“Your beliefs don’t make you a better person, your behavior does.”
Suddenly, I See
“She’s got the power to be, the power to give, the power to see–Suddenly, I see this is what I want to be.”
[Images from Tumblr]
Falling
By: Gabriela Yareliz
I was walking through the village, and I saw a little brown leaf falling in front of me (I looked up and smiled). This year, I have promised myself that I will go to a park and enjoy the leaves when they are in all of their fall glory. My timing is always wrong. I go before the leaves turn or when the leaves are decomposing on the ground. This year, I plan to catch them before they fall. As someone who loves language, I have a weakness for idioms and random expressions. I love to learn about them. Idioms can be profound in many ways, and they can reveal a lot about history and human nature. This post is not a profound look at anything. Just a simple reflection.
I thought it would be fun to look at expressions that use “fall”. Some will be positive, some negative– some depend on how you look at them. Is falling always a bad thing? Not necessarily. In my opinion, some of our most powerful moments are when we fall to our knees to pray.
Stay with me here– I know this is random, but I have a proposition: Let’s fall into this together. Think about how each idiom relates to your life. And enjoy the splendor of the season.
Soundtrack for the post: Falling in Love
[Definitions from The Free Dictionary.com]
1] FALL HEAD OVER HEELS
“to fall down, perhaps turning over or rolling.”
In life, we can fall head over heels for a lot of things. The idiom can describe a scary crash into something (head first), or it can define a fast enamoring. It usually refers to some kind of whirlwind that we (may) come to regret later. I feel that in this day and age, we usually fall head over heels for things: dresses, shoes, makeup or something we want to attain.
This phrase is usually associated with the sentiment that we are completely lost and powerless, following our hearts, and not logic.
Throwing all caution to the wind is dangerous, yet even after many disappointments in life, we can’t make decisions based on fear. It is important to always remember that in life we have a choice, and we are responsible for our choices.
Sometimes, life’s magic happens fast, and we find ourselves on the ground head first with our heels over our heads. Falling head over heels is a risk, but a key characteristic about risk takers is they have HOPE.
2] FALL INTO PLACE
“if something that happens makes everything fall into place, it makes you understand something that you did not understand before.”
Things may not end up being perfect in life, however, through the passage of time, even if we do not understand everything in the end, we learn to understand things a bit more than we did when they occurred. That is called personal reflection, right? I think this can only happen when we stop for a minute and examine our lives; the past, the present, the future. If we are constantly preoccupied and busy, it’s hard to see how things fall into place if we never stop to look.
Life can be bumpy like a road; but through the rattles, shakes and bumps, things do fall into place, and we can be confident as we look at the present and future that things will fall into place just as they did in the past.
3] FALL INTO HANDS
“to be caught or controlled by someone.”
In life, we allow too many things to control us. People’s perceptions and opinions, technology, caffeine, drugs, the desire to belong, expectations…
Free yourself, if you wish.
4] FALL APART (AT THE SEAMS)
“to stop working or fail completely.”
Some of us do this everyday (especially those of us who are students or those who work in high-pressure jobs). Keep the seams tight, and don’t unravel. A bag that falls apart at the seams cannot carry or hold the good things placed within it.
5] FALL IN LOVE
“to become enamored of something or someone.”
Always be willing to love again. Four of the best elements of life (according to me) are: laughter, wonder, love and hope. Allow things to take your breath away.
6] FALL UNDER SPELL
“to be fascinated by someone; to be enchanted by someone.”
I associate enchantment with the desire to know more. Being curious makes you seek out simple enchanting details in life, like solving a mystery. Some of the most memorable people in life are those who inspire our curiosity; those who have that je ne sais quoi.
7] FALL ON KNEES
“to kneel down, usually in respect.”
As with idioms, things aren’t always what they seem. Often, we are most powerful when we are kneeing in prayer. Because when we are weak, He is strong.
When we fall on our knees, we must have faith and know that He is, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. We must also have faith that He is owner of all and can do all things, even what for us is impossible. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Faith will sometimes hold hands with patience. In that time of wait, we grow and demonstrate our belief in what is to come.
Faith is believing in what we do not see, and the reward of faith is seeing what we believed in. Faith is believing that God does not lie.
