Sunday's Finest

Has anybody ever read  Into The Wild? No matter the cliché, with recent developments in my life I though it was time to sit down one Sunday not too long ago and read the book in its entirety. I'd seen the movie, and how can anybody not love Emile Hirsch? There is always so much more in a book than a movie will ever be able to offer. I also think anything Jon Krakauer writes is worth reading. He does a great job in all of his books of finding amazing and relevant quotes from others to highlight his own writing.

I have mixed opinions on Chris McCandless's actions and question his rationality. However, Krakauer does a great job at examining the ideal that McCandless strove, lived, and ultimately died for in the Alaskan wilderness.

As I transition into my new normal up here in Alaska, I leave you with these, Sunday's Finest from Into the Wild.

"There was some books... One was Pilgrim's Progress, about a man that left his family, it didn't say why. I read considerable in it not and then. The statements was interesting, but tough." - Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

"I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which I found no outlet in our quite life." - Leo Tolstoy "Family Happiness" (A passage highlighted in one of the books found with Chris McCandless's remains)."It may, after all, be the bad habit of creative talents to invest themselves in pathological extremes that yield remarkable insights but no durable way of life for those who cannot translate their psychic wounds into significant art or thought." - Theodore Rozark, In Search of the Miraculous

Sunday's Finest

My post on Thursday about Fear had me patrolling around for some of my favorite quotes that help me think about overcoming my fears.

So, here is your Sunday's Finest:

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” - H.P. Lovecraft Supernatural Horror in Literature

“Many times, the thought of fear itself is greater than what it is we fear.” - Idowu Koyenikan Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - Paulo Coelho The Alchemist

Go and conquer your dreams this Sunday.

Sunday's Finest

Yesterday and Friday I wrote about leaving home for Alaska in a few weeks for the A to Z April Blogging Challenge. The Challenge is just beginning and going really well... I can't wait for the coming weeks. Today is a break day for the challenge participants but I still will be posting Sunday's Finest throughout the month.

And without further ado...

“If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.” - Anthony Bourdain Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

“I told her I'd wait forever for her, but that was before I found somebody else who'd give me a ride home.” - Jarod Kintz This Book is NOT FOR SALE.


“At the end of the day, it isn’t where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I’m going and never have been before.” - Warsan Shine

Sunday's Finest

Throughout the month of March I've been posting a lot of photos from my time in India. I have only written small quips and given momentary inclusions describing the scene around the photo but, I haven't gone much into the depth and recollections that those moments hold for me. I don't like just putting it all out there, so accessible, and vulnerable. It's all so personal you know? During this last week of March look out for some more in depth looks at my time in India. Because come April it's going to be a much different ball game.

Anyway... India is constantly on my mind. Even eight months after my return I am still there. If you haven't noticed that over the month of March I have been uploading, sharing, and commenting on my time in India. A time that is very much the fuel behind my current and upcoming endeavors. The A to Z April Blogging Challenge is coming up and  will be focusing on these fresh opportunities and adventures, and turning my focus forward.

Until then, I leave you with this week's Sunday's Finest...

"To save a family, abandon a man; to save the village, abandon a family; to save the country, abandon a village; to save the soul, abandon the earth." - Passage from the Mahabharata.

"Man is not the master of destiny, but a wooden doll that is strung on a string ..." - Passage from the Mahabharata.

“Listen, O lord [Shiva] of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.”   - Basava, The Lord of the Meeting Rivers: Devotional Poems of Basavanna

Sunday's Finest

Sorry for this week's late morning edition of Sunday's Finest. I celebrated a good old friend's birthday last night and ended up staying up too late. I'm more of a bed by 11pm at the latest kind of gal and I was up till 4pm last night.

It's the first day of Spring! Last night and all today I'm spending the day noticing and appreciating the Equinox and the coming of longer days and more sunshine! I have a lot coming up this Spring and I can't wait to get started. So congratulations you made it through winter and are still here to celebrate the coming of the new planting and growing seasons!

