Monday, July 23, 2012

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead


"The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break."
~J.R.R. Tolkien
 

 
Artist: irinama
Via: The Keeper Of The Flame.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Spoiled by enayla

Spoiled by enayla

About the piece from the artist:

"At times, Nature is the master of Humanity... and at other times, Humanity certainly rules Nature.
Nature makes us hurry inside when she weeps rain upon the world. With hurricanes, she toys with us. Tornadoes are used to punish, earthquakes to throw us about like pebbles in a child's game. We live on her land, and through that, she rules over us. Our very bodies belong to her - they age in rhythm with her, and they are subject to urges and desires that she imposes on us. In some ways, we're little but slaves to Nature's ways.
But Humanity... on the other hand... has found another way to dominate. Humanity destroys what we touch. We reach out towards pretty things in greed, and leave a trail of death behind. We fence the woods in, we run over the animals and poison the seas. Ours is a different kind of mastery but it is one nevertheless. Nature serves us because she has no other choice. Humanity always expects Nature to mend what damage we've done: heal the woods burned down, return the animals hunted to extinction and cleanse the seas... never considering what will happen the day Nature is no longer there to catch us.
In this piece, I tried to show this relationship. Humanity a naïve yet destructive burden, the smile on her lips slight and dreamy as she thinks of the beautiful flowers she will pluck and the lovely birds she will see while all around her these very things now fade away. She's blind to the destruction she causes. She knows that Nature will be there for her, she knows that there will always be the scent of flowers and always the gentle surge of the sea. She is Nature's master in that Nature has no choice but to try to catch her and always try to mend the damage she has done... but she is Nature's slave because she must breathe the air, drink the water and eat the food that only Nature can give her."
More by enayla

Hajieelkhe
 
Nelicquele

Autumn Whisperlings
 

Sunday, July 8, 2012

My Life's Philosophy


“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
                                                                               - Theodore Roosevelt

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Being true to who you are

One of the most important lessons I've learned in this life is to always be true to who you are. The younger that you are when you learn that, the better off you are. Deep down I've always known who I am, but there were a lot of bumpy roads to be traveled before I could truly allow myself to simply be me.

I was not the kind of daughter my mother wanted. Don't get me wrong, she loved me, but I knew at a very young age my way of thinking, doing and being was not up to my mom's expectations. She wanted a daughter who was what I call girly; into make-up, hair, cloths. I couldn't have been more opposite. I never wear make-up, I simply run a brush though my hair and I dress for my comfort not for fashion. I've been that way ever since I can remember. Sure my mother put me in cute little dresses up until I was about seven or eight years old but that's when I started rebelling.

T-shirt and hair cut
I'll give my mother credit for at least listening to me. She didn't like it and I had to listen to her cry like a baby when I got my hair cut short, then yelling when I wore a t-shirt to school on picture day. But she didn't really try to change me. I mean, she very well could have put her foot down and forced me at that age. She didn't. But I did have to hear comments about my differences throughout my childhood.

My grandmother didn't overtly want me to change, but like my mother there were comments here and there. I remember Christmas day 1976. My grandmother bought me a blue dress. She wanted me to wear it for dinner. I refused. There was no way she was gonna get me in a dress. Well, my grandmother could be pretty persuasive, especially with my mom and aunts to back her up, so we compromised. I wore what I wanted for the day, then after dinner I changed into the dress. I was so uncomfortable. Honestly I hated it. That was the last time I wore a dress. I think it was difficult for my grandmother to understand why I wasn't like other girls my age.

The dreaded blue dress
Even with the female influences in my life trying to tell me how I should be I never gave in. In fact it made me stick to my guns even more. I can be stubborn. I get that from both my parents. But the thing is, because of all the pulling in the opposite direction I became insecure. I felt as if I was being told I couldn't do anything right. Those exact words were never spoken, mind you, but the things that were said had the same affect. I didn't know why I was so different, I simply was. All I could do was be who I was but as I got older I began questioning everything I did and felt.

On the one hand I was confident. I knew who I was, what I wanted and how I wanted to live. On the other hand I'd constantly question myself. It caused a lot of internal pain in my youth. There were a lot of suppressed feelings that took a long time for me to be comfortable acknowledging to myself, let alone anyone else. I feel like I went through my teens and twenties as half a person. Until I could be completely comfortable with who I was, every molecule, no matter what my mother, grandmother or society said, there was a part of me missing. I had to keep parts of myself hidden from everyone, even from me for awhile.

I had to embrace every part of me. Once I did that I became whole again. I liked who I was. That made handling whatever life threw at me a little bit easier. It was okay to be me.

I look at my nephews today and I hope that they find out who they are and also feel free to be who they are at a young age. I also hope my brother and sister-in-law allow their sons to discover for themselves who they are, with no expectations forced upon them.

If I could impart one piece of advice to my nephews it would be the same advice I would give my 10 year old self. Always be true to yourself. Don't let society, or even your parents, dictate who you will become. Deep down you know who you are. Believe in that person. Be true to you.