ostriches

to me, ostriches are the oddity of all birds. this may just be the naive american in me, that is not completely well-travelled and diverse enough to recognize there are weirder species out there in the vast unexplored, however, from the little knowledge i've received, they're freaks.

they're big. fat. frumpy. noisy. constantly bitter. and they can't even fly.

now usually, around here, i like to keep things smooth. start out with an object we can all relate to, give a new view to the subject, tie in my thoughts, throw in a little chuckle here and there, and close with a well-put together line that will make your taste-buds hungry for the next post.

broken-down: i like to beautify the common.

however, today, i have no analogy or epiphany, but have instead discovered something worth mentioning.

in the weirdest little place, too. yesterday, i bought a photography book that is full of portraits from africa, asia, and south america. on every other page the photographer has included quotes from authors that have inspired his work.

here's the catch: this book was $1. i got it at dollar tree of all places. i was expecting and hoping to maybe enjoy a few of the pictures just so i didn't waste those hundred pennies. however, i am more than impressed. the work is solid. the subject inspiring. the design beautiful.

as an artist i usually just like to look at the pictures, analyze them, and move on. but one of my dear companions actually took the time to read the quotes. and, once her mouth dropped i had to ask what she had found, and this is what she told me:

"If it is true that love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence, then any society which excludes, relatively, the development of love, must in the long run perish of its own contradiction with the basic necessities of human nature. Indeed, to speak of love is not "preaching," for the simple reason that it means to speak of the ultimate and real need in every human being. That the need has been obscured does not mean that it does not exist. To analyze the nature of love is to discover its general absence today and to criticize the social conditions which are responsible for this absence. To have faith in the possibility of love as a social and not only exceptional-individual phenomenon is a rational faith based on the insight into the very nature of man." Erich Fromm From the Art of Loving

yes, my mouth then dropped too.

go, re-read, try to grasp. i know there are big words. i had to re-read several times.

this is the ostrich of all my posts. not well constructed or thought out in any form. awkward. i just had to share that quote with you. we all need to read things like that every now and again, or in my case, everyday- to remind me that love is mandatory for life and really the essence of it.

fireworks.

fireworks are loud. quick. explosive. dramatic. electrifying. brilliantly colorful.

they're a unique flavor that can simultaneously light up that night sky, make you actually desire to breathe in dark gray smoke, and create nostalgic emotions within your innards.

even though fireworks are usually just a yearly fourth-of-july event, somehow i always feel back at home on those summer nights: with the grass protruding beneath my toes, laughter on my lips due to great company, and the world's most uncomfortable rock somehow perfectly positioned underneath my arse.

often during that time, if only for a moment, not only is my butt restless, but my heart. just as any major holiday, fourth of july is a time-stamp on your life. a yearly marker for what you're doing, what you've accomplished, what you've let go of, what you've failed at.

that time: concurrently hopeful and doubtful.

this time: realizing the thing i hate most about love and friendship is that everything is relative to time.

relationships are seasonal.

timing is inescapable.

the combination, at least for me, of the previous two lines instantly brings fear.

see, we like to invest in the long-term. it's comfortable. the return is usually average. it puts us in the driver's seat for the majority of the ride. it's give us control, ease, and gentleness for the end that is inevitably to come.

but the last couple of days, i've just been wondering, why not be the brilliance that lights up someone's night? the image they can't seem to erase from their retinas. the melody they can't get out of their ears.

it does not matter if it's just a flash.

you can glimmer, and sparkle, and burn with more luminosity than ever experienced before.

you can change the way they view their worth. you can change the way they view warmth. you can change the way they view faithfulness.

you can love deeper and more fearlessly than you've ever let yourself.

it might hurt, yes. but, a moment is made. a trust is formed. a life is changed- and more than likely it will be yours.

the more we dive off and impact, the more the reverberation effects us. how we live. how we think. how we encounter life.

so, so what if you're just pyrotechnics? the duration may be shorter than you desire, but an impact is left. whether in your eardrums, your memories, or both.

trampolines

trampolines are such a unique creation. squishy, bouncy, dangerous, breathtaking.

i haven't been on a trampoline since i was in london in 2007, where if i remember correctly, there was an injury and all activity was stopped. tonight- i embraced with wide arms a long lost friend, who as a child, i absolutely adored.

i'll admit- at first my footing was shaky and unnatural. i even called myself a "chicken", but slowly i mustered the courage to get some air.

i remember the insanity i used to perform for myself in that back yard i so loved. backflips, front-flips, belly-flops, butt-flops. things that i don't know how i survived in tact.

it's funny how we're so brave as kids. the world is at our fingertips- just one grasp and it's ours for the taking. but as adults we get timid.

we get comfortable in our ruts, and our activities, and forget that we have the ability to enjoy and to just act stupid if we desire.

that moment was exactly what i needed tonight.

do you know that sweet moment i'm talking about?

a moment that makes you feel free. that makes you feel fun. that makes you feel ALIVE. that reminds.

those simple moments where you can sit back, the warm breeze on your skin, the spring glow overtaking the sky, one of the best friends you could ever ask for giggling contently like a four-year old next to you, and just know that today is good- and tomorrow- has infinite possibilities.

so- jump on. trust. realize that you maybe just need to get a little crazy to remind yourself that there's blood flowing in your veins, that there's air in your lungs, and that somewhere, even if a couple of feet down, there's a net ready to spring you back up into the clouds.