sometimes I don't realize that I'm talking to myself.

I think we all possess, aware of it or not, an instinctive desire to create. And not necessarily to create for creation’s sake, but as a way to discover who we are. When we create -- be it paintings, poems, buildings, bread, metaphysical theories, or music -- each stroke of our pencil (or what have you) is actually an enchanting attempt to transform fleeting glimpses of the subconscious into tangible things that we can see or hold and say, “This is a part of who I am; this is me!”

When we stifle this need, we are depriving ourselves of… well, ourselves. We can’t cling on to that old excuse; “I won’t be any good at it, so I might as well not even try.” If you feel you must create, then you must create. You must create without the uninspired eyes of a critic and instead with the hungry binoculars of an explorer.

Probe the vast oceans of your soul and search for those answers that belong to questions you never knew existed. Toss aside the preoccupation with perfection and just dive into it with the spirit of a toddler leaping into a McDonald's ball pit. In the end, it’s not about the creation, but the creating.


peace.
-lise.

a train of thought that ran off the rails.

Humans have eyes that see the world. They can see colors, shapes, and textures. Other animals also have eyes that see the world. And they can also see colors, shapes, and textures; but not in the same way that humans see them. Dogs, dolphins, doves; each have their own unique vision.

The tiny fraction of the light spectrum that can be seen by human eyes is labeled the "visible spectrum". But many animals cannot see all of the wavelengths of light in the visible spectrum, and many more can see outside of the spectrum visible to us.

So who is to say that a human's vision is the "correct" one? Simply put, there are many ways to see the world. None of them are right. None of them are wrong. They are just different. The world cannot be viewed upon without biased eyes.

Oftentimes, we find our own way of seeing the world so astoundingly beautiful that we yearn to show others this beauty; yearn to have them see the same world that we do.

But we forget that this usually cannot work; not because the person is unwilling to view the certain beauty, but because the person is unable to view it. They do not possess eyes with the same sight bias. They possess their own bias. And neither sight is wrong. But neither sight can see the Truth.

Opening your mind is the best way to open your eyes. I have to remind myself occasionally to acknowledge my own sight bias, but I never forget to appreciate the beauty that can be seen within my own "visible spectrum".

So then, what would the world look like if it were possible to view the Truth? Well, I suppose that remains to be seen. [Pun intended.]

peace.
-lise.

novocain stain.

last night i was lying stiffly on my top bunk, staring at the dusty beige ceiling above, imploring [in vain] for sleep to come to me. as my mind wandered away to other midnight musings, my eyes could not help but fixate on the small, sideways scribble "I ♥ U". some previous bunk-dweller must have engraved it with a pencil - who knows how long ago.

because it was in pencil, i suppose i could have erased it if i had wanted, if it had bothered me enough. but the fact would remain that - even if it erased perfectly, without a trace of ever having been there - it was, at one point in time, there. it existed.

which led me to wonder: when we love someone, really love them, is it possible for this emotion to ever leave us? or does it leave an invisible stain eternally upon the heart? maybe this stain can almost numb the heart - a novocain stain. a numbness that can protect the heart from caring about any of the annoying little quirks that we start to notice after a while.

reflecting on the subject of love after valentine's day is a bit sad, to be honest. but those three tiny penciled symbols imparted on me a hopeful possibility: in this life filled with whirlwinds of change, perhaps true love - whether found in family, friend, or spouse - is the one constant on which we can depend.

peace.
-lise.