departure.

    don't be so easily defined.   "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." - Oscar Wilde

today i leave.

rainstorm.

  you were born to be a rainstorm, to send your voice throughout the night, to sing your song with falling raindrops, to break the darkeness with your light, you were born to show raw beauty, to wash the dirt out from their eyes, but the whole world ran for cover, when you opened up your skies, so you made your thunder silent, and learnt to bite your rainy tongue, you gave them what they thought they wanted, you gave them life with endless sun, but as they watched their lives grow weaker, watched as their leaves turned brown and dry, they wished they didn't take for granted, your booming presence in the sky, you were born to be a rainstorm, to be chaotic and be bold, to show there's beauty in the knowledge, that you cannot be controlled, because you might think you're not needed, life without you is the same, but nothing beautiful would ever grow, if it wasn't washed with rain.

e.h. via—

--

i loved her not for the way she danced with my angels but for the way the sound of her name could silence my demons

-christopher poindexter

high+southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.

  Last weekend I went to the Counterpoint Music Festival near Atlanta, Georgia.   I haven't been down to GA (my hometown) in a few years so it was great to be back. The highlight of the trip was obviously getting to see Outkast perform their 3rd epic performance together in almost 10 years—the first 2 being at Coachella the weekends prior.   Other than that I didn't have time for much, although I did squeeze in a trip to Lennox and The High Museum of Art (that i ran through with about as much grace as a person stranded in the desert running towards an oasis), but overall the entire trip reminded me how much I love being from Georgia... and just HOW different it really is from North Carolina.   checkout the full lineup from the weekend here.     Please forgive my lovely iphone photos and the fact that I didn't record any of the artist's names. I'm pretty sure a google image search of any of these would pull up all of the credits. All photos taken at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

I realize the fact that this entire post is about the festival, but the imagery is only of the museum (which gave me a creativity boost i was starved for) because all of my festival photos are blurry crazed concert images from the center of a bagillion people — an experience I will forever remember, but rather not share here.

pinkgreen&blk.

  "If she's amazing, she won't be easy. If she's easy, she won't be amazing. If she's worth it, you won't give up. If you give up, you're not worthy... Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley   Surround yourself with people that reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel, energies are contagious.

lsd.

        Lauren Santo Domingo's Paris duplex via Design Chic.

thehunger.

  Friday I picked up copies of Dazed, Porter, and The Hunger then the new issue of Interview came in the mail. While they are very different publications, the editorials and typography in each were stunning! A feast for my eyes. I mean really, Hunger printed 20 different covers.                      

Extras: Another hilarious encounter with me caught on film here. My new favorite design focused tumblr. i spent a good hour scrolling through the images.

legend.

  this morning i read the alchemist by paulo coelho from start to finish.   the reason i bought it in the first place was because of this post, but i never got around to it, then for some reason early this morning i had a strange desire to start reading it— even though i have a list of things to get through today, it felt important that i take this time to relax and read, and im glad that i did.   I wrote this post while reading, so it's weird and unorganized, but I didn't want to rewrite anything since these are the thoughts that flowed as I went.     it made me wonder if i actually want to do the things i dream of or if like the crystal merchant I just want to dream about them.

"it's the thought of mecca that keeps me alive. that's what helps me face these days that are all the same... i'm afraid that if my dream is realized, i'll have no reason to go on living."

i should be a professional daydreamer because i'm obsessed with planning ideas. i have these grand dreams that are things i could actually do, but am i just content with dreaming about what i would do or do i plan to actually do them?

he goes on to say a few paragraphs later—

"you have been a real blessing to me. today, i understand something i didn't see before: every blessing ignored becomes a curse. i don't want anything else in life. but you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons i have never known. now that i have seen them, and now that i see how immense my possibilities are, i'm going to feel worse than i did before you arrived. because i know that things i should be able to accomplish, and i don't want to do so."

the boy goes on working for the merchant for 11 months and after he's helped him grow his business and saved up money to buy back his sheep (i'm leaving out many details) he approaches the merchant to ask for his blessing to leave and the merchant tells him..

