an italian summer assignment

Smmer is a magical time, which is where the inspiration came from for this beautiful summer assignment Cesare Catà of Don Bosco High School in Fermo, Italy, gave to his students. I think my favorite bit of advice was to "Read because it's the best form of rebellion you have." When I was younger, I saw reading as a chore. If only I knew then what I know now...

1. Sometimes, in the morning, go take a walk along the seashore completely alone: look at the way sunlight is reflected on the water and think about the things you love the most in your life; be happy.

2. Try to use some of the new words we learned together this year: the more things you manage to say, the more things you’ll manage to think; and the more things you think, the freer you’ll be.

3. Read as much as you possibly can. But not because you have to. Read because summers inspire adventures and dreams, and when you read you’ll feel like swallows in flight. Read because it’s the best form of rebellion you have (for advice on what to read, come see me).

4. Avoid things, situations and people who make you feel negative or empty: seek out stimulating situations and the companionship of friends who enrich you, who understand you and appreciate you for who you are.

5. If you feel sad or afraid, don’t worry: summer, like every marvelous thing in life, can throw the soul into confusion. Try keeping a diary as a way to talk about how you feel (in September, if you’d like, we’ll read it together).

6. Dance, shamelessly. On a dance floor near your house, or alone in your room. Summer is dance, and it’s foolish not to take part.

7. At least once, watch the sunrise. Stay silent and breathe. Close your eyes, be thankful.

8. Play a lot of sports.

9. If you meet someone you find enchanting, tell him or her as sincerely and gracefully as you can. It doesn’t matter if she or he doesn’t understand. If they don’t, she or he wasn’t meant to be; otherwise, summer 2015 will be a golden time together (if this doesn’t work out, go back to point number 8).

10. Review your notes from our class: Compare the things we read and learned to the things that happen to you.

11. Be as happy as sunlight, as untamable as the sea.

12. Don’t swear. Always be well-mannered and kind.

13. Watch films with heartbreaking dialogue (in English if you can), in order to improve your language skills and your ability to dream. Don’t let the movie end with the final credits: live it again while you’re living and experiencing your summer.

14. In sparkling sunlight or hot summer nights, dream about how your life could and should be. During the summer, always do everything you can to avoid giving up, and everything you can to pursue your dream.

15. Be good.

Click here to read the full article from Huffington Post.

PS you'll find his suggestions on new words and summer movies!

A year goes by...

It's been over a year since I last posted. This is a good quote to remind you to to break out of your habitual tendencies and "don't go back to sleep."



The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the door sill
Where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.

Rumi

An Artists Life..

Ballet Skirt or Electric Light
via The Art Institute of Chicago

"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life

and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do." 

-Georgia O’Keeffe

Garden at Sainte-Adresse
via National Gallery of Australia 

"Everyday I discover more and more beautiful things. 

It’s enough to drive one mad. 

I have such desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it."

-Claude Monet

Futures

Forbes Thought of the Day:

“ There is no future in any job. The future lies in the man who holds the job. ” -George Crane

Love the Questions

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

-Rainer Maria Wilke

Appearance

Always be more than you appear, and never appear to be more than you are. 

definition of you.

"two things define you. your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything."

the act of creating

Nobody will stop you from creating. Do it tonight. Do it tomorrow. That is the way to make your soul grow - whether there is a market for it or not! The kick of creation is the act of creating, not anything that happens afterward. I would tell all of you watching this screen: Before you go to bed, write a four line poem. Make it as good as you can. Don’t show it to anybody. Put it where nobody will find it. And you will discover that you have your reward.

-Kurt Vonnegut 

so serious

 I’m not fascinated by people who smile all the time. What I find interesting is the way people look when they are lost in thought, when their face becomes angry or serious, when they bite their lip, the way they glance, the way they look down when they walk, when they are alone and smoking a cigarette, when they smirk, the way they half smile, the way they try and hold back tears, the way when their face says they want to say something but can’t, the way they look at someone they want or love… I love the way people look when they do these things. It’s… beautiful.



- Clemence Poesy



Bloglovin'

With Google Reader saying goodbye, it was time to find another way to keep up with my daily dose of inspiration. Turns out bloglovin' in 100x better! What was I thinking all these years??

 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

look inside

Song For You - Alexi Murdoch

So today I wrote a song for you
Cause a day can get so long
And I know its hard to make it through
When you say theres something wrong

So Im trying to put it right
Cause I want to love you with my heart
All this trying has made me tight
And I dont know even where to start

Maybe thats a start

Cause you know its a simple game
That you play filling up your head with rain
And you know you are hiding from your pain
In the way, in the way you say your name

And I see you
Hiding your face in your hands
Flying so you wont land
You think no one understands
No one understands

So you hunch your shoulders and you shake your head
And your throat is aching but you swear
No one hurts you, nothing could be sad
Anyway youre not here enough to care

And youre so tired you dont sleep at night
As your heart is trying to mend
You keep it quiet but you think you might
Disappear before the end

And its strange that you cannot find
Any strength to even try
To find a voice to speak your mind
When you do, all you wanna do is cry

Well maybe you should cry

And I see you hiding your face in your hands
Talking bout far-away lands
You think no one understands
Listen to my hands

And all of this life
Moves around you
For all that you claim
Youre standing still
You are moving too
You are moving too
You are moving too
I will move you

dear self

Is self awareness the key to success?

Interestingly enough, an article in the New York Times suggests that self awareness is the key to success the same week I begin reading What Color is Your Parachute?

Check it out here.

how to find hope

Whether you're on the job/career hunt or not, I found that the advice given in Chapter 1: How To Find Hope of What Color is Your Parachute? is useful for anyone. 

There are times in life where we might be feeling beaten down and wonder, "Where do I go from here?" During this time one of the most important things you can do is NOT lose hope. It might sound easier said then done, but taking into consideration Dick Bolles Four Keys to Finding Hope might get you thinking differently. Take a look below.

First Key to Finding Hope

Hope depends upon taking care that we have at least two alternatives in every situation we find ourselves, and with every task confronting us. For example, not just having one way to hunt for a job, but two ways, at least. 

The Second Key to Finding Hope

In any situation, no  matter how much we may feel we are at the mercy of the vast forces out there, that are totally beyond our control, we can always find something that is within our control, however small, and work on that. It may only be 2 to 5 percent, but find it! For example, getting more sleep. 

The Third Key to Finding Hope

Assume that nothing that happens to us is just senseless and meaningless, including being out of work for a long time. In the context of our total life, it will eventually turn out to have meaning. 

The Fourth Key to Finding Hope

Pay no attention to statistics if they discourage you. If you do pay attention, be mindful of which you're considering. 

These four keys struck home to me and instantly brightened up my mood last evening. Hopefully you too can see the importance in hope and incorporate it into your job hunt or even just daily life. 

*some of these ideas are taken directly from Chapter 1: How to Find Hope in What Color is Your Parachute? I do not claim them as my own but as the ideas of Richard Bolles*