8] FALL OFF THE RADAR
“to be forgotten or ignored, often because someone’s attention is on something more important.”
Falling off the radar can be good for us. Attention is taken off of ourselves and placed on something or someone else. We can forget appearances and see ourselves as we really are, without the many hats we wear that try to define us. Being alone is important. Knowing who you are and being comfortable with yourself teaches you to depend on God in a different way. Don’t be afraid to disconnect once in a while (but always answer the phone when you mom calls–don’t make people worry).
9] FALL INTO LINE
“to do something similar.”
Each day, we seem to fall into line with all who surround us. Like the busy streets of a city show masses walking in the same direction. Falling into line can be good; falling into line can be bad. It can mean we have company as we walk, or it can sweep us away to some random place. Whatever we do, we must be mindful, and be very present wherever we are.
While each day may be entrenched with routine, we should still make every day count.
10] FALL ON DEAF EARS
“to be ignored by the persons they were intended for.“
When someone gives us advice or hope, let it not fall on deaf ears. Listen. Listening can change the world. Is there something or someone you’ve been ignoring lately?
[Images from Tumblr]
[Sorry for the typos–my brain is fried. I blame school.]
Headlights
“I have spent my entire life studying the human body, and I can say with scientific certainty that what keeps us alive, more important than blood or oxygen or even love–is hope.” Dr. Henry Morgan, Forever
[We shall keep rowing forward.]
By: Gabriela Yareliz
Have you found yourself dreading the upcoming week? I did. It’s only Sunday. I know. Bad. Let’s change that.
When you look into the week’s horizon, it’s blurred with deadlines, work, long sleep-deprived days and nights; so instead of looking into the distance in front of you, look at the clear present. I remember driving through country roads on foggy nights. Sometimes, my headlights couldn’t cut through the fog, but where the car was, in that moment, was not foggy. It might have been enveloped by fog, but it was also enveloped by the soft glow of light. The present; where we stand now. We need to embrace those things that keep us alive and happy. So turn your headlights on!
Here are some things to remember as you begin to work hard and prep for the new week.
1] Hope–let it fill every single one of your minutes. Hope is a powerful thing. I mean, they say that someone who goes into a medical procedure with the will to fight and live has a better outcome (usually) than someone who is resigned. Hope has power to change our realities.
Wake up with it. Go to bed with it. Cling to it, always.
2] Own what you are, even if you aren’t what your head says is ideal– is you hair in a weird awkward grow-out stage (Just me guys?)? Bad acne? As shallow as these things are, we all allow little things to affect our moods. Why do we often allow what is on the outside to determine how we feel on the inside? Shouldn’t we allow the outside to shine based on who we are on the inside?
You look marvelous, darling!
3] Thank God for everything– someday we may see why it all happened the way it did; and if we don’t, we can trust in Him knowing it was what was best. For our perspective is a drop in a sea of eternity.
I hope you navigate through a successful week. Drive carefully (wink).
[Images from Tumblr]
Candidly Nicole
[Images from Tumblr]
How to Deal
By: Gabriela Yareliz
I remember one particular afternoon, where I was sitting in my high school adviser’s office. My high school adviser was and is a friend; someone I would talk to about concerns and life in general– not just school stuff. I was sitting back in a chair chewing on a candy from his glass jar and complaining about what we were working on in English.
“It’s poetry. I don’t know much about these British poets, and I have to write a poem. I don’t even know what I am doing,” I whined.
He turned from his computer, I see it now in my head, and he looked pensive.
“That is great,” he said at first. “I am sure you will write something interesting.”
I made a face.
“You can’t be good at everything you know. This is new. You are learning. It will be fine,” he said to me.
Those words have always stayed with me.
In the end, I fell in love with the poetry unit. However, there are many things in life I have faced that are new that I did not become great at.
After that moment, I know that one of the things that most makes me uncomfortable is getting slapped in life with something I don’t know how to do. It’s easy to be comfortable and good at something you know a lot about. When it’s something brand new, it’s a challenge.
Beginnings are difficult. Always. As much as I abhor being clueless–in my field, there is a lot of being clueless and learning involved. I face the unknown, every day. It’s impossible for someone to have all the laws and possibilities stuffed in his or her sleep-deprived, tingly brain. I suppose law school has taught me a lot of humility– or humiliation. Depends on how you look at it.