"You can cut all of the flowers but you cannot keep the Spring from coming." - Pablo Neruda

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” - Ernest Hemingway

"Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with hands shaking. Start with voice trembling but start. Start and don’t stop. Start where you are, with what you have. Just…start." - Ijeoma Umebinyuo






Enjoy your Sunday, and HAPPY SPRING.

Sunday's Finest

Gosh, I've just been so busy that I didn't even get a chance to post this until 8:38 this morning.

I've been dealing with the idea of people and how they come and go throughout our lives. I use to be such a people pleaser and went out of my way to not lose people.

In recent years I've come to see and handle this issue - which supplied much of the ammunition for my young heartache - in a new light. I recently ran into an old pal at a political rally here in Boise, Idaho. We haven't seen or spoken in quite some time. They called me over and spent a few minutes telling me about their hangover and how great their life has been in recent months and I was glad for them. The only sound came from the crowd around us for a moment. With no introduction to their circle standing around them or questions in return I in turn decided to turn around, walk away, and continue working the rally that I had showed up for.

I've been through a lot since the time when we were buds and they have aswell. Neither of us are the same people we were and neither of us really care for the person the other is now. If I were seventeen this realization would have sent me into a hysteric frenzy, but now... it doesn't. I thought about wondering on the 'why not' (as in why doesn't it bother me anymore) question but thought I would have a beer and go to bed instead.

Today is new, and everything else is in the past. If people are meant to stay in our lives or cross back through, they will.

Until then here is Sunday's Finest:

"It doesn’t matter how loyal you are to someone. You can’t change someone’s heart and bad habits unless they want to themselves." - Unknown (DeepLife Quotes)

"Trust that everything is in the right order and you are right where you need to be. Don’t worry, don’t stress, don’t anticipate. Just be." - Unknown (DeepLife Quotes)

"There are some people you’ll never see again. At least, not in the same way." - Iain Thomas (DeepLife Quotes)

Have a great (hopefully lazy) Sunday.

Sunday's Finest

March is going to be a busy, busy, busy month. So much top secret projects and blog working going on!

But don't worry, Sunday's Finest never misses a date.

"One day, your heart will stop beating, and none of your fears will matter. What will matter is how you lived." - Henri Junttila

"There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen” - Where the Wild Things Are

“If we want life to change we must be the change we seek. If we spend too much time complaining or bemoaning our fate and not enough doing what we can to create the present anew it is time to stop, reflect and then do life in a different way." - Sarah Varcas  via Mysticmamma

Bonus: Sunday's Finest Secret

I'm an avid PostSecret follower. Almost every Sunday since high school I've check the newest secrets posted.

I came across this secret today and just really wanted to save it because I love it so much.

Sunday's Finest

I normally try to post three of my favorite quips, quotes, and words I've read throughout the week. I stumbled upon this quote this week. I haven't read the book in which it's from, but have read other books by the author in high school such as Esperanza Rising. This piece really stood out to me throughout the week and I debated finding more, but I think it holds enough space to stand alone this week.

This week's Sunday's Finest:

"My mother says when I get older my dusty hair will settle and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain.

In the movies there is always one with red red lips who is beautiful and cruel. She is the one who drives the men crazy and laughs them all away. Her power is her own. She will not give it away.

I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate." - Sandra Cisneros The House on Mango Street.

Sunday's Finest

The lunar New Year Monday February 8th. Cultures from all around the world still follow and recognize the lunar calendar. The night is just as necessary as the dawn. I personally coincide and harmonize with the lunar calendar, most women do if they begin to pay attention to their own cycles they go through.


It's been a slow start to my new year. But I think that's better than taking off, gates open, feet running on the ground. Slow and steady doesn't always win the race, however, resting and building up energy before the race is always a good idea.


Tomorrow is the first full moon of the lunar new year and this is Sunday's Finest from the week.


