Sunday, March 20, 2016

The Internet And The Ghost Friend

I used to carve your name on trees hoping you would find them. The Internet has made this so much easier than it used to be.


I saw your face online a long time ago, and I had no idea who you were.  But you had something about your eyes that made me click. It’s so hard to keep up with you, I waited for so long when you finally decided to click that accept button. It opened a door for me to keep track of what you’re up to. Thanks for updating once in a while.

Your life seems so interesting, even if you’re not a celebrity or anything. It’s just nice to watch someone else’s life from a distance and care for them secretly. But sometimes I wish I could just grab a taxi and visit your home directly, or get a job at a store near you and try to accidentally meet you there somehow.



Yeah, I know that sounds creepy but you deserve to see the face of a secret friend. You have unique fractures along your heart and I have mine. And maybe there is nothing, anywhere that doesn’t break someone’s heart. But believe me it’s not us my ever loved Ghost Friend.

-Russ

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

The Night and The Return To Green




♪♫Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too.
So I stayed in the darkness with you...♪♫

Oh, shut up. Every time it rains, it stops raining. Every time you hurt, you heal. After darkness, there is always light and you get reminded of this every morning but you still choose to believe that the night will last forever. Nothing lasts forever. Not the good or the bad.

The blackest night will fall and I will be gone like the sun. But in the darkness, you will find something more important than me, more important than the moon and the stars. You will find yourself, deep in that ink.

The sky will lift you up like the moon, to bring light to a landscape starved of it. Then I will chase you and you will chase me, in the hope that one day we will find each other again.

So you might as well smile while you’re here.

Because when that day comes, it's either we will cast our light or we’ll stay in the darkness, together…

-Russ

Sunday, March 13, 2016

The Waiting Room: Telling of Something Beautiful

Wait. But don't wait too long. Work hard. But don't forget how to play. Sing loudly. But don't learn all the words. Wonder. But not so much that you lose yourself. Read magazines. But read more books.
Love.



On this day, you read something that moved you and made you realise there were no more fears to fear. No tears to cry. No head to hang in shame. That every time you thought you’d offended someone, it was all just in your head and really, they love you with all their heart and nothing will ever change that. That everyone and everything lives on inside you. That, that doesn’t make any of it any less real. 

That soft touches will change you and stay with you longer than hard ones. 

That being alone means you’re free. That old lovers miss you and new lovers want you and the one you’re with is the one you’re meant to be with. That the tingles running down your arms are angel feathers and they whisper in your ear, constantly, if you choose to hear them. That everything you want to happen, will happen, if you decide you want it enough. That every time you think a sad thought, you can think a happy one instead. 

That you control that completely. 

That the people who make you laugh are more beautiful than beautiful people. That you laugh more than you cry. That crying is good for you. That the people you hate wish you would stop and you do too.

That your friends are reflections of the best parts of you. That you are more than the sum total of the things you know and how you react to them. That dancing is sometimes more important than listening to the music. 



That the most embarrassing, awkward moments of your life are only remembered by you and no one else. That no one judges you when you walk into a room and all they really want to know, is if you’re judging them. That what you make and what you do with your time is more important than you’ll ever fathom and should be treated as such. That the difference between a job and art is passion. That neither defines who you are. That talking to strangers is how you make friends. 

That bad days end but a smile can go around the world. That life contradicts itself, constantly. That that’s why it’s worth living. 

That the difference between pain and love is time. That love is only as real as you want it to be. That if you feel good, you look good but it doesn’t always work the other way around. 

That the sun will rise each day and it’s up to you each day if you match it. That nothing matters up until this point. That what you decide now, in this moment, will change the future. Forever. That rain is beautiful.

And so are you.

-Russ

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The Silly Things I Need To Hear




Sometimes people you like, won’t like you.

That’s Ok.

Sometimes, everyone around you will talk about all the incredibly cool things they’re busy doing and you will have very little to talk about yourself.

That’s Ok.

Sometimes you’ll wake up and you’ll just be sore for no real reason.

That’s Ok.

Sometimes you won’t know what to do and people would say “I’d kill to have your problems!” and that won’t magically and suddenly stop them from being problems.

That’s Ok.

Sometimes, I’m saying it to you because I hope that one day; you’ll be able to say it to me.


That’s Ok.

-Russ

Monday, March 7, 2016

Pursue, Not Pedestalize



This is one of my favorite scenes in the series. During Seaon 1 Episode 6, Claire visits her and Francis' former secret service bodyguard who is dying of cancer and receives a deathbed profession of love.

Bodyguard Steve: I hate your husband.
Claire Underwood: A lot of people hate my husband.
Bodyguard Steve: For the past 8 years, I watched over him but it wasn't him I was watching. Jesus what I would give. . . 
Claire Underwood: You know what Francis said to me when he proposed, I remember his exact words. He said, 

"Claire, if all you want is happiness, say no. I'm not going to give a couple of kids, and count the days until retirement. I promise you freedom from that. I promise you'll never be bored." 

"You know he was the only man, and there were a lot of others who proposed, he was the only one who understood me. He didn't put me on some pedestal.

He knew I didn't want to be adore or coddled, so he took my hand and put on a ring on it because he knew I'd say yes. He's a man who knows how to take what he wants. You told me your truth and now you know mine."

At that point, she does something that solidifies her bid for entry into the Alpha female hall of fame. Francis and Claire are THE power couple. Women don't want to be pedestalized

Pedestalization is objectification. And elevating someone's status inappropriately is idolatry. Claire didn't want to be another man's idol. That's the temptation of the male heart - to make women an idol

Francis was looking for a partner to pursue his plan of world White House domination and he found what he was looking for.

LORD, help me live fully in this kind of courage and conviction.

-Russ