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- Username: literaryitinerary
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- Three Songs I Love
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These are three songs that have stuck with me, have been with me for the long-haul.
It was difficult to narrow this down to just three songs, but I think these three songs fit best if I had to choose.
One of my favorite albums of all time by one of my favorite bands of all time. They speak the words that I couldn't find on my own and yet make me feel as though they were within me all along.
"There is a me you would not recognize, dear.
Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there
dance without me.
You dance so gracefully.
I really think I’ll be o.k.
They’ve taken their toll these latter days."
If you've never heard this album, stop what you're doing and buy it - now. You won't regret it.
One of my favorite quotes from a movie happens in The Shawshank Redemption when the protagonist, Red, narrates, "I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it."
While this isn't two Italian ladies singing, it is four Icelandic men singing a song I can't begin to understand. But like Red, I feel like they are singing about something so beautiful that words cannot begin to express.
My heart aches every time I hear this song.
Brave by The Innocence Mission
What isn't to love about this album, these songs? I was turned on to this band at a time when I was searching for music that would change my life, and this lovely album delivered - in a big way.
"And I always go to pieces.
And I have it in my mind
that the sky is tall and heavy,
when I could be brave, brave"
Their lyrics will stick with you in good times and in bad. They're that good.
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- My Epic Road Trip
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Ever since I was a small child spending my time looking at maps of the United States, I've had a dream of driving the entire length of I-90 from Seattle, WA to Boston, MA.
At just over three thousand miles, it is the longest interstate freeway in the United States.
Seeing as how I now live in the Seattle area, I'm already at the starting point. I have friends in the Boston area that I would hope to see when I make it to the finish line of the journey.
Of course, I wouldn't want to drive my own car for this trip as that would mean putting over six thousand miles on it by the time all was said and done. Instead, I would look in to renting a car here in Seattle and returning it to a rental car facility in Boston, where I would fly from back to Seattle when all is said and done.
Mind you, I wouldn't want to power through this trip: I would want to take my time, soaking in all of the sights and sounds of America along the way. If I pull off the freeway to see a sight, I would have to get back on the freeway at the exact same spot so I could honestly say I've driven the whole length of the freeway.
If I drove straight through, not stopping to rest, I could I(in theory) make it in just over two days. However, with all of the stops I would like to make along the way, not to mention the time I'd want to spend with my friends in Boston, I'd want to give myself two to three weeks for the trip.
I've got to start saving up for this epic journey.
If you're on the way, let me know. I could use a place to crash!
Traveling mercies,
jdh
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- 200 Words, Real Fast
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The goal of today's exercise was to write a 200-word story as fast as possible. OK, so I cheated: this is 236 words.
Standing at the summit of the highest hill between here and forever, looking out over the infinite expanse of sky that hovered over the small, sleepy town, he cried out at the top of his lungs, "What am I doing here?!?!"
Just some weeks before, a door had opened in his life that brought him to this place: the small, quiet town in the middle of nowhere Canada and now he was having second thoughts about the direction his life was taking.
Looking southward down the dirt road at the apex of the hill, he could just make out the red light that hung over one of the few four-way stops in town: blinking in rhythmic fashion. One constant in his world, even if nothing else was.
It seemed like it was only a few days ago that he was surrounded by familiar faces, places, and activities in the big city he called home. Now, hundreds of miles away from home with no possibility of going back, he decided to make the most of his new surroundings, decided that in order to make friends, he needed to a friend.
He walked the few kilometers back in to town with a renewed purpose and a goal to be a friend to anyone who might cross his path, and to be open to the surprise friendships that people would bring if he allowed them to know him fully.
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- My Favorite Quote of All Time
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What is my favorite quote? Is it OK if I have two? Of course it is - this is my blog after all and I can make the rules here.
My two favorite quotes I have written on post-it notes that are affixed to my computer at work:
"My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions, but in the fewness of my wants." - J. Brotherton
This gem was passed on to me from a good friend at my workplace. I don't remember exactly the context with which I first heard this quote, but it is simply one of my favorites because it reminds me that riches do not lie in "stuff" but in truly being happy with where you are, right now.
I've found that personally, the more stuff I have, the more I worry about the stuff I have. With fewer possessions, life somehow manages to become more simple.
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"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind." - Henry James
Yes. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that the first time I ever heard this quote was on a popular network television show a few years ago. Really, I wish that I had discovered it in James' writings than on a nine o'clock show.
We are each on our own journey - we're not all in the same place in life. It is my job to be as kind as possible to each person I meet. Kindness goes further than we expect and touches lives in ways we cannot imagine.
Traveling mercies,
jdh
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- Northern lights: a natural beauty
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I had the privilege to spend five years living in Canada (central Alberta to be exact) and during that time I was blessed with the opportunity to get to know so many good friends (friends who I still have to this day).
Anyway, back to the question - without a doubt, one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in nature - or perhaps ever - would have to be the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).
There is just nothing else on earth like it. Photographs can't do it justice. Writing about it never comes close to describing its magnificence.
If you ever get the chance to see it for yourself, you'll agree that nothing else compares.
Traveling mercies,
jdh
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