“So that’s your first task this year—whatever you’ve created during the last two years, treat it now like precious tinder; protect it and blow on it very gently to nudge it into a nice steady flame; feed it with long burning fuel that will last." - Narrye Caldwell. Chinese Astrologer and Doctor of Chinese Medicine via Mysticmamma

“Ultimately, our vision changes when it’s brought into reality. Sometimes we have to surrender, to let go of the image we had in our minds in order to make it manifest. This doesn’t mean giving up on dreams however, this is about recognizing how the dream is just a guide.” - Leah Whitehorse of Lua Astrology via Mysticmamma

"There were many, many fine reasons not to go, but attempting to climb Everest in an intrinsically irrational act - a triumph of desire over sensibility. Any person who would seriously consider it is almost by definition beyond the sway of reasoned argument." - Jon Krakauer Into Thin Air. 

Sunday's Finest

It's been a long week in middle of nowhere Misery, USA. Oh, I mean Missouri. My cousin graduated from Army boot-camp and shipped out to Hawaii. I'd never been to Missouri before and I can honestly say I don't know if I'll ever go out of my way to go back. Talk about flat, lolling hill, more flat, and some trees. It seemed tense, like a stark curtain hung between everyone and others outside of their immediate groups. But hey, always go anywhere once.

I spent most of my time reading this really great new novel by David Joy called Where All Light Tends To Go. Set in the rural North Carolina mountains about an outlaw family. It's a really great read and I recommend it. Go buy it HERE.

This weeks Sunday's Finest all come from Where All Light Tends To Go. 
Enjoy your Sunday with a great book and a warm cup of tea.

"The biggest difference between her and other dreamers was that she was determined enough and smart enough to will it into existence. It had always been obvious she [Maggie] was only passing through." 

"There's never been anything keeping you here but you." 

"She'd always been something slippery that I never could seem to grasp, something buried deep inside her that never let anything outside of herself decide what she would become. I'd always loved that about her. I'd always love her." 

Sunday's Finest

I've been really busy this week; house sitting, working, trying to get into my tattoo shop to finish my sleeve, walking my dog, watching season 6 of Sex & the City,  dance practice, remembering to stretch, getting ready to go to Missouri with my family for five days. You get the picture.

However despite how stressed out I am about spending five days in the middle of Misery USA, maintaining my life, and keeping tabs on Carrie Bradshaw's life I am pleased to say that the blog is coming along. Though it might be a slow process it is a nice one.

So to anyone that reads this please be patient. Come back, support, and share or whatever else.

Here is the second edition of Sunday's Finest from me, to you.

"Be yourself unapologetically. Be a good person. Be giving. Be sensitive. Be humble. Listen. Be generous. Assert yourself, but with humor." - Jon Batiste (Deep Life Quotes) Check out Batiste's music HERE

“As one world dies, another is born. As one Age of the world passes away, a new Age is being born in secret places of the heart…” - Cathy Pagano (Wisdom of Astrology) via Mysticmamma

“He pulled out turned west and started driving towards the glow it was thousands of miles away, he started driving towards the glow.”
- James Frey Bright Shiny Morning 

Have the very best Sunday you possibly can try to have.

Sunday's Finest

When this is posted it will be Sunday January 31st around 10pm at night. January will be over and it will be one of my favorite days of the week. I don't know why I've always liked Sunday's so much. I never use to work Sunday's so that probably allowed my true love for Sunday's to thrive.
Anyways...

Sometimes I am at a loss for words and I browse through books, the world wide web, old textbooks, listen to some new music, hear some wacky statement and sometimes things catch my attention. I'm going to just try my best to put them here. Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you the first publication of Sunday's Finest.

Sunday's Finest:

“For we find it is the fertile mistakes, the major errors and excuses which pull us most deeply through - into a new life here in the earth." - Ellias Star Sparks from Divine Harmony

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Meditation of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Into the Green Future

“Sometimes I doubt and sometimes I believe. And I like not making myself believe when I am doubting, and not making myself doubt when I am believing. Surely neither God nor Accident need my consistency.” - Hugh Prather I Touch the Earth, the Earth Touches Me