let's NOT call the whole thing off

looking behind is default. it is instinct. because all the lines are filled in and all the colors are splattered and all the story lines are recorded and all the lessons have been learned. there's no mystery or intrigue or surprises.

it's familiar so it's easy to look at. whether your backward glances are filled with beauty or tragedy, it's always easy because it requires no imagination.

looking ahead, however, is all kinds of wonderful. it's yours for the seeing, and everyone who looks will see something different. it is the stuff of creativity - a blank page, an empty canvas, an unclimbed mountaintop, an unspoken word, an unshed tear.

it's life, waiting to happen. scary at times. but thrilling.

scary. thrilling.
tom-ay-to, tom-ah-to.

how you feel about looking ahead is simply a matter of perspective.
is it tom-ay-to or tom-ah-to?

well, that's up to you.

the play of hope demands a cast of fools

allowing yourself to hope also means allowing yourself to look foolish.

if you never hope, you have no need to fear. nothing changes. you're never caught off guard. no one can say, "i told ya so," whether or not they actually ever said that (don't you hate it when people do that?).

without hope, you are safe because life remains familiar. the terrain is never foreign. you can walk your day out, your life out, with your eyes closed and your hands tied behind your back.

but if you somehow find a way to open up your life to this thing called hope, that changes everything.

you have to be willing to anticipate something that may indeed never happen and take full responsibility for it. you have to be willing to hear the words, "i told ya so" dropping from the mouths of those you love most into ears which know very well they NEVER SAID THAT.

you have to be unsure and you have to be afraid.
you have to be willing to play the fool.

benefactor of evolution

i'm sure there are many ways to take inventory of the change in your life. but as someone who was very influential (or at least i think they were) once said: a picture is worth a thousand words.

sara: 18 years old














sara: 22 years old



















thank you, darwin.

life is meant to be lived (uhm. duh.)

most of my life hasn't been my life. it's been what he, she, you, them, it said my life was, but it wasn't ACTUALLY my life.

i'm looking to change that.

and what i'm looking into is bigger than i could have ever imagined.

life might possibly be the most intimidating thing i have ever taken on.