just for a moment . . . ' let`s be still '

Well, well, well...

Here we are!

The Head and the Heart - "Let's Be Still"

[ Thanks to Leanne Gallati for sharing these babies with me ~ ]

At the end of March.

Yeesh! I never thought these three months would fly by so quickly. Haha. I was really expecting some... decency and order in my schedule when I got back to university. Of course, "expect the unexpected," right?

So Our Town was fun - I still have to finish that entry, which will be published eventually after this one - and Reasons to be Pretty is coming up. I've got a lot on my plate and I'm not the only one, which makes my burden a bit more manageable.

Of course, I'm on Spring Break - at the end of it, nonetheless - and it's the only time from the past three months that I've really gotten wind to write in here. And I'd like to just overshoot the resolution thing I did back in the middle of January. It was really cool writing and every time I look back at it for reference, I grin at the progress and mental connections I've made to each goal. Sorry I haven't been diving in here and talking about them to you guys, but, y'know how Life gets.

Pretty hectic.

1. January - Self
2. February - Care
3. March - Next comes the great part we all love. If you take a container to place the heart in - preferably figurative and mentally fabricated, housing the actual heart right where it belongs [ in your chest cavity, in case you are following the instructions verbatim ] you can sit there and evaluate both your heart and your body with your mind. Take all the time you need: this is a recipe made for either one lifetime or many - however many you need to figure it out. With this evaluation, you should be able to find what you cherish: what you hold dear, what you appreciate, what makes you happy, what strikes you emotionally and what makes you want to go to sleep to wake up the next morning and breathe air for. Once you have made a list composed of more than [ but no little as ] fifteen things [ accumulative or separately for each category is not distinguished ], you are free to find things in your life that fit snugly in whichever places they belong. Feel free to bend the rules if it's something that doesn't seem to fit at all. However, if it is negative in any aspect, you must set it aside in a pile alienated from the container which houses your washed, thriving heart and your stable body. Let's call this rubbish. Not like we're going to refer to it another time. But, for your future purposes, and if you need to try your hand again at this recipe, "rubbish" is a starting point.

I've always been one to think: whatever I didn't say, couldn't say, or just had no desire to share verbally would sit in my mind. And, by some odd chance, should they have ever been stirred into an energized state where they had some reason to come forth and become real, I probably would not have regretted any part of it. I appreciate honesty - sharing it, receiving it, it's very principle.

I've got plenty of things to be grateful for, and they're probably the standard that a lot of people would be able to compare to their own lives [ family, friends, creatures, hobbies, etc. ] What I'm hoping you also have received from it are the deeper meanings of your piles.

What you cherish. What things fit in your life. What things do not fit in your life, the rubbish.

Why you appreciate, tolerate or yearn to experience life with these things present.

Hey, it's not too late - there are a couple of handfuls of days left in March [ or in the next phase of your life - whichever pace you set yourself to fulfill these steps. ] So? Let's get to it!

What do you cherish?

I'll tell you what I cherish.

In no particular order, they go a little something like this...

