Stare or Jump?

look out of the window.
walk barefoot on the grass.
enjoy the sun shinin' down on you.

park the car, ride a bike.

let your hair down.

turn down the Ipod, hear the birds.

get a coffee to go.

take your notebook to the patio.

wear less layers.

smile to people on the streets, it goes full circle.

offer your seat.

greet.

touch more often.

hug it out.

tell people how you feel about them.

change your hair style.

sit on the floor.

turn off the tv, live your own reality show.

if it rains, get wet.

kiss.

it's better to get hurt by love, than not to love.

live each day.

don't miss second chances.

try it.

laugh out loud.

respect the different.

accept the new.

cherish a friendship.

protect your body.

let it be, but don't let it go.

put your heart in, give your all.

fight for the one you love.

enjoy the sunny days...

Vancouver Main Street

Listenin' to: The Fray - How to Save a Life

So, here’s for the first time living in a big city. Yes I have lived close to Vancouver, and walked around the city many times but you can only get the real vibe of a place when you actually live in it. I used to live in Coquitlam, a place surrounded by trees, mountains and houses with lots of space and big backyards. I love it there, I would live there again in a heart beat.

But, I have to say I am loving being close to everything. And to get to know some pieces and bits about Vancouver I did not know before. Just like Main Street, about two blocks from my house in the east side of the city. The streets, packed with town houses are covered with trees and it’s quiet and peaceful, you’d never think that if you’d walk some blocks you’d find the heart of Vancouver.

All the way down Main there are little shops, book stores, antiques, coffee places, local markets, you can find just about anything. Every little door has its unique charm. It’s easily becoming one of my favorite places in here. Just today I went into a bid shop and got the cutest little bids to hang on my bed. It was all handmade and with a story behind them. That’s just way better than going to an around-the-world-store-brand at some mall and getting something everyone else is going to have.

The vintage, old – fashioned restaurants are as good as it sounds. And how great is it to find food from all over the place down in one street? The bubble tea place was packed and I had to try the green tea, which surprisingly was very good, I tend to be kinda picky with drinks, actually I am picky. But that’s a whole other issue.

So I sat down to do some people watching and there were people in a hurry to get somewhere, some Chinese people talking (or could as well be fighting) to one another, some girls jogging with their iPods on, some people at a coffee shop enjoyin’ the sun with their notebooks, a couple strollin’ a baby down the road and looking for new furniture, just a typical day in a chill city. I only walked for a couple blocks but I got in every single store there was and I plan to do that more times.

You can only call yourself a Vancouverite when you walked down Main Street and had a cup of coffee at J J Bean!

Taking Chances

How would you like to have a script written for your life? To wake up knowing how your day is going to be, your week, your year. That sounds safe, but very dull. I like the sense of choice, to choose a path, even if it’s a different street to walk by to see more trees or to avoid traffic. And I also like the feeling of being free to decide what way would make me smile the most.

Sometimes life throws situations at you, that you were not expecting, when everything is going smoothly, something comes along and you’re torn between choices. But eh, that’s life, it was not on script, not according to plans but it’s here now and it’s real. And then if you are in a crossroad in life with two roads to follow, which one would you choose?

Follow your heart. That’s my personal answer. I try not to look at things as difficult or easy. If it will take time, then be it. If you’ll have to work on it and give your all, do it. If you believe and it’s worth the shot don’t over analyze it. The lessons you learn along the way are never the ones you planned anyway.

Many people want to change their lives but they have to know that in the end it’s really up to them to cross the road. And among those people maybe one will really do what they say, the rest will probably just stay where it’s more comfortable because why change, really? It’s good, NOT great, but good enough. I don’t like good enough, but that’s me.

Of course I already took chances in life, or else I wouldn’t be here right now. And if your choices are what your future will be then make sure to choose what you see when you close your eyes, what you think about when you lay down at night, what gives you butterflies in your stomach, what makes you feel alive, because if you never try you’ll never know how it feels like.

And if something goes wrong along the way, you have the ability to fix it. If you fall, hopefully you’ll have someone by your side to help you stand again. I guess I rather walk down the road to see where it leads than just staring at it wondering what if...

