love.

how do i know the love that i have is true? is real? is God-given?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

our love is very patient. our love is very kind. we have each other, we rejoice in each other. we rarely truely anger, we discuss our issues down. our voices are rarely raised. we forgive. we forget. we're selfless. we sacrifice ourselves for the other. we're never jealous, we're never in want.

any bad that befalls him, befalls me. any good that lifts him, lifts me. we're quick to console, quick to apologize, quick to support. bad day? a simple phone call will reverse that. great day? another phone call will encourage even greater. i'm my own worst enemy, he's my hero, saving me from myself.

in times when i can't remember which way is up, he's there to point the direction. if ever i'm lost, i can trust he'll guide me straight. if i lose hope, he's there to carry me, whispering encouragement in my ear.

i never knew what i was missing in my life until we found each other. my world doesn't collapse when he's not near, but the sun shines brighter when he is. we've found each other, and there's not much more we need.

i'm giving you my heart to break

wine, sometimes, make things clearly. allows the brain to forget about barriers and walls. it makes things a little less refined, a little more casual.

i think i needed it. i needed a moment to let it all down and out and without holding back. to really experience fully what has been living in the back of my mind without the attachment of emotions, anxiety, disappointment, fear.

i fell. hard. really hard. it may have been totally irresponsible on my fault. i probably shouldn't have let it happen. but i've had my guard up for the past few years. i'm used to being a time bomb.. a ticking clock. it felt good to let that part of me go for awhile. i didn't realize it would reach this point and threaten to blow up in my face.

but the thing is, i have this incredible desire to move away. to prove myself over and over and over. i can't do that here. i don't WANT to do that here. i want to be away. to be on a coast. to be in a city. to be where i'm comfortable, and challenged, and carefree, and on my guard. there's that one city that has my heart in its grasp and won't let go. but i know its not love. i know its not lifelong. i just want that city for awhile. for a season.

but i want him for longer.

i don't see them on the same plane. i don't see them as because i want one, i can't have the other. or rather, because i want one, means i care about the other less.

because i'd give anything for him.

i'm just constantly in a state of desire. desire to move, to leave, to live up to my potential. i feel as if i'm not allowed to live up to my full potential here in kentucky. i love it here. so much. don't get me wrong. this is the best place i've ever lived.

but i still want los angeles for awhile. it was a short season in my life, and i want it again but longer. not much longer, but i do want it for more than eight months. after that, after i know what i CAN be and gain priceless experience, i'll live anywhere. anywhere.

i've been up nights

in the past, i've fallen, and fallen hard.
but this one, i can tell, is different.
hes inspiring me to be beautiful. in more ways than one. my every fiber is straining to be heard, to be gorgeous, to be creative, to be good enough for his compliments, his adoration, his love.
i've never tried so hard to be the best version of myself. and the thing is, it's not even trying. its simply being.
i've never felt so appreciated for just being. i can do no wrong.

all the cliches are coming true. his smile lights up my room. my mind won't stop wandering. my fingers long to rest on his skin. my bed is cold when he's not there. i've daydreamed during work, had conversations in my head with him, have been on picnics in my head, have been on walks, leisurely strolling, hand in hand. nothing i can think up compares to the power of his being in reality.

i want to be perfect, if not to let him down. i want to live up to his praise, to give him something worth falling for.

he makes me want to take up dancing, so i could attempt to express myself through dance. to pick up singin, so i could try to communicate how i feel through song. to be the best at everything, so i can compete and win in his name. because he deserves it all, deserves the best, and for some reason he's chosen me.

unfinished 'love' letter to unknown

i lost you before i had you
i realize now the perfection was imagined in my head
its time to let go
and its time to move on
i had it down to a science in my head

and when your favorite song comes on my radio
i wonder if you know mine?
i wonder if you'd care?
if you'd lose sleep thinking of me at night
keeping your pillow warm beside you
if you'd ever imagined summers, winter, autumns, springs,
spent in my company, talking, laughing, discovering.

let me slip away silently
and you'll never know i was here
i'll disappear out the door
i'll step carefully to avoid
the groaning of the floor

let me slip away sliently
you'll never know i left
without a word, into the night
without a goodbye

i'm trying to hard, i'm putting this on myself
the bleakness of the sky, the rain falling down
makes me feel more clearly, more wrongly
i never had you to begin with. you were never mine
but i got used to the idea of us together

i want free from this.
i asked over and over and over
but i can't get through
i'm reading too closely
i'm looking for signs in the sky
i want this to be right so bad, it's wrong
i'm gone
i'm out of here
i'm not looking back
i've got to get my head clear

you've got me in your peripheral vision

sometimes i feel like i'm never going to break through.
he has no idea how badly he's scarred my heart those six or seven years ago. all those words, so easily dished out, left such an impact; i didn't realize the severity of them until now.
so many years down the road, and i still question every step i take, every word i say, every effort i let out. is it too much? is it too soon? is it not enough? am i doing this right?
its this feeling of doubt that i'm scared will haunt me forever, leave me second guessing every moment, reading too far between the lines, not able to take everything at face value.
it's sad, really.

