Awake

There is a girl in your class. She smiles and laughs and shrugs things off. She blends in and doesn’t tell you the meals she deprives herself of, the voices telling her she’ll never be enough. Show her she’s beautiful, crinkly eyes, dimply cheeks and all.

There is this elderly lady living down the street from you. She may be a tough old bird, but bring her something from your kitchen or conversation the next time you pass by in lieu of your perfunctory nod.

There is this young man sitting in an office cubicle, not far from yours. He puts in crazy hours at work, an adrenaline junkie afraid of the echoes waiting in an empty apartment. Sometimes the echoes are muted if you extend an “Are you alright?”.

Did you know that you have the power to reach into a person’s heart and touch a soul ?

If you should gift anything, choose the gift of touch.

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." ― Theodore Roosevelt

Just Another Mural, Photo Collaboration

- Inner Voice

You're Getting to be a Habit with Me

Things aren’t going to always be this way. Wherever you are right now, whatever it is that’s puzzling you right now isn’t a permanent thing unless you make it one. The question you need to ask is :

“ Are you going to stay or leave ? “

You hear the most profound truths in silences.

“And the blind man said to the deaf man, "Do you see what I hear ? " - Wayne Gerard Trotman

It's a Long Journey, Photo Collaboration : Scenes de Rue  

- Inner Voice 

Half of My Heart

The scent of powdery chalk and soft baby powder melding together on a slow Monday morning. He’s telling you about the wonders of the universe as he charts planets and suns and moons, but your mind is filled with thoughts of playtime and afternoon naps, and if there will be ice cream for dessert after dinner tonight. 

Sunscreen and salty sand. You close your eyes and let the sea breeze lull you to sleep as it kisses your sunkissed skin and gently ruffles your hair. The last thing you remember before falling asleep is the sea whispering its secrets in each rhythmic swoosh.  For a moment you’re in two worlds at once and it doesn’t really matter.

Mints and cookies with tea. Lazy afternoons where the hours seem to stretch long into the evening, oldies playing on the radio. A time when time itself was generous in its slow seconds.

Roast and hot chocolate chip cookies. Drawn towards the scent you find her at the stove, humming a melody to herself, she senses you and turns around “ How was your day sweetheart? “. Home, security and everything good.

Your yesterdays, todays and tomorrows are bound together by emotions and memories and scents. And scents.

“Smells, I think, may be the last thing on earth to die.” - Fern Schumer-Chapman

Photo Collaboration : Scenes de Rue 

- Inner Voice  

Waiting for My Rocket to Come

A recipe for life-lived to the hilt :

1 handful of sugary memories and generous givings

1 cup of tangy spontaneous decisions

2 full sprinklings of salty experience

Days of spicy adventure

These next ones aren’t nice but necessary for balance

1/2 sprinkle of sour loss and

1 dash of bitter determination for recovering from those losses

Mix in hearty proportions, sample, and add the ingredients as you go along to suit your palate. Don’t worry too much, when determining the recipe that works for you, mistakes are not only tolerated, but provide the base for the best learning curves. Life is a banquet of different tastes, and we’re all given plates to fill and savour. 

“I'm hungry for a juicy life. I lean out my window at night and I can taste it out there, just waiting for me.” - Brigid Lowry

 Burps and Thoughts, Photo Collaboration : Scenes de Rue 

- Inner Voice 

Home

Kitchens filled with love

And fields where imagination runs free

Windows that open up to the world

And doors that lead to security and shelter

Home is made up of these structures

Wings that let you fly

Arms to always catch you

Feet that run to your needs

And when you flutter and stumble, ears to listen patiently

Eyes that tell you they never judge

Home is the body made of these parts

They know what makes you tick

They understand your need to be silent when the world screams for attention

They embrace your quirks and will not trade your eccentricities for common

genes and DNA and blood

Instead, they know that it is laughter, tears, heartbreak and shared joy that bind

Home is the family made up of these people

At the end of the day comfort comes in the realization that wherever you may be now, wherever you may go

Every breathing second

The creeks, rivers and streams of your consciousness gravitate towards the wide open ocean that leads

Home

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” - George Augustus Moore

The One That Never Was, Photo Collaboration : Scenes de Rue

- Inner Voice