"i am proud of you. you brought a new feeling into my crystal shop. but you know that i'm not going to go to mecca. just as you know that you're not going to buy your sheep."

that said... what dreams of mine am i trying to convince myself i want. like what do i really want and what am i trying to convince myself of that im really not going to do. ugh my brain. why must you think this way lol.

but then i started thinking is god saying something deeper like this is what you're trying to convince yourself that you want because it's good for society and a regular nice life, but you and me BOTH know that's not what you're gonna do. you won't be happy and im not going to allow it.

".. he was no longer happy with his decision. he had worked for an entire year to make a dream come true, and that dream, minute by minute, was becoming less important. maybe because that wasn't really his dream."

"when a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream."

i think that charlotte is my sheep. (ref. pg. 67) or better yet, maybe being a shepherd is being a graphic designer?   "he still had some doubts about the decision he had made. but he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. when someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision."

"you must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his personal legend. if he abandons that pursuit it's because it wasn't true love.. the love that speaks the languages of the world."

"one is loved because one is loved. no reason is needed for loving." "I love you because the whole universe conspired to help me find you."

DAMN.

"My heart is a traitor... it doesn't want me to go on" "That makes sense, naturally it's afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you've won." "well then why should i listen to my heart?" "because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you're thinking about life and about the world."

by the end of the story i'd definitely reconciled all the thoughts and questions above and think i should read this book at least once every year to check in on myself and see how same/different my thoughts are. I could go on and on or just retype the entire book here. haha. if you're like me you should definitely go read or reread this simple story. it will change the way you see life.

"When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed."

legend.

  this morning i read the alchemist by paulo coelho from start to finish.   the reason i bought it in the first place was because of this post, but i never got around to it, then for some reason early this morning i had a strange desire to start reading it— even though i have a list of things to get through today, it felt important that i take this time to relax and read, and im glad that i did.   I wrote this post while reading, so it's weird and unorganized, but I didn't want to rewrite anything since these are the thoughts that flowed as I went.     it made me wonder if i actually want to do the things i dream of or if like the crystal merchant I just want to dream about them.

"it's the thought of mecca that keeps me alive. that's what helps me face these days that are all the same... i'm afraid that if my dream is realized, i'll have no reason to go on living."

i should be a professional daydreamer because i'm obsessed with planning ideas. i have these grand dreams that are things i could actually do, but am i just content with dreaming about what i would do or do i plan to actually do them?

he goes on to say a few paragraphs later—

"you have been a real blessing to me. today, i understand something i didn't see before: every blessing ignored becomes a curse. i don't want anything else in life. but you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons i have never known. now that i have seen them, and now that i see how immense my possibilities are, i'm going to feel worse than i did before you arrived. because i know that things i should be able to accomplish, and i don't want to do so."

the boy goes on working for the merchant for 11 months and after he's helped him grow his business and saved up money to buy back his sheep (i'm leaving out many details) he approaches the merchant to ask for his blessing to leave and the merchant tells him..

"i am proud of you. you brought a new feeling into my crystal shop. but you know that i'm not going to go to mecca. just as you know that you're not going to buy your sheep."

that said... what dreams of mine am i trying to convince myself i want. like what do i really want and what am i trying to convince myself of that im really not going to do. ugh my brain. why must you think this way lol.

but then i started thinking is god saying something deeper like this is what you're trying to convince yourself that you want because it's good for society and a regular nice life, but you and me BOTH know that's not what you're gonna do. you won't be happy and im not going to allow it.

".. he was no longer happy with his decision. he had worked for an entire year to make a dream come true, and that dream, minute by minute, was becoming less important. maybe because that wasn't really his dream."

"when a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream."

i think that charlotte is my sheep. (ref. pg. 67) or better yet, maybe being a shepherd is being a graphic designer?     "he still had some doubts about the decision he had made. but he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. when someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision."

"you must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his personal legend. if he abandons that pursuit it's because it wasn't true love.. the love that speaks the languages of the world."