and on top of it, my stronger, more secure and confident side, that i've built up over the past years, makes me wonder if its really ME to blame. should i be pointing fingers? can't i just own up and take responsibility for my actions, my fears, my doubts?

i hate this inner battle. this battle that threatens to tear apart every relationship. my biggest battle is living with these doubts and being able to keep them under control.

it is silly. it is juvenile. and i'm so ready to grow up and let them go. i think i just need someone to help me overcome it all.

come on, get higher

there's something about coffee that leaves me with the aftertaste of regret.
i've come across the fact i'm not as prepared to grow up as i thought i was. this summer was unlike anything i expected, not totally for the better. i wear myself out with expectations and the urgency and drive to meet them, only to find myself far flung and exhausted with keeping up. it's not that i'm let down, it's just that i'm mildly disappointed.

i wanted to be swept off me feet. not for keeps, just for a season. i wanted carefree when i wasn't busy making my dreams come true, and instead i got hot and alone. time slipped through my fingers as quickly as the sand of the beaches i walk on, and i'm finding myself without the ocean crashing against my shins. i'm caught off guard. where did it all go? i miss laughing, i miss volleyball, i miss reading by candlelight, i miss bonfires and wine. there isn't enough time for everything, and miles separate us enough to make it not possible.

i live inside music that makes me nostalgic for times that never even existed. i have a vision in my head that never plays out quite how i want it.

this isn't going to end the way it always does. i won't be overcome. sometimes you get pulled in a different direction, and its not necessarily bad. it's just different. i'm learning this, i'm moving on.

even though i've been feeling like my hour glass has been running out since august, i'll be okay with it. i'm learning to live in the moment and to embrace it all. i have the strongest support system anyone could ask for, and i'm secure in myself. i know who i am, and that's more than a lot of people can say.

i'll be back. i'll have plenty of nights spent on the sand listening to crashing waves to fall in love. it didn't pan out how i wanted this time, but there's someone looking out for me, and i'll find it all soon enough.

i'm liberated.

talk to me now, why do you run from me?

my heart isn't in this.

stay out of your head.

so many things i want to say and i can't say. i'm just existing for right now.

i've never been more at peace not knowing where i'll be this time in two months.

we're kept together by highways and telephone lines

i want so bad to tell you how i feel, but i'm trying so hard to keep this about you. its what i needed, and its what you need now, i'm sure of it. i need some sort of escape, though. i only hope you don't see this until weeks down the road. months, maybe.

i didn't want this to mean as much as it does. and it's not like it its the be all and end all, but it makes me so sad to know things how i knew it will be changed. it didn't feel real for a while.. i was eased into it, as were you. but counting down days to when you hit the road is making it more and more real to me. maybe i'm just delayed, i'm sure i'd be feeling it more had i been there. but since i'm miles away and there's only so much i can feel at once, i'm behind. and now i'm reeling trying to keep up.

you've been on my mind so often for the past few days, its killing me to think it will be a while until i see you again. i had my heart set on april, but i don't want to be a hindrance on you at all. i just want you to be happy, and i don't want to jeopardize that in any way. i'm a selfish person, but when it comes to you, i've never been more level headed or understanding. this is as easy as it should be, and i hope upon hope you can say the same.

my mind is everywhere right now. i can't seem to keep a straight thought for the life of me. its been this way for months and months.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that i don't know how this will turn out. but whichever way it does, i want you to know i have your best interest in mind. i'm okay with anything, though i'd prefer to be back a few months. my heart misses you, and i have a feeling things are going to get worse. on the plus side, this place has prepared me, as with the past 4 years of my life, to sit in a car with more patience than i've ever had. that could work, right?

this city's killing me

i have yellowcard's 'back home' stuck in my head. with every step i take, everytime i start to slip, everytime i make a mistake, it comes forefront in my mind. its driving me crazy, and its making me worried. i feel as if i'm losing everything i wanted so quickly. i thought this place would make me, but its going to break me.

and i can't tell if its just me in a new place, or if its actually this place.

do i do this all the time? do i do this everytime i'm somewhere new? fight hard for something, but only feel as if i'm half-assing it? i could do better. i could succeed. but i'm not putting forth my full effort. or am i?

i had so much going for me back in kentucky. why did i leave it? why was i so eager to get out? i'm so upset with myself for jumping the gun. i could have held off one more semester. i would have been okay. i just didn't know it yet, i wasn't sure. i'm regretting that more and more.

i'm so bottled up inside, when i finally let things out, i break down. i'm not fully getting everything out. i need to. its going to be a breakdown soon, with all this stress, with all these decisions, with so much out of my hands i can't control.

i hate regretting things, and this one, so far, is turning into my biggest one. the timing was off. the timing was terrible. i gave up so much for this place and its not giving anything for me. not yet.

i just need once ounce of clarity and i'll be okay. i just need something to give, and i'll be fine. but its as rigid as brick--push too much and it will crack. it will crumble. it will fall to shambles.

i don't want to fall to shambles.