And by the way, I am so in love with the spring right now. I’ll probably go take a walk because it’s sunny, it’s blooming and it’s so pretty!

Savour it

It amazes me how this city has magic over me, how my heart just goes to it, how I feel that I belong ever since the first time I have set foot in here. I don’t expect anyone to understand, but I already know the ones who will.

Although it depends on what the city means to you, how you feel walking down the streets and what you can get from it. For me it was always about freedom and independence. About building my future, starting again in a completely different set from the one I was born in, to accomplish something good by myself. I don’t believe there has ever been anything I was more sure in my life than to be here.

I found out a while ago that some things have the healing power in my life. Just the other day I had so much on my mind and I went to take a walk at Stanley Park on a sunny day - there’s not a better place to be - I got there and it was stunning, just the way it used to be, but better.

And as I walked alone trying to take everything in and clear my mind for a bit, I just sat at this bench out looking the city. I don’t remember how long I was seated there for but I knew I never wanted to leave. It’s good to know that even when it’s all so tangled up, somehow I feel better just being here.

I’ve been reading a book where a girl gets into an accident and loses her memory, she can only remember the things that really touched her heart, and a trip to Paris is all that comes to her mind, and that’s where the most meaningful things happened in her life. She knows it will take her a while to have everything back in place but until then she’ll be okay because she has Paris.

And I guess for me, well I’ll always have the city where the mountains kiss the ocean…that’s how I know it will be okay.

Frame of Time

Time. I used to think of time as an enemy, something I didn't want to acknowledge or even think about. Just the thought of having to face time would make my mind spare. But how do you hide from it? It will always find you. Always chase you. Always be with you.

You can’t hold time. You can’t make it stand still. I swear, if I could, I would freeze some moments in time. I had to learn to accept time as a friend, something that makes you understand, it makes you stronger, it makes you grow. It always comes on the right set, even when you think otherwise. And strangely enough, only time can show you that it wasn’t in fact the right time.

And how hard is it to wait for the right time, for a better time. Maybe the greater lesson of my life so far, to wait. It can be tricky to wait for something you want with all your soul, you have to let go, but only so far that you can still reach – maybe just to look at it sometimes – until the day comes that you can grab it with both hands.

You only know that something is real when it stands through the time. When after all the while is still there, somehow, and why try to understand? If it still remains there’s a reason and only time will tell.

Me, well I am happy to find that all the love I took with me, also stayed behind in the eyes of the ones that matter. And I look up to and respect those people so much and they don’t even know how their warmth makes the whole difference in my life. Especially, of course, from someone I’ve seen turned into an awesome person but to me will always be a little girl.

I guess this proves that if you give your all to something or someone it will come back to you. Few are the people I love for real and I am so unbelievably blessed to have them in my life.

Because in the end, all we need is love.

Rainy Days

It's not very easy to get used to the rain when you had sunshine for so long. You kinda think it's wet and cold and, of course, you forgot your umbrella. But then the clouds open to a blue bright sky and you kinda forget why you were buzzin' about.

I guess just like the drops falling down on you, so is life pourin' down on you. You never know what's waiting around the corner. But it's never going to be only sunshine, so I guess we should alway be prepared? Or maybe just dance in the rain while waiting for the blue skies. I think I like the second option better.

So all this babblin' about is because I am back to a new start. It would be SO much easier to just go back to the start, where things used to be not so complicated. Where everything was there to be touched and nothing was sacred. But right now, well everything's changed. Never thought they wouldn't. But also never thought it would be this hard.

It's hard to get used to the same thing. To start again. To realize that the world was still goin' around on this side of the world. To walk down the same streets again, the places that keep so many of your thoughts from a little while ago, and somehow does it feel like yesterday? Do I still have the same things on my mind? Probably not or actually pretty sure so.

If I am still the same, can all the rest also be? There's just so much on my mind right now. All I know is that as hard as it is and will be I am here, where I always wanted to be. And this feeling of belongin' when I stare at the ocean... that could never change.

In such a small frame of time I've already had moments I will remember for the rest of my life. And I guess that's all that really matters in the end. And as a song that has been on my mind goes:

"Nobody said it was easy. Noone ever said it would be this hard. I'm goin' back to the start".

the meaning of love in my life