small life lessons

1. Walk in drizzling rain sometimes.  It can be refreshing.
2. Take something annoying and turn it into something positive by a change of perspective.  (This is a generic derivation of #1.)
3. Stop to look at the kittens in the window.  A dose of real-life (i.e. non-Internet) cuteness can be nothing but healthy.
4. Help a stranger.  Tonight I helped the guy sitting next to me on the bus with his new smartphone, and he returned the favor by helping me get my jacket on at the end of the ride.  I also helped a fellow pedestrian with directions as I was walking home.  These are small things but they felt good.
5. Cry when you need to.
6. Hold hands -- it's so simple, but so affirming.
7. Dance.  Take the emotion that music gives you and let it out kinetically, physically.
8. Communicate.  It builds relationships.
9. There's nothing like a good hug.

musings on being "in love"

1. All the relationship-related joy, pain, and desires poured out in 97% of songs in existence -- are these really how people feel?  To take over our thoughts that widely and to encompass that much intensity, being in love must really be one of the strongest human emotions.  I guess I just haven't been there yet.
2. Is being in love somehow different than loving someone?  I can without hesitation say "I love you" to close friends and family, yet the idea of saying it with the intended meaning of "I'm in love with you" seems incredibly more daunting, weighty, significant, serious.  Yet I imagine that there is a lot of overlap: joy in being in the other's presence, ease of conversation, mutual care, ...
3. How do you know that you're in love?  One friend laughed when I posed this question and responded that if you have any question in your mind, then the answer is that you're not.  I am indecisive about many elements of life, from those that don't really matter to the major turning points.  Do I need to cut back on the analysis here and revert to a simpler level, tuning in to my natural feelings, to understand where I am?

collections

When I was younger I used to collect...

1) Keychains
I'm not sure if I ever thought they would have practical use, since I don't think I possessed any keys at the time. Nonetheless they were my go-to souvenir for family vacations big and small, as well as photos taken on roller coasters during Music in the Parks band trips.

2) Postage stamps
In this case, the collection was started for me by a great-aunt. And so for awhile I carefully cut out any interesting stamps from the corners of envelopes, watching the stamp price rise over a few years. (What are they up to now? I haven't mailed anything in quite awhile.) Anyhow, I carefully categorized the stamps and placed them into a large album...which must be around somewhere now...

3) Toothbrushes
I do not recall what inspired me to save each toothbrush when I was done with it instead of throwing it out. Perhaps I had gotten a bit attached after all those months - and some of them had cool designs (leopard print, anyone?). Either way, they accumulated in a drawer until, I believe, I was packing to move out of home after college. Yes, I did throw them out, but not without getting a good laugh and a photo of them first.

Nice things today

Since I am utterly failing at writing anything here as often as I wish to, I came up with a new plan the other day: short posts centered on lists of 3 (items, thoughts, experiences, whatever).

This is the first one; referring to last night.

1. Getting a nice, long, very comfortable parting hug at the end of PhB (with Chris). Felt appreciation and affection in it.
2. As always, I stopped to see the current kittens in the window of the pet shop right next to my building's door. There was one beautiful gray and white striped one. It saw me and we had a long moment of eye contact. I seriously wanted to take it home and love it forever. (I don't even like referring to it as "it" but don't know if it's he or she.)
3. Made a new Pandora station inspired by a friend's playlist from a couple years ago (Eric). It was nice to think of him. It's also incredibly refreshing to just listen to music - not to build a genre playlist or judge songs ten times over for danceability.