Go After What You Love

Read this quote today, and just loved it!
((Sorry about some of the language...))

"Go after her. F**k, don’t sit there and wait for her to call, go after her because that’s what you should do if you love someone, don’t wait for them to give you a sign cause it might never come, don’t let people happen to you, don’t let me happen to you, or her, she’s not a f**king television show or tornado. There are people I might have loved had they gotten on the airplane or run down the street after me or called me up drunk at four in the morning because they need to tell me right now and because they cannot regret this and I always thought I’d be the only one doing crazy things for people who would never give enough of a f**k to do it back or to act like idiots or be entirely vulnerable and honest and making someone fall in love with you is easy and flying 3000 miles on four days notice because you can’t just sit there and do nothing and breathe into telephones is not everyone’s idea of love but it is the way I can recognize it because that is what I do. Go scream it and be with her in meaningful ways because that is beautiful and that is generous and that is what loving someone is, that is raw and that is unguarded, and that is all that is worth anything, really."
-- Harvey Milk

St. Louis Arch -- 2013

Hometown Memories

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, 

places to play in and pray in, 

where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul" 

-- John Muir

I love being outside.

Walking, hiking, swimming, sitting, (lying down) 

-- really, doesn't matter

It is the fastest (and easiest) way to make me laugh, to rid me of fears and insecurities...

How can you be scared or worried when you look up at everything that surrounds you and are reminded that there is so much more to life than your own little world?

When in nature it's hard to not feel God beside you, within you

These are some pictures from my home -- Bay Area, CA

Been feeling a little home sick lately

Needed an excuse to come home for a little, even if only through pictures

Hope you enjoy :)

Rolling hills, deep valleys, and the tallest of grasses (perfect for hiding)

Outstretched vineyards in Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley

And with the best vineyards comes the best wines (and wine tasting!)

Coastal Redwood Forests -- the best trees to hug

Giants games complete with hot dogs, garlic fries, and ice cold beer

And the Golden Gate, majestic archway high above the ocean

The Beginning

I decided to start this blog today, at this very hour, sitting in this coffee shop at this specific table, drinking my over-sized iced green tea, 

because I am confused. 

I am lost right now.

Really lost right now.

Ideas and dreams tumbling around in my head with no outlet. Auto-wash mode.

And I need to let them out.

Desperately. Or I think I may just go crazy.

I graduate from college in 26 days.

May 18, 2013.

Graduating after an entire life knowing the next step, trusting my next move.

And now here I am,

Learning how to walk on my own again.

It's crazy to me how scary that first step can be. The letting go of old friends and old realities. Jumping into a new city knowing no one, 

trying to find any source of income (a JOB), 

carving out a life for myself that I am PROUD of, EXCITED about, PASSIONATE for.

Creating a world that I can go to bed each night loving, so excited for what is to come the next day.

At the start of this final school year in August I wrote a letter to myself that I want to share with you:

"This is dedicated to a life of excitement and adventure, embracing vitality and breathless moments and the feeling of invincibility you get when skinny-dipping in the ocean as the sun creeps up onto the horizon. This is dedicated to those unable to run and dance, those enslaved by perceptions of unworthiness and self-doubt. Raise your glass to fear and excitement, tears and joy gurgles, breaking borders and forging new paths. Let’s bring back the legacy of Louis and Clark and set out on our life journeys with open eyes and emblazoned walking sticks. Let’s not run from our fears, let’s meet them head on and carve out our own destinies from this thing called life. I want to sweat and scream and find energy from anticipation of the future. We live the life we expect, and I expect the best. What if each of us promised to meet each day with the same naked ambition of our youth when there was no such thing as impossible?"

I needed to remember that.

Sometimes (far too easily) I find myself paralyzed by fear.

Unable to act because I am so scared that I will choose the wrong path.

I want this blog to be a place where I can remind myself to live to the fullest, to engage with others who are struggling to continue discovering their own paths, to help each other make the most of our short time on this beautiful Earth.

I'm ready to begin!