• Music - I really like it because it's an element of existence that can easily bring us some catharsis [ emotional release ] or synesthesia [ sensory connection ], take us to another world, or convey thoughts and emotions that would not normally possess as much power without musical tones and a rhythmic delivery. 
• Clouds - I really, really like clouds. Like, if you go on any social media account I have, it's guaranteed to have clouds present, mentioned, or adorned... somewhere. Everyone knows it. I'm pretty sure their juxtaposition to me, sky-free to land-bound, is why I'm so enamored with them. They're just visible particles of water and air, sure, but, like... they just look so peaceful. [ Except storm clouds, but even those look really awesome! ]
• Smiles - Because what would the world be without them? How would you communicate that you're truly happy, or be able to convey your emotional standing, not wanting to say a thing, or even make the happiness you house contagious? I mean, sure a laugh's the next best thing, but think about it - how creepy would a laugh be without any smiling!?
• Broccoli - They're like tiny little trees. I love the color green, and broccoli has always kinda been my favorite vegetable. They clean you up pretty good, too. Healthy foods, hip hip hooray!
• Puppies - I practically melt upon sight. Puppies and babies tag team to make me mewl over the cutest things in existence. Anything in its earliest, purest forms is defined to reign in adoration, and I'm pretty much just another sucker. But dogs are my favorite animals, so it doesn't make things any better.
• Cartoons - I grew up watching them, as any other kid does, I'm sure. With shows like Tom & Jerry or Scooby Doo, I found that my character came from the innocence and corny humor of these shows. Plus, your favorite cartoons remind you of your childhood. Fewer responsibilities and simpler times.
• Friends - They helped make me who I am, plain and simple. Each and every person I meet, I consider a friend until the day of expiration or their decision of termination of our friendship. Thankfully, that rarely happens, and I'm sad to have lost a few friends, though I never feel like a friend of mine is any less important than the next, because they help me figure out who I am, what I like and how to operate as a socially-adept human.
• Water - Without it, we'd be dead. No, I'm kidding. Well, not entirely, but that's not the only reason why I really, really like water. Water's important and it's probably one of the biggest, most crucial components on our planet and it brings people together and tears people apart. Of course, I'd much rather the former rather than the latter, but in all honesty, it's a tangible and real thing that does not vary in denotation across the world.
• Movies - Movies give hope. Movies entertain. Movies bring families together. I'm not the biggest movie-buff out there, I'm sure I've said that before, but I really do enjoy the aspirations and worlds that production teams create. And now getting a better understanding of all the work, all the sweat and tears and joy and energy and focus that gets put into a film, by all those people? It makes me appreciate the art even more so.
• Apples - Probably my favorite fruit. I really like green apples and they're the main staple of my healthy diet. Without them, I'd probably be less inclined to eat the way I do. Plus, they're really, really fun to pick and, albeit a bit of a nuisance [ and by "a bit," I mean the worst experiences of my life ] during springtime with the blossoming and the pollen.... well... yeah, there's nothing else - it's miserable, but just that part of the apple.
• Winter - My favorite season. The cold, the breaks, the fun and fantasy of snow that makes the brain buzz with activity. And the one time that the world does something mystical with the elements, bringing the air and water into some special state, y'know? Snow's not an every-season thing.
• Lady bugs - The only type of insect I'll give my pardon to. Possible because they're the most aesthetically pleasing, to me at least. And I use to pick them off of leaves when I was younger and they'd just crawl around on my hand and then fly off. So docile, undisturbed.
• Family - You learn a lot from them, y'know? I may not have the perfect family, but who does, really? And I'm not the greatest human being on the planet, but I've been molded by a pack of humans that definitely have existed longer than I have, so I've got my hat off to them to say the least.
• Babies - Same as puppies. So precious and adorable, I just lose myself in their playful energy. And while they'll test patience, if you're sweet enough and they're cooperative enough, you might just fall in love once over with them. Sleeping babies are a whole 'nother ballpark - the cutest.
• Superheroes - The reality of the world's too grim, too dark. We need some reason to lift our chins and believe the notion that we are capable of doing anything we set our minds to. Superheroes, in my opinion, are the purest forms of role models for that. While they may fabricate from imagination and surreality, they present the world we live in, its impossibilities, and highlight the ways in which we could thrive, survive and live if we were like this.
• Pets - Having your own little creature who doesn't communicate in the same ways as you provides you with some solace, some confidentiality that I think humans need. You'll love and appreciate each other. Plus it's all a thing of preference - you'll love whichever pet you get [ cat, dog, cow, rooster, fish, etc. ] and your animal will either tolerate you or love you. Only if you treat them horridly should you ever deserve the hatred of an animal.
• Lovers - You learn things from the people in your life, and the ones who bring out the truths in you are definitely my favorite. You learn your biggest lessons when you're in your roughest times. So it only makes sense to give credit to yourself for allowing yourself to have that experience with whoever, whatever for whichever reason, and then acknowledge what happened, what you did and how it made you into the person you are today.

I've done a lot of thinking. From the get-go of this year, however, I haven't been actively tolerating anything that doesn't "fit" in my life to be in my life. I've always deterred the drama that I don't need participate in. I've given my advice and twopence where people have asked for it, but I try my best to not butt in where I'm not invited and keep to my own dilemmas.

Everything that goes into the rubbish pile, though, doesn't sit and collect a putrid scent.

It gets thrown into the recycling and goes right back into the world for someone else to use their energies on fixing it or taking it in to better themselves.

You receive the energy you put out - you receive the energies you believe will benefit you.

If you're treating the world around you like you cherish every ounce of it, you might get a bit more goodness your way than you were anticipating.

Don't forget why you're here.

And if you don't know, then enjoy the ride until you find out.

And when you do find out, embrace the happiness it will bring to those around you, as well as yourself.

Thanks!
Hope you had a happy March. Catch up with you in a bit.

<3 ~ Monty.
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