What I wake up to every morning

"It is a good thing for an educated man to read books of quotations."

Winston Churchill

I really like quotes. Whenever I'm anxious, or upset, or feeling anything very strongly at all, I look for quotes that express whatever state it is I'm in. Sure, I could say it myself but sometimes there's this odd kind of comfort found in feeling a kindred spirit with the author of the phrase that  catches my interest. Whatever the emotion is, hearing the echos of another's similar experience through written word validates it for me. It reminds me- as I think we so often need reminding- that I am not a special case, I am not alone in my feelings, and am not the first or the last to experience the things I am going through. Plus, if it's already been said so well, why go reinventing the wheel? Don't fix what's not broken and all that. 

So a few months back I made a kind of shrine to quotes in my room. I was going through a rough period at the time: I'd just moved from my hometown to a brand new state, started three new jobs all at the same time, was living with two people I met off craigslist (and it's just as weird and uncomfortable as people say it is to live with total strangers), was wrapping up my first real break-up; and was struggling with finding new friends, difficult coworkers, and generally understanding what I was doing and just how to do it with a smile. Pretty pathetic right?

Well the real moment came when I realized exactly that- this is pathetic! My approach, I mean. I was wallowing, and wallowing is, for lack of a better phrase, not cute. I was going home every night miserable, lonely, and wishing I was somewhere else with someone else doing anything else.  And more than any of the unpleasant factors that might cause unhappiness- my crappy coworkers, my distance from my old friends, my strange living situation- I was the main reason I was unhappy. Buddha said, "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." (told you I like quotes!). I realized that I could change everything I hated about my life and I'd still be miserable. Clearly what I needed was a strong dose of perspective and positive thought. 

So, naturally, I turned to the words of my predecessors. And my love of crafts. 

It's slightly ghetto- I plan on replacing the paperclips holding the papers to the thread with clothespins in the future. But it's been effective. I filled it with thoughts that I found important to remember, feelings that are beautiful, and ideas that are inspiring. This will come with me when I go to my next destination, and I plan to expand it. It's helped me hold on to my perspective when wading through a stream of unpleasantness. Plus it's cute to look at. 

"In the midst of winter I discovered within me an invincible summer."

I just feel that sometimes we need a reminder that it's going to be okay, as long as we choose to allow it to be. 

xoxo