Monday, January 30, 2012

The Greatest Irony of Love

(Author unknown)

The greatest irony of love: Loving the right person at the wrong time or having the wrong person when the time is right; finding out you love someone after that person walks out of your life. For some, they think that letting go is one way of expressing how much they love that person. Some are afraid to see the one they love being held by someone else. Most relationships tend to fail not because of the absence of love, but because love is always present. It's just that one was being loved too much, and the other was being loved too little. Most often, we fall in love with the person we think we love, but to only discover that for them we are just for past times. While the one who truly loves us remains either your friend or a stranger. 
When you think of your past love; you may view it as a failure; but when you find a new love, you view the past as a teacher. In the game of love, it doesn't really matter who won or who lost. What's important is that you know when to hold on and when to let go. You know that you love someone when you want him or her to be happy, even if their happiness means that you're not apart of it. Everything happens for a reason and for its best. If the person you love doesn't love you back, don't be afraid to love someone else again, for you'll never know unless you give it a try. 
You'll never truly love a person, unless you risk for their love; love strives in hurting. If you don't get hurt, then you won't learn how to love. Love doesn't hurt all the time; though the hurting is there to test you, to help you grow. Don't find love, let love find you; that's why it's called falling in love, because you don't need to force yourself to love, you just fall. You cannot finish a book without closing the chapters. If you want to move on, then you have to leave the past as you turn the pages. 
Love is not destroyed by a single failure or won by a single caress. But why is it that the greatest irony of love is letting go when you want to hold on, and holding on when you need to let go? You can never find the right person if you can never let it go of the wrong, but at the same time the moment you feel like letting go, you remember why you held on for so long. Sometimes you have to forget what you want and remember what you deserve. 
To love is to risk rejection, to live is to risk dying and to hope is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing at all. To reach for another is to risk involvement, to expose your feelings is to expose your true self. To love is to risk not being loved in return. 
How to define love: Fall but do not stumble. Be constant but not too persistent. Share and never be unfair. Understand and try not to demand. Hurt but never keep the pain. 
Love is supposed to be the most wonderful feeling. It should inspire you and give you joy and strength. But sometimes the things that give you joy can also hurt you in the end. Loving people means giving them the freedom; whom they choose to be and where they choose to go. Loving someone means giving them the freedom to find their way, whether it leads towards you or away from you. 
Love can be a painful risk. To love means that risk must be taken, no matter how scary or painful, for only then will you experience the fullness of humanity of what we call love. If you're not ready to cry, if you're not ready to take the risk and if you're not ready to feel the pain, then you're not ready to fall in love.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Books are Friends


The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)


Wonderful 15-minute animation for those who love books and think life would be empty without them.

UPDATE | 27 February 2012
I'm just happy when this was announced Best Short Animated Film in the 84th Academy Awards. =)

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Blueberry Girl




"Blueberry Girl" 

Ladies of Light, and Ladies of Darkness,
and Ladies of Never-You-Mind,
This is a prayer for a Blueberry Girl
First: May you Ladies be kind.

Keep her from spindles and sleeps at sixteen;
Let her stay waking and wise.
Nightmares at three, or bad husbands at thirty;
These will not trouble her eyes.

Dull days at forty, false friends at fifteen;
Let her have brave days and truth.
Let her go places that we’ve never been;
Trust and delight in her youth.

Ladies of Grace, and Ladies of Favour,
and Ladies of Merciful Night,
This is a prayer for a Blueberry Girl,
Grant her your clearness of sight.

Words can be worrisome, people complex;
Motives and manners unclear.
Grant her the wisdom to choose her path right,
Free from unkindness and fear.

Let her tell stories, and dance in the rain,
Somersault, tumble, and run;
Her joys must be high as her sorrows are deep;
Let her grow like the weed in the sun.

Ladies of Paradox, Ladies of Measure,
Ladies of Shadows-That-Fall,
This is a prayer for a Blueberry Girl,
Words written clear on a wall.

Help her to help herself, help her to stand;
Help her to lose and to find.
Teach her we’re only as big as our dreams;
Show her that fortune is blind.

Truth is a thing she must find for herself,
Precious and rare as a pearl;
Give her all these, and a little bit more,
Gifts for a Blueberry Girl.

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Fairyland 1

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland, #1)The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"You can have grief without adventures, you cannot have adventures without grief."

After reading the first book of the Fairyland series, I cannot wait for the next books! This is a story of a young girl and her adventures in Fairyland and it was highly recommended by my sister. I can find influences from some of my beloved stories like "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".

Valente has a unique style of writing. I agree with my sister when she said it reminded her of Lemony Snicket's style except that this book is more whimsical and poetic and that there are no explanations of difficult words. There are a lot of unfamiliar words in the book, but I found it very distracting to look them up every so often. Despite this, I think the book would make a perfect bedtime story for both kids and adults alike.

Having mentioned that, I think this book is an adult story masquerading as a fairy tale. It is enchanting and wonderfully written. It felt like being in on a secret that only I, as a reader, share with the narrator. The story is funny and touching in unexpected ways. Even the ending caught me off guard.

To know more about the book, you can watch the book trailer here.



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