A new semester has begun. I don’t know how many of you started a new semester or employment at a new place. I guess this applies to new jobs, moving to a new place, new circumstances, divorce, death, meeting new people and anything that takes you out of your comfort zone or known world.
Learning and growing can be embarrassing, awkward and painful. I sound like one of those Welcome to Puberty pamphlets they give you in jr. high health class with a stick of deodorant that will probably give you a rash you’ll never forget.This new semester has been tough on me. I claim no expertise. But as I live a little, I learn a little. Usually, I learn the most about myself.
Some things I have tried to learn is as painful as beginnings are, they pass. Things get better, you learn, and you also become more patient with yourself. You may never get to a state where you feel you have a handle on everything, but you learn to deal.
When I was in jr. high and dealing with my family suddenly breaking and my “perfect” world was shattering, two of my favorite books were Someone Like You and That Summer by Sarah Dessen, and the movie based on the books called How to Deal, starring Mandy Moore.
The movie begins saying: “Sometimes life is so perfect. Isn’t it? It has to be, to make up for all the hard stuff it throws your way. You have to learn to walk; you have to learn to talk; you have to wear that totally ridiculous hat your grandma bought you. You have no say in the matter. And when you are a little older, even though you get to choose your hats, you don’t get to choose what they put in those meatballs at the cafeteria, or when to fall in love. Things happen, and you just have to deal.” -Halley Martin
When you are faced with work and tasks that are new, frustrating and unknown… keep these things in mind:
1] Prayer Is The Most Potent Instrument
Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.-Gandhi
Prayer can get you through anything. Again, life and situations take patience, but wisdom and peace can be acquired in the process through prayer. Prayer changes things. Prayer answers things. Prayer changes us.
2] Do Something you Love
Going through initial struggles of learning and trial and error are easier when you are driven by something you are passionate about.
3] Do Something For Another Person
All is worth it when you can make someone else’s life better.
4] Choose Joy
It won’t always be easy. Sometimes the struggle is really real. And even still, we have to decide to be happy. No matter how many trials, how much embarrassment or how much pain our personal growth brings, find joy in small and big things.
5] Do Good
6] See Possibilities and Have Hope, Despite of What You See
Instead of looking at what is in front of you, look up.
7] Make Learning an Adventure
8] Decide What Kind of a Person You Will Be
9] Look Good and Make Time For Breaks
10] Always Look Again
11] Know What You Are Building
12] Be Conscious of How You Feel
Life can be surprising and unexpected. No matter what it throws at us, there are small miracles twinkling around us waiting to be noticed. We can’t let life just happen to us. Instead, we need to decide and learn how we are going to deal.
[Images from Tumblr]
Today’s Dose of Inspiration: Sept. 3, 2014
By: Gabriela Yareliz
Woke up at the crack of dawn;
I had to drink three cups of water to get one horse-pill multi-vitamin down;
today will be a long day filled with classes–
the struggle is real.
After waking up early and getting some stuff done, I thought, I can go to bed and sleep for ten minutes. Yeah, right. First of all, I did not even have ten minutes to sleep because ten minutes becomes 30 minutes with me.
I still ignored the fact that there was no time, and I started to set my radio alarm clock. When I did that, one of my favorite songs was on. God works in mysterious ways. I waltzed around my room a couple times, and the nap faded into the forgotten. And so, this is how my day began. I woke up, read my Bible, did classwork and stayed on a roll. Today, I will stay awake until night (as any normal person would; I don’t consider law students normal. I consider them extra-exhausted.), and I will live this day, straight through, from dawn to dark.
Still, life is filled with many blessings. Despite the work and exhaustion, there are great rewards looming in the future and great rewards each day. They say that gratefulness turns what we have into enough. So on days when the struggle is real, it’s time to bust out some inspiration. It’s a different type of daily vitamin. One that is easier to swallow.
[In between childhood and old age, there is a marvelous instant called life. It’s up to us to enjoy it.]
[Images from Tumblr]
This song reminds me of William Wilberforce’s friendship with John Newton, and how they would always encourage each other by talking about God’s grace. Wilberforce is one of my biggest inspirations, and this song always touches my heart.
