Word Love

Today is the first of what I've decided will be a regular, possibly weekly, post topic. For as long as I can remember I have been in love with words and the way that some people are able to take just a handful quiet ordinary words and transform them into something amazing. I have journals filled with my favorites, books where I've underlined passages I found particularly poignant, and it's a safe bet that at any given time I have at least a quote or two written down on scraps of paper in my purse, on my table, or stuffed in the pocket of a coat. Sometimes I fall in love with something for the feelings the words evoke, others because the message is something I can so strongly relate to, and then there are the lines where I'm just mesmerized by the true beauty another has created through the simple use of language.

Here are some of my favorites this week....


The first comes from one of the books I'm reading "The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton. It's the second book of hers I've read and so far I'm enjoying it just as much as the first. The story is compelling and her writing filled sentences like these

“The girl in the mirror caught my eye briefly...It is an uncanny feeling, that rare occasion when one catches a glimpse of oneself in repose. An unguarded moment, stripped of artifice, when one forgets to fool even oneself.”

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This one I just stumbled across today going through an old file. When I was younger I remember driving in the car with my parents and looking out into the Alaskan woods. I imagined fairies and elves, unicorns and dragons, hidden amongst the trees just out of sight. I could always envision them in my mind, but their presence always felt more real - more possible - during winter. I say this happened when I was younger, but if I'm being honest I still do this today. I am very well aware that many near me do not share my current joy and happiness about the snowy weather we've been having lately, but maybe imaging that magic is hiding in the forests nearby might help you enjoy it a little better. 

"Deep within the winter forest among the snowdrift wide, you can find a magic place where all the fairies hide...

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The next two quotes come from different writers but share the same topic - eating disorders. I've mentioned before one of my new favorite websites - Thought Catalog - and both articles came from there. I read the first last week and was drawn to the author's description of that she felt like in the deepest throes of her disorder. There was one line in particular (which I've underlined) that I felt myself fall into completely because that's exactly how I felt when it happened to me.
The other article I just found today. This person's disorder has taken over in more ways than mine did for me. My behaviors were just restriction and purging through exercise but I felt myself relating to almost every word she said. Her fear and shame about others thoughts and reactions when they've noticed the change in her body is something very real to me - and something I still struggle with every single day. I've put the links to both articles at the end of this post.

“I have heard many references to eating disorders as being the “darkest days” of people’s lives. And while my days did feel undoubtedly dark, I remember them now mostly as quiet. Like when you’re about to go under general anesthesia in the operating room, and right before you slip into another world, you can hear only the humming of voices around you, and you can’t summon the strength to say a word. It was the deep sleep I tried to fight off, but ultimately welcomed with open arms”

"The confusion and shame that comes with watching your body change into the one thing you hated out of fear and disgust for so long, the whole time feeling utterly powerless to stop it, is a mindfuck of the highest degree.It’s one thing to have to personally accept the changes you see in the mirror, something I still have yet to be able to do, but it’s an entirely other beast to learn to accept the looks of people in your past."

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Now for one that's a little more positive. As I was doing my usual daily browsing through my favorite websites and blogs, I happened upon this quote by Tom Hiddleston. I am big on working to overcome your fears, to face the unimaginable and to do the things that seem terrifyingly impossible. Of course I am very aware that is easier said than done. While with some things I've come very far in overcoming a certain fear, there are others so daunting that years later I've only taken the slightest first step in their direction. So maybe we just need to dare to turn that fear into excitement. If we can do that just think of the life we'll discover!

"I never get afraid of things; I only get excited"

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Finally today with a line from Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" in Act V Scene V. It isn't long and might not seem that grand to most, but it touched me for some reason and made me smile.

“See, Posthumus anchors upon Imogen, and she, like harmless lightning, throws her eye on him”

I've shared some of my new favorite quotes but I am ending today's post with a picture of my favorite place on this planet. It is a place that I love and miss more deeply than words could ever convey. I hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I did taking it. I wish you all the loveliest day...

As Good as Skinny Feels
The Skinny Hot Girl