a name to a face.

"by radiating as much light as you can, hopefully, you do your bit to change the world... we're all in this place together. we gotta deal with it. we don't own this earth. can we learn to not live hating each other? if you can change your own little world in your head, then maybe you can change the world. that's really what it's about." - joan jett.


in the nights when my eyes refuse to shut -- when they are glued, super-glued, rubber-cemented apart, with all denial to the beauty of sleep -- i lay awake and my mind systematically approaches every speck of light, every breath, every word. on the first floor in the stairwell closest to the gym, when you're standing right in front of it, the light on the right side wall makes a "buzzing" sound, unmistakable in the moments between words. the long awkward silences that kill us slowly with each passing second and yet awaken us to our senses. this is probably why meditation is so prominent in religion -- fasting, praying, meditating constantly to better yourself in the moments that you allow yourself to be completely free of technology love sex money fame glamour grades drugs alcohol family friends relationships health issues food issues hunger disease poverty and whatever else there might be. those awkward silences are precious: they spell out everything we refuse to spell out for ourselves.

when did we become so wrapped up in all of this? we forget how amazing the feeling of the wind blowing against your cheeks, wiping your hair from your face is. we forget how beautiful each individual petal of a flower can be. when we refuse to see someone for who they are (insert joan jett's "androgynous" here), when we refuse to be tolerant to differences.


this will never end and i know this. but people watching can make you so aware to every flaw of our existence, with every footprint telling a story and every worn-down hand giving a name to a face.