[ thoughts in the wee morn ]

   "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." -- Brian Littrell

   Dreams.

   They're such fragile creations. Creations of imagination, of the intangible desires in your heart.

   I believe that God not only instills these dreams in us, but He also helps us achieve them. I believe that we should run after them with all our determination, with the faith that if it's meant to be, it'll happen.

   I believe that without dreams, our lives are mundane. We have nothing to strive for, to push for, to work towards otherwise. What's the point then?

   I've always loved the quote above. It has a bit of a fairytale ring to it, I think. But lately, it's taken on a new meaning. If you dream ridiculous, impossible dreams, and run after them with all your heart, and don't quite achieve them -- you'll still achieve more than you would if your dreams were smaller, more logically attainable. It puts it in a different perspective, doesn't it?

   People are ridiculed for having strange, outlandish dreams. What's worse is that people take those ridicules to heart and let it tear their dreams down.

   So what's worse then: having a crazy dream, throwing caution to the wind and running after it -- or sitting on your butt, considering "normal" things to do with your life while it passes you by?

   Well. I already know the answer to that. And lordy, I sure hope you do too.

   I want to be one of those awesome old people that can look back on their life and not be able to remember anything passing me by or having regrets. [And I'm not talking about bad memory. Come on now.] I want to be proud of the things I tried. The people I met. The things I've seen.

   "Life is not a dress rehearsal." -- Rose Tremain

   So get on with it.

[ inspiration ]

    There have been meetings of only a moment, which have left impressions for life, for eternity. No one can understand that mysterious thing we call influence, yet every one of us continually exerts influence, either to heal, to bless, to leave marks of beauty; or to wound, to hurt, to poison, to stain other lives.

– J. R. Miller



Welcome to a new desire in my life : to be one of these people.

[ community ]

   We parked our bikes across the street and turned around, ready to eat. Nico stepped from the doorway with his wrinkling ear-to-ear smile and greeted us with the welcoming hug and kiss. Stepping into the restaurant, I felt the usual rush of nostalgia. “Restaurant Da Nico” is a place I’ve been several times, most often in stories and imagination, but also in person. It’s the best pizza place on this planet, hands down. My mom worked with him at a different restaurant before he opened his own. She would tell me stories of how she started working there, and what an experience it was for her to be around such a different culture – especially when it came to conflict.

   Nico is a bona fide Italian, as are the other workers. I love hearing the romantic language [yes, Italian is truly a romantic language] being thrown around, mixed with the Danish and occasional German words in the air. I guess you could say he’s one of those that have a special place in my heart, someone I would call an uncle.

   The thing that I have always loved most about the place is the immediate feeling of a loving community when I step into the place. Sure, I have a bit of a bias because I know and love Nico and vice versa, but it goes beyond that. It’s incredible to me how mere atmosphere can make an individual automatically feel a part of something. A community.