In fact, getting rid of the clutter and square feet made the “pursuit of happiness” that much easier. There was less false hope around.

For me, the checklist for being content in life involved:

• Connecting with people I love each day
• Having a healthy routine
• Getting sleep and taking a sabbath
• Working on a meaningful project
• Giving generously to the people around me
• Being wise with my finances
• Having some sort of artistic creative expression in my life
• Having a long-term vision for my life

Don Miller, http://storylineblog.com/2013/01/24/finding-contentment/

The Lone Bellow.

twloha:

Maybe you’ve heard us talk about Zach Williams in recent years. Maybe you heard him sing at one of our college events. If you did, then you probably remember because Zach’s voice is the sort of thing that stays with you. He sings with urgency and honesty and passion. Songs that make you feel and…

sosuperawesome:

Photographer Imagines What World Cities Would Look Like Without Lights

French photographer Thierry Cohen wants to show you what the cities might look like if they went dark on a clear day, and if the photographer focused on bringing out the stars. His project Darkened Cities shows recognizable cityscapes in darkness under the night sky.

To create the images, Cohen first traveled to locations that are untainted by the light pollution of large urban areas, capturing beautiful night shots of the Milky Way floating overhead.

He then combined these photographs with manipulated photographs of various cities (e.g. San Francisco, New York City, Tokyo, Rio de Janerio) to complete the effect.

Welcome to Midnight

With just a couple hours left in 2012 I sit here with my thoughts and heart heavy over the implications of a ‘new year’. Midnight marks a massive change to our lives, 2012 is now just memories, 2013 will be upon us. The one second change from year to year is arguably one of the biggest changes we face. A new year marks so much:

hope

anticipation

expectation

excitement

fear

Funny how one moment can carry so much with it.

For the past 13 years New Years Eve has always been a day I hated. It seemed to carry a heaviness that I couldn’t overcome, I feared Dec 31st more than any other day on the calendar. I hated the implications of change and excitement for a ‘new year’. I hated the hope that went hand in hand with a ‘new year’

hope to finally be healthy and happy

hope that this year would be different

hope that I wouldn’t hurt anymore

I hated this hope because it was always followed with the reminder that deep down I somehow knew I was too fucked up to change.

Tonight’s different. I now know that change can and will happen. It won’t happen in a moment at midnight, like I had always hoped and prayed it would.

-rather-

Change plays out slow, often much slower than we are aware and open for, but it comes nonetheless.

One year ago at this very moment, 2012 was a blank canvas, a chapter in my story that for a brief moment was completely unwritten. 365 pages that were waiting to be filled. Quite a beautiful moment, really.

Those pages were filled with so much:

change, grief, pain, loss, joy, excitement, hate, sorrow, hope, health, death, pride, courage, love, support, accomplishment

2012 was an intense year. The best way to describe it would be an aftershock. 2012 was full of experiences that played as aftershocks to the extreme events of 2011, events that I still lose sleep over. These aftershocks were difficult to experience but I’m thankful to be alive to experience them.

It seems that the last page of my 2012 chapter is me sitting here and putting these words on the screen, telling the heaviness of New Years Eve that it’s not going to win tonight. I don’t fear or hate my hope for 2013, I embrace it.

Here’s to midnight and what that one second change brings: 365 blank pages 

twloha:

I don’t know if it’s possible to define a point where a friendship begins. There is no clear threshold—but there is proof that one has crossed it. A friend is a story-bearer, one who lives so that the life of their friend may be known to everyone they meet. Even the most selfish among us, if they have a friend, will melt in a moment’s notice at the heartbreak of a loved one. The meek will dig to find their loudest voice on behalf of someone they hold dear.

Friendship can at times be painful and sleepless, but it is never a chore. Friendship assures that our screams and questions will never go unnoticed. Friendship knows that piecing together questions and lives is an honor.

Levi, Bree, and Gage are my friends. They are among my brothers and sisters in my “Tour Family.” I don’t know if I would still be doing what I do without them. They hold within them immense beauty, talent, and inspiration. They have felt pain and warmth, and they desire to share the things they have learned. After Levi and Bree lost their father to suicide, they wrote a song with Gage and his band To Speak of Wolves called “Rearview Memories” to tell their story, and this video aspires to keep that story alive.

This video and the song that inspired it remind us we are in this together, that art and friends exist to help us remember how to walk after we’ve fallen to our knees. It serves as a reminder that you deserve such friendship. It is worth the fight to be heard, and we stand behind you.

If you feel alone, know that the voices represented here understand how you feel. This is not the end of your story. Don’t give up. Our friends at 1-800-SUICIDE and 1-800-273-TALK stand at the ready for you. Reach out. Ask for help. You are so worth it.

—Chad