Top priority

peace before everything
god before anything
love before anything
real before everything
home before anyplace

Mos Def – “Priority” 

Note to Self #9:

Breathe in the future.
Breathe out the past.

Live the best way you know how

“After a while, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand & changing a soul. You begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts & presents aren’t promises. & you start to accept your defeats with your head up & your eyes open. You learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain. After a while, you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much. So plant your own garden & decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. You learn that you really can endure, that you really are strong, & that you really do have worth. You learn that with every goodbye, there’s a hello. Take chances. Tell the truth. Date someone totally wrong for you. Say no. Say Yes. Spend all your cash. Fall in love. Be random. Say I love you. Cry. Apologize. Tell someone how much they mean to you. Sing out loud. Tell them how you feel. Let someone know what they’re missing. Laugh until your stomach hurts. Take a deep breath & live life the best way you know how.”

Note to Self #3:

Breathe, Believe, Battle. 

Tea Time

‘Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment.’ ~Thich Nhat Hanh

(via laurasici)

Evernotables

I’ve been meaning to blog a real one I swear, but lately I haven’t had a chance to just sit still and write. With the school year ending, you can usually catch me on the MUNI, at a graduation, in class, or in bed (if time permits it). And some of the time you can also catch me on the phone. Yes, I’m guilty of frequenting on the phone, but only if necessary! My iPhone isn’t there for me to just text, send an email (I actually loathe sending emails on my iPhone actully) or go on Instagram, but to write my thoughts down during those moments when a lightbulb sparks and I’m nowhere near my usuals (notebook or “Eduardo,” my laptop).

So in the meantime I’ve been using Evernote, the phone app that stores your notes on your phone and syncs it directly to your web account. I, personally, LOVE this app mainly for the sole purpose of it’s quick and easy notepad feature, but also for its accessibility on any device. You can literally start writing a piece on your iPhone when you’re on the bus and finish it on your laptop when you get home.

With that said, I was looking through a few of the notes I’ve been writing in my Evernote–many of which reflect some of my thoughts these past few weeks along with some quotables I’ve stumbled upon–and thought why not share some here?

• “A real story requires a kind of magical baptism to link the world on this side with the world on the other side” (Sputnik Sweetheart, 16)
• Long distance challenges trust. Silence challenges thought.
• Recognizing your struggles, taking responsibility over your emotions, then moving forth towards an action is the journey towards a happiness.
• Make good art. Always.
• “Do it scared. Fear is one of the biggest saboteurs of our goals, because it inhibits action. The next time you feel yourself putting something off because you’re afraid–of uncertainty or failure–just ‘do it scared.'” (CNN)
• Remember the big picture.
• “Nowhere to go but the heart.” — Rumi

Note to Self #22:

As for discipline—it’s important, but sort of overrated. The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you.

– Elizabeth Gilbert

 

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.

~ Victor Hugo

Part of the reason why I’m Team Coco

(via)

Another reminder

The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure… you are above everything distressing.

— Spinoza