"one is loved because one is loved. no reason is needed for loving." "I love you because the whole universe conspired to help me find you."

DAMN.

"My heart is a traitor... it doesn't want me to go on" "That makes sense, naturally it's afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you've won." "well then why should i listen to my heart?" "because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you're thinking about life and about the world."

by the end of the story i'd definitely reconciled all the thoughts and questions above and think i should read this book at least once every year to check in on myself and see how same/different my thoughts are. I could go on and on or just retype the entire book here. haha. if you're like me you should definitely go read or reread this simple story. it will change the way you see life.

"When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed."

notlikeyoulikeme.

  And they don't have no award for that.

black&white.

        i really just can't. literally everything about Nicole Coehn of sketch42's new living room is like instant O. All of my fantasy interior dreams shown in a series of photos. See them all here.

her.

  The truly creative mind is inhumanly sensitive. To her a touch is a blow, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism, the overpowering necessity to create, create, create so that without the creating of music, poetry or books, her very breath is cut off from her. She must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency she is not really alive unless she is creating.

Pearl S. Buck

Update: I was recently featured in a video interview with Charlotte Creative — check it out here!

mind.

  i think too much. i think ahead. i think behind. i think sideways. i think it all. if it exists, i’ve fucking thought of it. -winona ryder

currently{re}reading.

1/2/3/The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

wishvs.plan.

  "I knew who I was this morning, but I've changes a few times since then." —Alice in Wonderland

Twenty-thirteen was such an amazing year for me. Though I went from being super focused on a specific goal to once again feeling lost and unsure of my plans towards the end, I feel very confident and excited about what 2014 will hold for me. I pretty much summed up the year with my return post back in October so I want to focus on my new dreams, plans, and goals in no particular order (some vague, some specific) along with the quotes I want to carry with me.     Over all I want to travel a LOT more. get lost. make more art, see more art. ruin plans, make new ones. reach goals, make new ones. maybe blog, maybe not. be young, disconnect, don't worry. and continue to change my mind..

**all images are from my tumblr archive. if one is yours and you feel some typa way let me know!

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welove.

  The girls over at B U N C H (an inspiring indie print magazine) shared a round-up of some of my favorite things. Since they couldn't include them all I've posted the rest here. Happy Holidays!

1: STREET MERMAID PLATE by Jennie Jieun Lee /2: LA Art Book Fair /3: Black and White: The Singapore House 1898-1941 /4: BEYONCE /5: The Best of Flair

saintheron.

I've been listening to Saint Heron and Sail Out pretty much on repeat for the last couple days.


I do not feel the fear of fallin, I wanna fly 
If it all goes well then I will


But what if I don’t?

-Jhene Aiko, 3:16am

&igottheyayoi.

  Apparently I've been living under a rock because I'm just now discovering the work of Yayoi Kusama— "a reclusive, colorful, and endlessly intriguing character." How I didn't see her collaboration with Louis Vuitton last year—and fall in love then—or during college, is BEYOND me. but oh well. I'm ashamed. She's amazing. I'm obsessed. and now I just have to decide which book to purchase.         God I hope I'm this fabulous (and still doing what I love) when I'm 80.           one, two, three, four, five

idontlikeclothes.

        So good. I love everything about this series of fashion illustrations by Dadu Shin.

womenlikeme.

“Women like me do not fall gracefully, we stumble over our spines, trip over our vowels, and collapse into your arms.

Our hearts are open books, Russian novels containing fifty pages on the way your voice drifts across the telephone wires each night. Our hearts are first drafts, unedited verses about each and every person we have ever loved: the stranger on the subway, the girl who gave us a balloon, the boy who took our virginity but not our heart.

Women like me will love you from a distance of a thousand syllables while laying in your bed, we will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible, and when we leave you will finally understand why storms are named after people.” — Katrina, M.K.

Thanks Lauren. All images via tumblr.

itwontstop.

  Mark Rothko, Untitled (White, Blacks, Grays on Maroon), 1963 — Image 2