thoughts of a wandering optimist

Having spent the better part of the last year exploring this big, beautiful world we live in, I've starting to think about things in a different way; I'll use this blog to sort through these thoughts, share some of my journey, and just post things that make me happy. :)

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them - words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller, but for want of an understanding ear.

The little things

It’s the little things that make you fall in love: the way the sun shines on the landscape, the color of the leaves as they fade from green to yellow to red; It’s the sounds you hear when you are walking down the street: your feet hitting the cobblestone, the sweet melody of people speaking in their native tongue; It’s the way you feel: a sense of freedom, peace, tranquility -as if you could conquer the world; It’s the way you learn to live that makes you fall in love somewhere… And it’s so easy to take this love for granted until it’s time to go.

Train Ride

As I was looking out the window, suddenly I felt an urgent need to see everything… I had to take it all in, just one last time, before bidding farewell. And so with my eyes I said a silent goodbye to Italy, with a desperate longing in my heart that we meet again someday. Though I knew that things could never again be as they were in that moment, we parted as good friends.

pavorst:

It is on nights like these that I sit in a cool, dark room and play back through all the mistakes I’ve made in my life. I rewind the tapes and weigh up whether I am really a good person, or pretending to be a good person.

(via pavorst-deactivated20120105)

It is essential to our well-being, and to our lives, that we play and enjoy life. Every single day do something that makes your heart sing.”
-Marcia Wieder

This semester I have been fortunate enough to be introduced a great running trail that winds through some beautiful Tuscan hills just outside of Arezzo’s city wall. And today during my morning run, I was reminded of why I enjoy it so much.. Why I peel myself out of bed and layer up to face the fresh, chilly wind when I could much more easily hit the snooze button and roll back over for another hour or two. It’s the feeling that once I get going, I don’t have to stop; that I can think about everything and nothing at the same time; that my body is strong and free and bursting with energy to be spent. There are few things that feel better to me than the sense of accomplishment I gain after fighting my way to the top of a particularly steep hill, even though I wanted to quit half way up. And then when it’s all said and done, and I am headed back home, I feel like there is really no other way I would rather start my day. For all of this, I am thankful to have my legs, my heart, and the sense to realize that even a short run is almost always better than an extra few minutes of shut eye in the mornings.

This semester I have been fortunate enough to be introduced a great running trail that winds through some beautiful Tuscan hills just outside of Arezzo’s city wall.

And today during my morning run, I was reminded of why I enjoy it so much.. Why I peel myself out of bed and layer up to face the fresh, chilly wind when I could much more easily hit the snooze button and roll back over for another hour or two. It’s the feeling that once I get going, I don’t have to stop; that I can think about everything and nothing at the same time; that my body is strong and free and bursting with energy to be spent. There are few things that feel better to me than the sense of accomplishment I gain after fighting my way to the top of a particularly steep hill, even though I wanted to quit half way up. And then when it’s all said and done, and I am headed back home, I feel like there is really no other way I would rather start my day. For all of this, I am thankful to have my legs, my heart, and the sense to realize that even a short run is almost always better than an extra few minutes of shut eye in the mornings.

NOW PLAYING: The birds they sang The break of day Start again I hear them say It’s so hard to just walk away The birds they sang All a choir Start again a little higher It’s a spark in a sea of grey The sky is blue Dreamed of light til it’s true Then taken back the pause shall through My arms turn wings Oh those clumsy things Send me up to that wonderful world And then I’m up with the birds Might have to go, where they don’t know my name float all over the world just to see her again and I won’t, show or fear any pain A simple thought But I know one thing Good things are coming our way A simple thought But I know one thing Good things are coming our way

NOW PLAYING:

The birds they sang
The break of day
Start again I hear them say
It’s so hard to just walk away
 
The birds they sang
All a choir
Start again a little higher
It’s a spark in a sea of grey

The sky is blue
Dreamed of light til it’s true
Then taken back the pause shall through
My arms turn wings
Oh those clumsy things
Send me up to that wonderful world
And then I’m up with the birds

Might have to go, where they don’t
know my name float all over the world
just to see her again
and I won’t, show or fear any pain

A simple thought
But I know one thing
Good things are coming our way

A simple thought
But I know one thing
Good things are coming our way

Just under three weeks left for me nella bella Toscana.. I’ll be incredibly sad to leave, but the anticipation of the holiday season has got me itching to jump in the car, hot cocoa in hand, and drive through the neighborhoods of beautiful Christmas lights that are waiting for me back home.

Just under three weeks left for me nella bella Toscana.. I’ll be incredibly sad to leave, but the anticipation of the holiday season has got me itching to jump in the car, hot cocoa in hand, and drive through the neighborhoods of beautiful Christmas lights that are waiting for me back home.