Last night you told me:Bishop wrote about inventing, 'once more, the reality of this world' come first of January. And that's how we are, really, swayed by the promise of a new year. We're creatures of hope. And we are creatures of invention.
tomorrow
we shall have to think up signs,
sketch a landscape, fabricate a plan
on the double page
of day and paper.
—Excerpt from January First by Elizabeth Bishop
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Mid-afternoon I had the singular pleasure of reading and drinking coffee. It all came together perfectly: the cool weather, the thrilling book, the hot brew, the silence. This was what everyone talks about when they talk about being away from it all, it all being the problems and worries one has to bear each day.
From my humble, unkempt room, I sincerely wish everyone I learned to love and be fond of, everyone that ever intrigued me, and everyone that helped alter my life in the littlest but entirely positive way, that they constantly retreat to that place where they can feel light and be away from it all.
Life may be a matter of perspective, but life can be blatantly ugly. In these instances, that we have the strength to endure until everything is better again.
*
If I may give a few tips (for what, I don't know— Maybe we could consider these as things I would've told my younger self):
- If you see something good in someone, tell them at once.
- Be yourself. No kidding. If you want that cliché rephrased: Accept you're awesome and the world just have to deal with it.
- It's harder to be kind. Bad girls aren't cool.
- You're only as smart as you're willing to learn.
- It's okay to be weak. Ask for help.
*
Happy New Year!
