January 2012
“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another.”
—Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha (via shantosophy)
December 2011
“Never let a day pass without looking for the good, feeling the good within you, praising, appreciating, blessing, and being grateful. Make it your life commitment, and you will stand in utter awe of what happens in your life.”
—(via positivlyriks)
I Follow Rivers - The Lost Sessions Vol 1.
Lykke Li | I Follow Rivers (The Lost Sessions Vol. 1)
“Not appreciating what we have now, robs us of our abundance even when it exists.”
—Marshal Slyver (via thefreenomad)
The greatest blessing in life is life itself. Do not strain yourselves over the temporary illusions of the world.
“Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.”
—Aristotle (via thefreenomad)
“Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (via thefreenomad)
“Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.”
—Rumi (via scarletisthecolour)
“Capturing life as it is”
There are many things about that phrase that bothers me. For one, the word “capturing” and the phrase “life as it is” should never co-exist side-by-side; they work against each other. “Life as it is” cannot be captured. Once you capture life through film or other literary works, it becomes a construction, perverted by subjectivity and specific perspectives. There is no such thing as portraying objective truth; the best that one can do is strategically gather information and select from that group of information what to believe and what to discount. Moreover, the truth is a man made construction reproduced through a system of gathering and filtering. We believe what we want to. That is not to say, however, that the truth does not exist. The “truth” is an entity that exists independently in reality, but it is in the nature of humans to pervert and complicate it. My writing, your writing; they’re all but works of fiction inspired by life (as it is). The “truth” in the context of literature, henceforth, is a matter of honesty to the self- the relationship between the writer and his pen, his keyboard” and even so, the truth, here, remains limited, and to a large degree, subjective. So, to try and draw the lines between absolute, objective truth and fiction is to entertain in a hopeless task, for such border does not exist. If you’re looking for matter-of-fact through literature, search with a grain of salt. When indulging in texts that proudly claim to be “based on a true story” or, in other words, aims to capture reality, it is only healthy, and I would argue, very necessary to ask yourself “why” and “through what lens?”
“No matter what, I want to continue living with the awareness that I will die. Without that, I am not alive.”
—Banana Yoshimoto (via scarletisthecolour)
Je ne pleure pas.
Road to Chicago
Thomas Newman
Comme c’est merveilleux d’être que le libre
Play
“Bad art is more tragically beautiful than good art because it documents human failure.”
— Tristan Reveur (via bottledtwater)
“Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
—Mitch Albom (Tuesdays With Morrie)
Don’t identify with anything, don’t think. Simply exist and be aware.
As much as I did love my job, I’m slowly falling out of love with it. I’m a companion for the elderly, and over a span of just five months, I’ve seen the health of many of my clients deteriorate. This job was supposed to be a stepping stone to my next, but I always put off those plans because I got attached to majority of my clients. Now, with full intention, I do plan to leave but it’ll be bittersweet, and I know I’ll go back to visit and to keep in touch. I just can’t let go.
The Woman You Love [Feat. Busta Rhymes]
Ashanti
yakk:
Ashanti // The Woman You Love [Feat. Busta Rhymes]
Ashanti was the hottest thing on the R&B scene in the early 2000s, scoring hit after hit with her debut self-titled album. Things tailed off a little bit with the release of her next two LPs, and by the time she was releasing ‘The Declaration’ in 2008 she had more or less been forgotten about.
It was all a combination of terrible management and being out of the spotlight for too long. The latter problem still remains with Ashanti, as her forthcoming independent album won’t see the light of day until at least four years since her last record. That’s an awful long time in this day and age with the Rihanna’s of this world releasing a new album every year, but what really matters - is Ashanti giving us good music?
If first single ‘The Woman You Love’, then she’s definitely planning on coming back strong. With a pulsating beat, backed with pouding drums, the track seems to have a heavy looped sample in the background, making it sound almost like a female ‘Otis’ to me. Busta fails to let us down with a fearsome verse on the song, which deals with a relationship which just isn’t working.
If good music is anything to go by then Ashanti deserves all the success in the world. ‘The Woman You Love’ may not compete with some of her previous first singles - but they’ve been among my favourite of the 2000s, so she has a lot to live up to. This song stays true to Ashanti’s roots, while still being cutting edge and standing up to the Itunes replay button. Part of me doubts that this will get much recognition of the charts though, let’s hope I’m just being pessimistic.
“I find myself neglecting my textbooks because I’m so occupied with studying life.”
—Joekenneth Museau (via streetetiquette)
