Another day...filled with priceless words.

A girlfriend of mine, Maggie, once told me that we were dangerous for each other as we both got caught up in the words, the emotional phrases, the poetic movement, and the romance that eloquent words can sometimes make you believe in. We were both captivated how something so beautiful could truly exist, even we both have suffered so much pain throughout our individual lives. It was a beautiful moment in my life, that while transient, still makes me believe in the magic of life..and in words.

This past Friday, February 20th was another day for me and the rest of the world.
For me, it marked my 35th birthday. I look back briefly to see how far I have come and where my life is headed. I have never been one to be scared of looking back, or talking about my travels and experiences, as that is how you mark your journey, how you remember who you are...it is a cathartic and peaceful walk for me.

I blame myself for losing myself in words...they are to me the expression of your spirit, your soul in written form. Sometimes they are real, truthful, sometimes they are your idealistic ambitions, what you hope to be, who you wish you were...what separates reality from fantasy? The accuracy of your thoughts or the truthfulness of your intentions? If we don't intend or plan to become better, something more than we are today...isn't that the greater evil?

I choose another year of living life --- learning more about myself, learning to care more about others in need, learning to find small ways to make those ambitious words come true. Perhaps I was not the man I could have been back then, but I would have to definitely admit that I have grown, I have matured and I have certainly learned from those words. I know that life is more than just earning money and buying possessions and what truly matters, what truly endures are ironically, only things that can never be purchased, only earned.

Earned through the unyielding dedication to simply be yourself and chose your words carefully. What you say, who you are, how much you care...it is all indicative of the words you use every day. The words that define your walk and your relationships with others. Be yourself and learn to live those words. :)

Some of my favorite words:

---

When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is suffiecient unto love.
When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at the dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.