Go Placidly Amidst the Noise and Haste of the Universe...

Go Placidly Amidst the Noise and Haste of the Universe...

uyguguygu   18.59   Comment  

I want to tell you about a book I read when I was fourteen or fifteen. I can't remember the name of the book at it was so short I think I read it in the course of an afternoon. It was classic young adult fiction, the sort of thing written for moody teenage girls (which, of course, I was) to devour and feel like someone understood them. 

Anyways, the book was about a girl who was in high school and wanted to be a dancer. She must have been in a pre-professional company or something. Every day she would go home and struggle with whatever she struggled with and tell her parents she wanted to be a dancer. 

And every time she said that her dad would gently remind her, "You are a dancer."

And that was the whole lesson of this book. You are a dancer. 

But maybe you're not a dancer. Maybe you write stories in your spare time. You, my friend, are a writer. Or maybe you ride your bike up a mountain or only down the bike path by your house. You are a cyclist. Maybe you make dinner every night, and even though the only patrons at your restaurant are you and your family or even just you. You are a chef. 

The point I'm trying to make here, the thing I first read in this book and learned through living and trying, is that you are what you are doing in life. Even if you're not being paid to do it, if there are no material gains or social rewards where you put your time is who you are. 

One of the things that is generally implied in life as you are growing up is "do good work and the rewards will follow." I believe that contrary to that idea the work is the reward in most cases. There is pleasure in having and finishing, of course, but the stretch of hard work, and the space and time you give to being something, if that makes sense, is where the real joy is discovered.

***

I cannot honestly remember the brands of any of my dance clothing. I do know my pointe shoes are Bloch. 

All of these stunning photographs were taken by Jessica Triggs at Heartflip Photography. Love and gratitude to her, always. 

Denver Prep

Denver Prep

uyguguygu   14.39   Comment  

This is one of my favorite go-to looks - denim, tweed, and leather. Those materials are enduring in the world of fashion and when put together they work perfectly. Thank you to my Mom for the Tweed and velvet riding jacket. She gave it to me when I was 16 - she wore it when she was in college and I've been wearing it steadily since then. It's a sturdy piece of clothing and always timeless! 

All of these gorgeous pictures were taken by the amazing Jessica Triggs. Thank you so much, Jessica! You guys might remember she did my all time favorite photo shoot of the vintage ball gown. 

Sunglasses: Pilgrim

Pearls: Vintage

Jacket: Vintage (actually was my moms!)

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Gap

Tights: Unknown

Socks: Target

Boots: Frye

We Are the Reckless...

blessings Clothes Colorado daily wardrobe fall happiness Life Music Pants

We Are the Reckless...

uyguguygu   17.30   Comment  

Paper writing today for grad school. I always like to wear impractical shoes when I write papers and these shoes are pretty impractical. It makes sense to me - I basically walk from the car to the coffee shop, from the counter to my table a few times, and most of the four or five hours I just sit there, clacking away at whatever I'm supposed to be writing.

I caught these pictures just before I went out to write my paper. Today's paper is a research paper on whether or not literacy coaching is effective. The results were unexpected (which I like) and interesting (which is an added bonus). It'll make a good narrative. I actually like writing papers, strange enough. It's meditative work for me. It's a very different job than my day job - teaching. 

Sometimes I sort of regret not going 100% academic when it came to grad school because I missed out on both collegiate cycling and being a full time grad student and all the tweed and bookbags and morning coffees and crisp fall air and the fun new school supplies that come with being an academic but I'm hoping I can do that when it comes to my Ph.D. 

I've been listening to Daughter lately. Youth is my favorite of her four song EP. 

I think I'm responsible for about a quarter of the 5 million plays on this song. 

PS: Happy Thanksgiving, for those of you stateside. I'm thankful for so many things. 

Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Jacket: Unknown

Tank Top: Gap

Necklace: Forever 21 (robot) and Gatlinburg Artist Collective (Hemlock)

Jeans: j. crew

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Your heart is like a ghost town...

Your heart is like a ghost town...

uyguguygu   16.46   Comment  

It's been a while since I've blogged. School started and that's kept me busy. Mountain biking season wrapped up and for those of you following me on Instagram you might have picked up that I won the series in my category, earned a few medals, and really got to know every single inch of the mountain bike trail system whether I liked it (Serenity) or not (WTB). 

Our favorite camping partners and their new puppy came with us to Ouray, Colorado last weekend for a little trip to celebrate the long weekend. We stopped the first night in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, looked around the second day and declined to go into the canyon once more and then drove on to Ouray, which is probably the most beautiful place in Colorado...and I do not make that statement lightly. The mountains there have an incredible amount of Iron in them and they are a gorgeous rose color. Finally, the forest is lush and green and filled with Blue Spruces and mosses and it just smells delicious. 

The second and third nights we camped in a legit Ghost town. Irontown, an abandoned mining town, is part of the National Forest so you can simply camp anywhere in the town. At one point the town had 2,500 residents but now it's reduced to a few standing houses and a lot of collapsed outbuildings.