risk

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
- Teddy Roosevelt

be still

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
-Henry David Thoreau

more photoshop fun

If you can't already tell, I'm quite a fan of grunge-style design. I wish these displayed better in here though. Please follow the directions from the previous entry for optimal viewing. This will fix the size and get rid of the strange blur action.

reviving photoshop

The neglect of Photoshop and favoring of Illustrator has been quite out of hand since my digital tools course, and I thought it was time to give Photoshop a chance to shine. As such, here's a collage involving a poem I posted previously:

The path to optimal viewing:
1) Click on the image to enlarge.
2) Once it's big, right click on the image itself and select "view image."
This should make it a more ideal viewing size.

songwriting

Major highlight of break: opportunity for songwriting

Since it seems you cannot post songs on this blog, check em out here.
(First two are from this break. The third is from the summer.)

release

It’s the art of letting go,
And I really wish I could tell you it came with ease.
But I know that simply wouldn’t be the truth,
For my tendency is to cling, not to release.

My reliance has rested not in the creator,
But instead in people who are bound to fail.
I know that communion with others is essential,
But union with the source must first be the core of this tale.

So, while my tendency is to cling, not to release,
I’m letting go, chasing true joy and perfect peace.

what if I'm wrong?

What if this belief I hold so dearly
is rooted in absurdity?
What if the faith I breathe so deeply
is all a lie?

I know it’s not.
There is certainty within me
that shatters all doubt.

But for the sake of those
whose questioning this response does not quench,
I’ll entertain the notion that I could be wrong.

To them I say –
Why not believe?
Live a life of meaning, of purpose, of passion.

Why not let belief urge one onward
and be the force that propels the soul
through pain, sorrow and emptiness
to love, joy, and fullness?

Because even if I am wrong in the end,
this act of believing is what drives me
to dream bigger and live this life to the fullest.
This act of believing is what transforms my life
and allows me to see beauty along the way.

So, to you I say,
why not believe in something greater?