GABRIELA YARELIZ

Monday Inspiration: December 1, 2014

[Edited after spotting typos that gave me a mini heart attack]

By: Gabriela Yareliz

HAPPY MONDAY! HAPPY DECEMBER!

It’s the last month of 2014. Let’s make it special and different from the rest.

Life is exciting; like walking into Cracker Barrel exciting (don’t you just love the little shop part?). The days are crunched together: classes, work, finals, events, conferences, delegations, interviews, applications, anticipation– all this as we are surrounded by twinkling lights and chilly winds.

Before I saw the sunrise in a plane not too long ago, I was looking down in the darkness at the mazes and funny little designs of cities and lights down below. Glittering figure eights and twinkling snakes are what we live in. It was so beautiful; so small; and so bright.

It’s the beginning of a new week. Clean start. The future has no spots. This week’s theme for me is unwavering boldness. What would we do if we had no fear?

XoXo

“For the blessings received are proportionate to the faith exercised. ‘According to your faith be it unto you.'” Ellen G. White, Prayer, 51.2

“I am the sea and nobody owns me.” Pippi Longstocking

“I looked at everyone and wondered where they came from, and who they missed, and what they were sorry for.” Jonathan Safron Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

“Why do I write. Perhaps in order not to go mad. Or, on the contrary, to touch the bottom of madness.” Elie Wiesel

“You gave me forever within numbered days and for that I am grateful.” John Green

[Don’t you just want to go inside and see what secrets it holds?]

“Most people are so afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get it.”-A Tumblr Poet

“Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren’t. I’m not surprised some people prefer books.” Julian Barnes, Flaubert’s Parrot

“We get so worried about being pretty. Let’s be pretty kind. Pretty funny. Pretty smart. Pretty strong.” Britt Nicole

“It is part of God’s plan to grant us, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask.” Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, 525

[This little guy.]

Maybe the heart is longing for an overdue homecoming. Maybe soon, Paris whispers, maybe soon.

[Images from Tumblr]

This Month’s Picks: November 2014

By: Gabriela Yareliz

November, November, November. You have given me unexpected gifts, and for that I am grateful. I was pressing some little purple flowers in a book, and I thought, it’s funny how something so temporary, like a flower, can have its beauty preserved, even after it’s lifeless. I once had a discussion with a friend who said there was no point to flowers because they die. I have always seen their beauty as lasting. Life’s beautiful moments, while perhaps fleeting moments, are moments whose beauty feeds us for a lifetime. Life is about the things and people who, after the time of flourishing, freshness and splendor pass, will sit beside us, stay and hold our hand; it’s about those whose lasting beauty stays pressed on our hearts.

1] My feelings exactly (except for the “12 years old” part).

“The fact was, however, that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking things about grown up people and the world they belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long, long time.” Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

3] Look who won UMP presidency by a wide margin… this man…SARKO BE BACK.

4] I waited for this the ENTIRE season. *tears of joy*

“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

“Love is not love unless it costs you something, and grace is the love that costs everything.” J.S. Park

Manny-Khoshbin inspiration. There is just something awesome about flashy inspiration with cars that can race off into the sunset. Now that it’s exam time, it’s time to get pumped about the grind. Full speed ahead, baby.

10] T.B. LaBerge has interesting perspective. I guess we all fear that which can make us better and take us out of our comfort because growing is hard; growing is pain; but growing is growing, and with maturity comes wisdom.

“I fear the woman [man] who would make me a better man just as I fear the God who makes me a better human. It’s a good fear to have because it means that growth is coming; sometimes growth is hard, but good.” -T.B. LaBerge

11]

12] Oscar Wilde had such a way with words; a man who knew how to move his pen.

“I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul.” The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)

13] First star I see tonight…

/’Cause you’re a sky, ’cause you’re a sky full of stars
‘Cause you light up the path/

/’Cause you get lighter the more it gets dark
I’m gonna give you my heart/

/’Cause in a sky, ’cause in a sky full of stars
I think I see you/

/’Cause you’re a sky, you’re a sky full of stars
Such a heavenly view
You’re such a heavenly view/

Cold Play

14] He covered the midterm elections for the last time.

15] Michel…

Guy: Ok, so we’re still looking for a fairy.
Michel: The search continues.
Guy: No chance you’re going to help me.
Michel: None whatsoever.

16] I always thought Fergie was so hardcore…I did not know this about her. An amazing life, indeed.

17]

18] Lorelai’s thrill (the usual holiday season conversation)

19]

“They call us dreamers, but we’re the ones that do not sleep.”

