When Love Arrives

Less is More

Sometimes you just need to disconnect from the whole world and all of its technology to get in touch with the real world to start living. Only then will you truly understand that less is more. Meanwhile, other than the reading, I'll leave you with this (related lyrics):

God bless.

(:

Love Stories Unlike Yours

There are always the traditional love stories, and then there are the different ones. We should embrace the different ones for all they are, even if just imaginary. Experience love stories unlike yours, and embrace.

God bless.

(:

Darkness, Part 2: Outside...

"They say I made the moon.
Everything was in the dark,
No memories at all;
Just a tiny freezing wind in my back,
As I was sitting there,
Singing a song they had never heard before.
Suddenly, a voice told me,
"Keep on singing, little boy
And raise your arms in the big black sky
Raise your arms the highest you can,
So the whole universe will glow."

My first vision was a bush growing down the river,
And I couldn't stop crying...
Something was missing.
I realized I was in love with a voice.
I called it, again, and again,
But all I heard was the echo in the light."

~ M83 - Moon Child

Darkness, Part 1: Inside.

Please, take your shoes off.

It's cold in here... and it's dark.

The floor is slightly wet, and the air slightly humid.

It smells of gasoline.

Your soul is raining.

(Desolate.)

Everything reverberates and echoes and rings.

A creaky chain in the background.

A light bulb dying somewhere outside.

Sitting in a corner, head resting on knees.

Sweating, breathing heavily.

A soothing voice.

"Hush now, little child. Come out of your..."

It trails off.

All is dark and growing.

Stand up.
Sit down.
Stand up.
Fall down.
Stand up?

I might be lying.
I might be dying.

Darkness.

Poem - I wanted to give you flowers...

I tried to capture the glory
I ended up writing a poem
I started by writing a story
But I went on living, thinking

And I always failed, trying,
Trying to paint you a painting
As I fell down while flying
I saw it all before fainting

(Read the poem once from top to bottom, and then from bottom to top. I think it makes more sense that way.)

Listening to colors

This is beyond. This man is truly blessed.

(He listens to color.)

Redemption.

"Let's start over again;
Why can't we start it over again?
Just let us start it over again...

And we'll be good;
This time we'll get it, get it right
It's our last chance to forgive ourselves..."

~ Matthew Bellamy

Day is Done

This song is the definition of finding beauty in misery. It's not overwhelming or overbearing, but much more gentle and subtle. It slowly gets to you when the day is done.

Broken love letter/poem...

He kills her.
He brings her back to life, and in the process, he changes.
(She gave him purpose.)

Whatever he was, she was always more.
(She gave him light.)

Whatever he will be, he owes it to her.
(She gave him color.)

He would always think of offering her flowers,
But never really could.
He wanted to give her a garden; more.

She would always think of giving him flowers,
Because she always would.
She would give him gardens; more.

(She gave him life.)

They both understood.

At the end of the day, the sun sets.
But sometimes, even after the day is gone,
The night can be even more beautiful.
Neither is ever forgotten.

Something faded;
The rest stayed true.

(The flower of eternity mourned its own life.)

El-Sett.

"Imagine a singer with the virtuosity of Joan Sutherland or Ella Fitzgerald, the public persona of Eleanor Roosevelt and the audience of Elvis and you have Umm Kulthum." ~ Virginia Danielson, Harvard Magazine

Please allow me to introduce you to the world of beauty that is Umm Kulthum. She is famously known in Egypt as "El-Sett" (translation: The Woman / The Lady). What Édith Piaf was to France is what Umm Kulthum was to the Arab world (and even beyond that).

(:

A Russian in Hell

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but it's still interesting either way. Worth pondering about.

(Click on the image to make it bigger/readable. If it's not big enough, check the original link.)

"Do not stand at my grave and weep."

"Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die."

~ Mary Elizabeth Frye

Michael Leunig - We Must Do With Scraps...

The following is a poem by the Australian cartoonist and poet, Michael Leunig. It is titled "We Must Do With Scraps...". I hope you enjoy it.

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"Little scraps of peace and quiet.
Hope, conversation, handshakes,
- all in dribs and drabs.

A few crumbs of fun
A tiny flake of beauty.
One teaspoon of enthusiasm.

Off-cuts of each other
A skerrick of community...
A bit of a kiss.

A snippet of eye contact.
A snippet of hospitality.
A snippet of patience.

A shred of honor.
A wisp of good humor.
A sample of compassion.

Leftovers, oddments, remnants of the glorious situation.
A fragment of God.
Not much really.
Sorry. Time's up."

~ Michael Leunig

Thought of You

(Together we dance through our existence, but never do we touch... and you never fade. The thought of you always takes me away.)

Some thoughts on the human nature

We are but the sum of our faults… our ability to create them, our ability to recognize them, and our ability to choose them. The faults we choose create in ourselves, and the faults that we choose to do, are what define us. Essentially, it’s a matter of exclusion and not inclusion. Humans are born with infinite possibilities, and by adopting more faults, specifically more of the useless faults, they limit their possibilities.

For example, compassion is said to be an important human trait. Our compassion makes us different from some other creatures… but does our compassion necessarily make us better people? The answer depends on the situation. However, taking a general and objective point of view, it is important to note that compassion can hinder our progress and increase our bias. And thus, a question is raised: are the things that make us human essentially good, or are they an obstacle? In other words, are the things that make us human actually worth being human for, or can we become something that is more abstract? Is the human nature the actual challenge that we should be trying to overcome?

(A god could not possibly be wrong, even if he wants to, because a god is the definition of right. If he can find it in his power to overcome his own limits, then he isn't a god anymore. Essentially, by being able to do wrong (and thus overcoming his own power), the god does not become more powerful, but more inferior. He has destroyed his own power in the process of overcoming it, because the task itself is not befitting to his nature, and not because it's essentially impossible.)

What makes us unique as humans is not just our intelligence or our emotions, but it is rather the combination of them in us. Other creatures, such as animals, have emotions like us, but not the same level of intelligence.

And so our choice is not in avoiding the wrong decisions and making the right ones, but rather in choosing the best collection of wrong decisions so that we can ultimately learn from them and choose the right collection of right decisions when the time comes. In essence, we are all wrong, but to varying degrees. We need to be the right type of wrong. That is how we can become.