedy serious, obviously! My mom and Greg spent about 20 minutes convincing me to let go of my fingers. But I just was not ready to let go. I wanted to keep them forever. I loved my fingers. I had never truly appreciated them until that moment. MY POOR FINGERS!!!!!! I was imaging my future as a nub hand, explaining to everyone the ridiculous way I lost my fingers. Hoping that ice could possibly save them. 

  DIAGRAM 4: MY SAD FUTURE

But finally my mom convinced me to open my hand after yelling at me for being dramatic. (it was a loving yell in her defense) Finally convinced it was inevitably the time to investigate, I took a deep breath and unfolded my unmangled hand. 

I burst into a fit of tears…

... tears of relief. I started laughing at myself too.

Phew! Those flimsy little plastic fan blades didn’t even break my skin! NO blood, NO bruise, and ALL of my beloved digits! There was minimal “damage.” Just a little bit of skin pushed around in an odd way. Well, shoot, I’ll take that over lost fingers! It was all back to normal in like a day.

Perhaps, I overreacted.

(it did hurt though)

  DIAGRAM 5: THE "I HAVE 10 FINGERS" DANCE!

If you love your 10 fingers, please do the dance. Wiggle all your fingers while hoping from foot to foot and yell "I have 10 fingers!" If you do not have 10 fingers, there is no need to discriminate, please use the correct number and it promises just as much fun!!!

Barbie Graveyard

Missy and I were creative children. This came in handy when we were young, and our dad was on a limited budget. Trisha, who would one day become our stepmom would sometimes bring us gifts and treats. This included Barbie dolls. We LOVED Barbies. I hate to admit it, but I played with Barbies probably well after I was supposed to stop. Well, in those early years we didn’t have much to go with our Barbies either. For a long time we did not have a Ken. So we just kept one Barbie as our “Ken.” Poor Barbie. We left her with no clothes and cut her hair short- and never brushed it. She looked crazy. Even crazier was when we had “Ken” kiss Barbie. If someone had happened across us they would have thought we were into making our Barbies lesbians. But truthfully, in my imagination, it was Barbie and Ken lip locking.

DIAGRAM 1: "KEN" AND BARBIEPlease note that both "Ken" and Barbie have boobs. I tried to render them in a friendly way- despite that one is completely naked

We also didn’t have a Barbie house. Somehow we came up with the idea of creating our house using books. We would lay them down flat, and each book represented a room-almost like a floor plan. They obviously weren’t to scale, but we were on a budget. We would use our jewelry box as her bed, a pile of pogs as tables, teddy bears as bean bag chairs or statues, etc. The best was those little white plastic things they used to put in pizza boxes to keep the lid from hitting the cheese. We made those little tables. It was very creative. The only “real” Barbie furniture was this couch that our Nana had made out of a tissue box and some fabric (it was actually really well done). Sometimes the house would be vast with tons of books sprawling our bedroom floor. If we were feeling lazy they would be smaller. I used to day dream about giant Barbie houses. I wanted to have a vast Barbie Village. Perhaps one of my first childhood dreams was to grow up and use my big people money to buy Barbie stuff.

DIAGRAM 2: BOOK HOUSES

This diagram represents out Barbie house. They were often filled with much much more stuff. For the purposes of this illustration I kept it simple.

I think what caused the most upheaval was the clothes dilemma. A couple times Trisha bought us an outfit by itself. However, the vast majority of the time, we only got new Barbie clothes on a new Barbie. This was tedious when we wanted to change outfits- undressing one, dressing another endless times until we found the right look. Then Missy got this amazing Barbie closet. That changed the game for us. We needed to fill the closet. Plus it was a hassle dressing and undressing a Barbie every time we wanted her outfit. We stripped them all naked except for our absolute favorite one each. We had already started the Barbie Graveyard – the bottom drawer of my desk where we put our broken or defunct Barbies. Seemed like the perfect place to put the naked useless ones. So now this drawer was jam packed with misfit naked and some mutilated barbies. Scary stuff. To this day, I find nothing wrong with this. However, Trisha would find our stash of Barbies. I have no idea what she thought of it, but she would redress them all. Outfits not matching, broken or not, each Barbie was dressed. Then Missy and I would find them and be like what the heck? Who dressed these Barbies (and so horribly)??? Poor Trisha probably thought we were nuts, annnnd had issues. She was just trying to get clothes back on them. We were infuriated though. We would strip them all back down and put all the clothes back how we liked them. It was a cycle.

DIAGRAM 3: BARBIE GRAVEYARD

THE BARBIE GRAVEYARD
dun dun dunnnn!

We loved our Barbies. However, we fought a lot- as you should know by now. Clever as we were, we used the nearest thing possible as a weapon when we were mad at each other. Apparently (Trisha just told me this last night) we used to stab each other with Barbie feet. And come to think of it, they are pretty sharp- if being stabbed fiercely into your arm by an angry sister.

Moral of the story: get your daughter a Ken (which we eventually got), a lot of extra clothes for that Barbie, oh and get two of everything.

oh...and just as prison folk can make a shank out of anything, apparently two angry little girls can too- so watch them closely.

Quote of the Week: 8

I think I am a little behind on the quotes! It has been a very hectic couple of weeks! But I will make up for it when I have some spare time, i promise.


