All posts tagged: faith

The Mustard Seed Within

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We dream things. We dream them big and small. We even dare to dream dreams undreamt of before. Many of us turn these dreams into reality against all odds. We fight for them; we adapt for them; we change for them; we move mountains for them. We find a great and wondrous strength within us that allows us to chase after them and breathe them into being. But often, our dreams begin to frighten us to inaction. We convince ourselves that we’re not good enough and, therefore, that they’re unachievable. We believe we don’t deserve to bring them to fruition. We see the work that lies ahead, the obstacles and overly beaten paths we must endure and cross, and we shy away into complacency; we wither in our comfort zones. When does this happen? And why? How does a confident and persistent person go from running head first into every adventure ready to fly, to thinking that it’d be best to lay back and watch life happen before her eyes because everything she wishes for …

It’s Your Turn to Fly

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You’re going abroad for a year to volunteer at an orphanage in Sri Lanka and at a middle school in Bali (OK, for real though, you’ll probably be surfing half the time), so to say that I’ll be living vicariously through you is a huge understatement. We’ve already discussed how proud I am of you for having won this scholarship and for having had the courage to chase an adventure of such magnitude. What you will live, the experience you will gain, the consequences of this monstrous decision are as of yet unknown… But you had the guts to follow through with this dream anyway, and that’s what impresses me the most. I’m sure you have specific responsibilities and things to do/blog about during the next few months as per UNC’s request, but, in addition to all of those formalities, allow me to create an unofficial –yet still extremely important—list of things your big sister wants you to do, because she said so. Ready? Pay. Attention. I want you to play, and explore, and laugh until you …

Giving

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Giving. Giving. Giving. Giving. The word has been tumbling around in my mind lately, pushing me, clawing at me, peeling away at layers I’ve tried to conceal. Unfortunately, I’ve struggled to shake the feeling that I’m simply tired of giving… That I’ve had enough of it all. I hate this feeling. As humans, are we even allowed to entertain it? Certainly, I don’t think it’s fair that I do, yet it’s that time again when all I’ve been wishing for is to be able to pause a few areas of my life and just lay down to rest, with no pressure to give of my time, energy, faith, love, patience, effort, etc., to anyone or anything. None of that. A vacation from giving, if you will. But as they say: we are our own worst enemies. In my mind, there is no possibility of rest. It’s simply not acceptable. I have to continue on, never stopping, never faltering, always giving and giving everything and all that others require of me, all the time, without ceasing. …

We Are Free

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They say they built the train tracks over the Alps before there was a train that could make the trip. They built it anyway. They knew one day the train would come… Any arbitrary turning along the way, and I would be elsewhere. I would be different. – Under the Tuscan Sun It will come. As you breathe in and out, shed all the layers that have been weighing you down. Let go of everything you pretend to know, and simply allow yourself to exist. Intoxicate yourself with this precise moment – nothing more, nothing less. Imagine yourself lighter, freer. Powerful. Not the kind of man-made power that destroys everything in its path, but the kind that our spirits are born with and bathed in: love. Embrace it, stop denying it. We all know it’s true. All of us have had at least one truly profound experience in our lifetimes which has taught us that love is all there is, love is all that matters, and that love can move mountains… Even if we’ve chosen …

Life, And All Its Intricacies

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After taking the month of July off from blogging, it hasn’t been easy to make a comeback. Life occasionally gets sassy with me and, although I am one to sass right back, it does sometimes get a bit overwhelming. This isn’t necessarily bad, just enough to shake me out of my stupor and force me to grow in ways I hadn’t really prepared for. I went on a two week vacation at the beginning of last month that took me through Barcelona, Lisbon, and London. I won’t write specifically about my travels –although if you must know, the trip was incredible. However, there are two experiences that I must mention, because they are intricately tied to a third I lived after returning to NYC. First Experience – Location: park bench somewhere in Barcelona. I sat down to pray three Rosaries, as I do the first Saturday of every month in honor of Our Lady of Fátima. A man sat next to me and introduced himself as Alí. He began a polite conversation, during which I …