I've always ignored

I've always ignored the labels people put on things.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Novelist
12/26/14

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WORK IN PROGRESS

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AN ETHEREAL NOTE

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In the morning light, the orange tabby sits atop a chair and waits, diurnally, like the birdsong  arising from the pit of this small valley after my boyfriend goes down 22 steps to his sun- fire red  truck and  drives off to work.  What awakens the birds from slumber?  Is  it the fading light from  the last star in the sky, or the regurgitating  sound of the truck's engine.  The morning sky is gray, yet a patch of blue so light and luminescent is quilted in the western sky, an ethereal note that this day  will be good.  How many times in our lives have we needed a  whisper of beauty  to make it through, after the alarm  clock goes off once again, and  another day begins, similar to yesterday, yet different. Did the ancients experience routine in their lives? Or did they live in the mystery enough.  So that each day  they woke up,  thrilled to see  another sunrise, thrilled to be alive.  - Pranita Patel   (c) 2015
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Wabi-Sabi

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To live deeply, we must move away from this idea of perfection. The traditional Japanese perspective of wabi-sabi addresses this beautifully. Among other things, it states nothing in life is perfect. It honors the uniqueness and organic nature of life. To live a soulful life we must begin to appreciate all parts of ourselves. "When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful." -- Billie Mobayed
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