Boy Meets World: Always There
This Month’s Picks: August 2014
By: Gabriela Yareliz
This month took forever. I have been drafting this post for so long, I was surprised to see some of my “picks” (it feels like I found them ages ago). August is one of those get-up-to-speed months. A month of warmth and cooling temperatures. One of the last green months. A month of deadlines. A month filled with back-to-(elementary)school nostalgia. A month filled with paradoxes.
Here is some insight as to what graduating students have been thinking about this month:
a) Moving.
As we fill out job applications, we can’t help but think of those decisions that will be changing our lives. For those of us who have moved a lot, there are always some moves in our memory that make our world stop; moves that changed our lives.
b) We are channeling the 90s.
I’d say the 90s were the golden age–especially of television. Some of the best, good, clean, comedies came out and played through the 90s. Suddenly, some TV shows are coming back in different forms, spinoffs and imitations. TV is trying to find its way back to the years that saw its biggest success.
Rumor has it Full House is coming back. I hope that includes Uncle Jesse.
Boy Meets World came back as Girl Meets World. Cory and Topanga have kids!
The Cosby Show is the said inspiration for this fall’s new ABC comedy: Blackish
Home Improvement seems to have been the inspiration for Last Man Standing, where Tim Allen has a house full of girls instead of boys. Jonathan Taylor Thomas made a guest appearance. He is still gorgeous as ever.
c) Staying healthy.
Maybe it’s a generational thing or just a sign of the times, but I think as more technology, education, money and work consumes us, we sleep less and take less care of our bodies. Rest is so essential.
So, it has been a long but great month. Let the inspiration and recap begin.
“I can’t give you an address to reply to this, for I don’t know personally where I may find myself dragged next, or by what routes, on the way to where, or why, or how!” Arthur Rimbaud, Letter from Aden, 5 May 1884
1]
“I’m a bumper car. You hit the wall, you just turn around and take a different road. You just have to press the gas when you believe in something and go.” Essie Weingarten
2] From L’Oreal’s #whatinspiresyou
3] The Man Repeller Blog always has some funny posts:
This one is just as funny and real as the rest.
4]
5] Condolences to the family of Robin Williams.
This opinion piece about reporting the truth in journalism (regarding the death of the comedian) caught my eye.
Click here to read.
6]
Fatima, the 11-month-old child who stole the hearts of Spaniards and is the new symbol of immigration. She was found on a boat alone; her parents are in Morocco. The International Red Cross has been taking care of her.
7] Tim Taylor and Wilson’s conversations make me smile. Forever a 90s Michigan child.
8]
When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a very small package.” – John Ruskin, English artist and art critic
9]
Kourtney Kardashian shares a bit of her “green” life.
10] Words from Josie Maran, The Argan Oil Queen
Josie Maran told Into The Gloss: “I can tell the difference when I walk through the world with no makeup on and when I walk through with high heels and fully done face. The attention is different. When you’re done up, people start talking to you and pointing you out. But without it all, you can be just as confident and naturally pretty—people will notice you, but they won’t say anything about it.”
11] Mimi Ikonn–Change your look, Change your life
12] Song of the month:
Philip Phillips: “Unpack Your Heart”
13]
Francois Hollande did WHAT? Yes, he dissolved the French government.
For more about how the entire government resigned, click here.
14] Ariadne Artiles’ eyebrows
15]
A View From Wherever You Are
By: Gabriela Yareliz
Today, I walked out of my building feeling a light 68-degree breeze. Marvelous. It was one of those wind-blowing-through-your-hair days. Restaurants had the outdoor seating ready for sunshine and bonheur.
On my stroll, I saw a woman tangled and fighting with her Dalmatian and Yorkie’s leashes; two male servers in an empty restaurant glued to a television’s crying guest on a dramatic talk show; students dressed to the nines deciding what overpriced drink to purchase while flicking their cigarettes– all this happening many blocks away from the law school (this means I escaped) and its fluorescent chilly rooms, filled with the sound of highlighters swiping, weak typing and spoons scraping yogurt cups.
Today, New York was alive. It wasn’t just alive, but it was happy.
This morning, I found a blessing in being reminded to keep perspective. Perspective is something we can easily lose. From my many walks and explorations at different heights, levels and angles– I am encouraged to remember that perspective can often make you see something ordinary as beautiful.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 