The End...But Not Really.

The 365th day of The Challenge has arrived. And I lived to tell the tale.

The total posts for the year ended up being 288 (including today's). That's far less than I thought it'd end up being, but that's okay. Within the words of this blogged year lie a plethora of quotes, memories big and small, emotions, thought processes, and realizations.

So much of what has molded me in the past 12 months is tucked into The Challenge. I'm so glad it coincided with one of the most epic years of my life. It was fascinating to skim back through and let the magnitude of everything wash over me.

This blog has helped me slow down to see truths, blessings, potential, and hope. It's pushed me to own up to my emotions -- raw, messy ones included. It's forced me to be more open and honest, particularly with myself. It's let me know that hey,

I mess up. get silly. get easily excited. love music and quotes maybe a little too much sometimes.

But I also get real.

grow. change. challenge. accept. learn. believe.

And I write.

The challenge may be over, but it doesn't stop now.

My current inspiration:

"If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it." [-Anais Nin]‎

Let's Pretend This is Wednesday's Post

Sometimes words aren't enough to calm the swirl of emotion and thought.

And sometimes the swirl moves so quickly that it cannot be caught.

In those times, that voice appears again, quietly calling:

"Be still awhile, and you'll stop that feeling of falling."

In that still time, look around you at the wonders there

At all of the joys that'll turn into memories to share.

Let them warm your heart, and let them drown out

All of those troubles that your mind used to shout.

Soon a smile will melt into your lips, boldly shining

And it will seem like simply perfect timing

To be reunited with this old friend once more.

And then you'll wonder, What else does this day have in store?

And off you'll go, happily on your way

To embrace the now-glorious day.

[goodness, i missed writing poetry.]

~"Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock'n'roll and drift away..." ["Drift Away" - Uncle Kracker]~

Timeless Truths

I've been studying Lord Byron for this unit of my class, and he's purely fascinating.

I love his writing -- so beautifully written, yet full of so many thought-provoking and deeply true sentiments. His characters in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Manfred are both on a search for comfort, for relief from their past. They've lost the women they loved, and they've lost the acceptance and joy they once knew.

And his life, wow. He became popular immediately after his first piece was released, and he was the first author to embrace fame like that. He was virtually the first-ever celebrity, complete with people following him around and everything. Rumors flew about him, and this led to his separation from his wife. He even had to flee the country to escape all of the negativity. He ended up settling in Greece and got caught up in their war for independence before he died.

Fascinating.

The thing I love most about reading classics like this is seeing the timeless truths of emotions and experiences. The ideas of losing love, seeking acceptance and joy again, and lesson-filled journeys still surround us today and even make up a bulk of our thoughts, stresses, and life in general. How awesome to be able to pick up a piece written nearly 200 years ago and find words that still speak for our hearts and minds today.

I leave you today with a stanza from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto 3.

Could I embody and unbosom now

That which is most within me, -- could I wreak

My thoughts upon expression, and thus throw

Soul, heart, mind, passions, feelings, strong or weak,

All that I would have sought, and all I seek,

Bear, know, feel, and yet breathe -- into one word,

And that one word were Lightning, I would speak;

(lines 905-911)