20]

21] Anushka Sharma: Expressive and goofy for life. A girl after my own heart.

22] Let’s start December off with a BANG. Will you join me in a little dance? (You know you want to…)

23]

Give Thanks

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I just wanted to type out a short note of gratitude for all of the blessings that have filled my life as it has unfolded. I have been so blessed to live a life filled with so many blessings I didn’t even know to ask for and beautiful people.

I thank God for the life He has given me; for every dream come true and for my family, which has been my rock. When my world fell apart and nothing was left, God remained. His hand upheld me and my family, and He patiently took all of my broken pieces and bound them together again. I thank God for His patience and for His promises that do not fail.

Thank God for His proven, never-ending faithfulness. I am so blessed that my formal education will soon be ending, but the school of life is merely beginning.

I know a job awaits, people await, dreams await, a family awaits– so many good things to come; so many good things now. When we look to the past at all God has provided, we know He will continue to pour out His love, providence and mercy. While there is much unknown, God remains.

As life continues, I hope my life honors God in a way that shows my gratitude for all the ways in which He has honored me. Each day, I hope we can live with gratitude, and as Nelson Mandela said, may our actions reflect our hopes not our fears.

Scripture says, in all things give thanks. So today, with hands full, with hands empty, with whatever we have and without whatever we are waiting for or without what we have lost, we give thanks (knowing all things work together for good).

Wednesday Musings

By: Gabriela Yareliz

What is it with super-food juice pulp (like kale and blueberries) getting between your teeth and making you look like a lunatic?

Why do some dentist hygenists decide to be the most brutal, gladiator flossers on the planet? (Is there some kind of award for that?)

What would you think about all day if you were a little worm named George suspended by an invisible thread in a warm, moist wood of perfect green?

Is it possible to adopt a Southern accent when you are 1/3 into your life?

It must be a good day when you don’t even know the exact date, and you don’t even care?

Hmmm…

Everyday Miracles

By: Gabriela Yareliz

There are families that are separated through deportation, tragedies, need for survival, and unexpected events every day. No cell phones, no internet– and still, people manage to find each other.
They write letters in faith to places with addresses that consists of town rivers and the shack with the blue roof; they call the town public phone and neighbors… in crazy difficult situations, people still find each other, despite the obstacles.

Can you imagine that feeling when you get back in touch with a loved one after so long, when you aren’t first-world connected and wired, and after life seems to shuffle everyone around? It is basically nothing short of a miracle.

“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.”― C.S. Lewis

Opéra Garnier

JR for Madame Figaro with dancers atop the Opéra Garnier. His method is bold; his vision is magic.

Hopeless Wanderer: Tribeca/Hudson Edition

By: Gabriela Yareliz

South End (Lower Manhattan); Belongs to: Gabriela Yareliz

The Hudson; Belongs to: Gabriela Yareliz

Childs play; Belongs to: Gabriela Yareliz

Look up; Tribeca; Belongs to: Gabriela Yareliz

A Wednesday Unlike Any Other

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today was brutally FANTASTIC. It was a day where lawyering was done in an emotional and deep way. There is something just magical about spilling hope out with honesty. It falls silently and heavy. Today, I heard my voice loud and clear, and it was a gentle reminder that along this crazy journey of confusion, trial and error, hard work, tears, and hope–> I grew up. Someone today took me to the side and said, “See that? That is influence,” he shot me a mischievous grin with a wink, “use it, always use it.” It’s like he knows I will.

I survived weather that felt like 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 C for my many friends abroad), Amtrak, a bath of hot chocolate, a coat with soap foam, a pencil skirt that slightly ripped when I torpedoed myself into a van, a bat cave, a taxi driver who was probably legitimately insane, Penn Station, and running into a church member from Florida in a NYC public restroom. Now my room is 30 degrees, and I have a night of work ahead of me. My brain is flickering, so I thought I would get some inspiration, a water bottle and say some prayers. This eternal day is about to fade into the next.

“Life doesn’t always give you second chances, so take the first one.”

“Missing someone isn’t about how long it’s been since you have last seen them or the amount of time it has been since you last talked. It’s about that very moment when you are doing something and you wish that they were right there with you.”

“Call your mother. Tell her you love her. Remember you are the only one who knows what her heart sounds like from the inside.”

“So, do it. Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be? Can you be stronger? Kinder? More compassionate? Decide. Breathe in. Breathe out and decide.” Meredith Grey

“Airports see more sincere kisses than wedding halls. The walls of hospitals have heard more prayers than the walls of churches.” Unknown

[Images from Tumblr, typos by me;-)]