"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you."
-Maori proverb

I absolutely LOVE this. I don't know if you remember my recent posting about the universe trying to show us things. Well, seeing this quote today really hit the nail on the head for me. Whether this proverb was intentionally meant to have multi-layered meaning, or just be some good advice doesn't matter. Perhaps it is both- the best quotes usually are, and proverbs are a whole nother level.

This quote is exactly what I needed to hear. It truly has been a rough couple of weeks for me. I personally get a message about perspective, and changing our attitude for the better. A simple turn of the body (in the literal sense), and all the sudden things are different. The old perspective has fallen behind.

LOVE IT!

Cardboard Magic!

For me, my dad, and my sister “Those were the days” refers to those few years it was just the three of us. You know how it is, at the time “those days” suck big time, but years later you look back and realize how precious it was. The Pops was barely making enough to get by, and doing his best with two little girls. We didn’t have a ton of toys, and really didn’t notice, but we always had imagination. I think those few years really pushed our imagination, which then lasted throughout the rest of our childhood. We made something outta nothing all the time.

One of our most prized "nothings” was cardboard boxes! Oh how exciting it was! We could do so many things with one box. The larger the better, but we had fun with them all. I can remember the euphoric joy Missy and I felt when we spotted a box. We would be instantly united at such an opportunity for fun! It went something like this:

(Note: Missy = pigtails, Sarah = side ponytail)

THE BOX IS SPOTTED

This could happen as soon as it arrives, with goods still inside, or perhaps we have spotted it in the attic or basement. (One person's trash, is another's treasure!)

DAD, PLEASE!!!

At some point dad had the bright idea to cut a house into a large box for us, and that was it. At the sight of a large box the pleading began. Dad, please make us a box house!!!!

DAD AGREES TO THE TASK

Commence joyful jumping and excitement!!! We immediately begin the process of "helping" dad design the house while he gets the box cutter.

DAD MAKES AMAZING HOUSE! WOW

Do you see this masterpiece? Peep the working door and window! My dad sells building materials, and used to be a roofer. Therefore, in my opinion, we had the best man for the job. And craft us a house he did.

IMAGINATION'S TURN

At this point dad could step back, because imagination took us to our cottage as we hid from the evil witch, to our secret garden house, to our vacation home in the mountains.

IMAGINATION CONTINUES...

...Or we could be princesses in our castles from far off lands.

COMPROMISED STRUCTURE

After vigorous play that could span from a few days to a few weeks, the integrity of the box usually would give out. Or, we just had another idea. Enter, the box sled- on a grassy hill.

BOX REINCARNATE 3

At this point, the sledding has really broken the box down quite a bit. It is now something new again. Perhaps a play pen for giant babies (us), or a tank for mermaids, or a dance floor.

BOX IS HANGING ON FOR DEAR LIFE

The box is no longer a box at all. Just some pieces of beat down card board. But don't worry, we are having a tea party. Dad is now trying to throw it out and we are using any excuse to keep it around.

All good things must come to an end. Eventually, the box would be discarded, but after much love, use, drawing on, tearing up, and breaking had occurred. We definitely knew how to have fun, and made use of cardboard boxes way after these first years of just the three of us.


moral of the story: use your imagination!

Quote of the Week: 7

I abosultely love this quote.
(and I love the layout of this particular image as well! Can't fight the designer in me)

"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, and invincible summer."
-Albert Camus

This quote is something to treasure in dark moments. Or moments when we feel like giving up. I, personally, hate winter. Once the New Year passes, it feels like an endless cycle of cold, wet, and misery. Summer feels like an unobtainable glory. As out of my reach as heaven is to a living being.

This psychological connection to the literal meaning of the quote really drives home the figurative message. The concept of being stuck in the thick of something so desolate touches parts of everyone’s life. This desolation could be a loveless marriage, a horrible job, the loss of loved ones, an abusive relationship, depression, poverty, hunger, the list is endless. What I love, is that they took the initiative to look within themselves. No outward pleas or cries, no using the moment as an excuse. Looking for help is not wrong, however turning this desolation into an excuse is pointless.

Summer, being the unobtainable heaven that it is, is actually found within them. All the outward help in the world can assist, but finding it is entirely upon us. We can create our own heaven here on earth. We can achieve much greatness within our own minds.

I mentioned in a previous post that the Universe has been sending me a lot of messages recently. Well one has been this idea of being capable of such greatness within each and every person. It actually all started a few years ago when I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. She essentially found within herself a God. She found her body to be an actual temple. (This may sound blasphemous to some- but achieving our own measure of greatness does not take away from the Almighty- after all, we were made in His image) I found these ideas radical, yet it felt so intrinsically true. Since that time there have been endless reinforcements to that message over and over. Now, it is true that we find reinforcement where we want to. There are those that only see reinforcements to negative stereotypes and ignore the good in people. This is different. Clues that have been left like bread crumbs. Things in everyday life that I had never noticed. I had a conversation with my sister one day on the way to Church about it, and at mass the priest actually even mentioned it in his reading and homily. So while some people only look for reinforcement to prove a point, others need to be merely looking for truth or knowledge to see it in front of them. It is important to be honest with yourself about your mind frame.

I believe that this quote speaks about finding the inner INVINCIBLE greatness that will be the torchlight for us through anything. To even have the ability to find it is a gift to be treasured. Cherish yourself, and know that no matter what winter brings down upon you, you have an inner summer glowing radiantly within you.

[steps down from soap box]

:)