You Get More Than What You See

Like millions of others i saw the movie Avatar. And like millions of others i loved it.

One of my favourite things about Avatar is that expression the Na'vi people have: "i see you".

To them it means much more than just seeing one's outward physical appearance. To the Na'vi it means seeing into a person's heart. It is recognition and acknowledgement of one's worth and one's potential. It is affirmation not just of who you are, but of all that you can be.

How often do we "see" the people around us?

Really see them?

Do you see the gifts and talents of your friends? Do you take note of your employees' potential? Are you aware of your boss's leadership skills? Do you appreciate your partner's true value?

Even in searching for that one person to share your life with, do you really see what is right in front of you? We meet so many people, but no-one seems to measure up to our standards, so we keep looking. There must be something better out there.

But is it really that everyone we've met has fallen short – or is it just that we haven't really seen them for all that they are?

And if we can't see a person for who they're created to be, can we really appreciate them as we should?

Crime and Punishment

"Often times have i heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But i say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all...
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who, though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone."

-Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Mightier Than The Sword

I love pencils. The smell of them. Their smooth roughness. The way you can really see when one's been working hard, because a stub is all that's left of it.
 
When i sit down to write i usually write in pencil first. A pencil makes me feel creative. A pencil gets my mind rolling and wandering. I can doodle in pencil. I can draw in pencil. I can scribble and scratch and sketch in pencil.

And it's not about the flexibility – i don't user erasers. There's nothing more gratifying than seeing a pencil-filled page with scratched out lines and circled lines and lines with arrows directing them to a different paragraph. It's the mark of a job well done.

I love pencils so much, even my name is darylhb!

Some of the wisest advice i've ever heard is that if you want to have a day of rest, do only what you love and nothing that riles you up.

I love writing, but the minute i switch a laptop on, my mind shifts to work mode. Pens induce exam stress. But pencils. Pencils get me in touch with my inner child. My alter artiste. My hidden bard.

And a sharp-pointed pencil is the clearest metaphor for the power and frailty of words.

Heartverse

Yes, i know. Another blog. But it's really not doing you or me any good to have everything jumbled here on one poor, over-burdened blog page.

So, as of today, my poems will now be published on my Heartverse Poetry Blog.

What's more, i've gone back to (half) my roots and tried my hand at an Afrikaans poem. Ironically, it has an English title – it's called Roadtrippin'.

You can still stay tuned in here for my rantings and ramblings and musings and outpourings of stuff that is in my head and in my heart.

Thanks for reading. 

A Promise

You couldn't make it harder
For me to let you go
Cradling my broken heart
In the same hands that smashed it so
And i won't hold a grudge
But nor will i forget
That you're the first i fell for
With the softest landing yet.

15 Ways to Let Words Ruin Your Life

Word of advice for the day.

RELEVANT Magazine - 15 Ways to Let Words Ruin Your Life

Newness

i reorganised my desk this weekend.

When i woke up this morning and saw the new expanses of wood and the new piles of books, i was so ridiculously happy!

Change really is as good as a holiday. So if you need something fresh, start small.