it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

remember mr. rogers? well, it's days like today when just walking outside makes me begin humming "won't you be my neighbor." what is up with all this gorgeous weather? whatever it is, keep it coming because i'm adoring it.  seventy degrees, sunroof open, window down, sunglasses on, tim mcgraw blasting out the window, and some red pants.  it's my type of day. ah, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood... won't you be my neighbor?

b.

p.s. can you say holy crap the bachelor season finale is on tonight because that's basically all i'm thinking about.  watch it, i dare you.

i wonder.

i read a book today that made me strangely tingly inside. i sat still after running my fingers over those final words and wondered if the human being, the author that packed each word with spine-tingling meaning, had completed this quickly. i imagined her in my mind scrawling these words on any write-able material she could scavenge during the great depression, then my mind moved to the image of her thinking out each paragraph, each line, while reading and rereading all of her previous work in search of impeccable perfection.

i wonder if while she wrote, she imagined the story going differently; if she thought of her lover and changed her words so the ending result wouldn't be so revealing. i wonder if she said the words in her mind as she wrote and felt the fluency for herself. i wonder if she realized while composing this work of art how much it would change society, the world even. i wonder if she felt the power her readers feel when they soak in the beauty.  i wonder and wonder. i wonder how anything could be so beautiful, in such a plain way.

b.

simplicity.

there's something absolutely beautiful about simplicity.

b.

i like this.

b.

the beauty of music.

dear world.

music is one of the greatest beauties ever created.  it brings you joy, it shows who you are, it is the perfect symbol of peace and serenity.  music is the glue that holds the world together.  to show patriotism, we make music.  to show love, we make music.  to show feelings, we make music.  to show anger, we make music.  to calm down, we use music.  to pump up, we use music.  to feel the spirit, we use music. music is something that touches your soul more than most words can alone.  

today, too many people fake their music choice because of style. they want to be like everybody else, they want to fit in a certain style, they want a certain boy to like their interests.  they fake their music because they want to fit in. popularity is not worth compromising the thing that makes you you. music.

i challenge the world to listen to the music YOU like.  not the music your crush listens to, not the music the world listens to, not the music one particular clique or style listens to, listen to what you love.  music will free your soul and inspire and enlighten your existence.

b.

*Picture via realsimple.com

for julia, in deep water.

The instructor we hire
because she does not love you
Leads you into the deep water,
The deep end
Where the water is darker—
Her open, encouraging arms
That never get nearer 
Are merciless for your sake.

You will dream this water always
Where nothing draws nearer,
Wasting your valuable breath
You will scream for your mother—
Only your mother is drowning
Forever in the thin air
Down at the deep end.
She is doing nothing,
She never did anything harder.
And I am beside her.

I am beside her in this imagination.
We are waiting
Where the water is darker.
You are over your head,
Screaming, you are learning
Your way toward us,
You are learning how
In the helpless water
It is with our skill
We live in what kills us.
-John N. Morris

and this is what beauty is.  it digs deep inside your soul and tells you this is right.

b.