Lightening to the Wind...

Have you ever seen lightning strike dry grass? Or illuminate the sky so that the shrouded night appears brighter than the day? For a moment, all around you is so engulfed in fire that the very hour itself deceives you. One of the common misconceptions about lightning is that lightning's negatively charged electrons move from the air to the ground, when in fact, it is often met half way by a stringing of protons from the ground, or other reasonable conduit.

The reason this fascinates me is this: lightning is a huge power, a force that cannot be harnessed, and something that draws emotions out of everyone. Be it fear, awe, inspiration, or the like, there is no one left unfathomed by it. But as I have very clearly explained with such substantial proof no one could differ, we see that it travels in two directions, moving both north and south as inertia drives it. "Power, coming from more than two directions? That can't be true. When I see lightning, it hit the ground; there is no middle-meeting-point at which both ends connect to create the static light that we see. Impossible."

To you I say fool. Look at the facts. And then look beyond the facts. Because no matter what you believe to be true about lightning, one thing remains the same: it happens. Now don't go putting religious mumbo jumbo behind this, but hear me when I say... Find inspiration in the things that we take for granted. If you waste your life on miserable proofs, where there is no reasonable facsimile for anything other than what we deem to be more than reasonable suspicion. It doesn't matter what you believe if you are dead.

http://tinyurl.com/ncguqu

~KL~

Blind leading the blind...

Sometimes, I find myself wanting to change the world. I think, "I'm a pretty wise person, I have some influence. I can change what people think... how they act..." and it frustrates me when I can't, or sometimes; I think more-so, when I shouldn't. There are things that are out of my control completely; actions of others that I can be no more than spectator at. It is not my place to be that 'all-determining' factor to people, but I am to be a someone who gives honest and sincere report about the things that I feel, and the things that I see. Always reminding those I talk with to take everything I say with a grain of salt. As much as I wish I could make things better, I can't. I'm fallible, I'm imperfect, and I'm weak.

So what do I really want to be then? I want to be compassion. I want my words to be life, and to speak truth into death. Sometimes I don't know how this looks, and most times, I probably speak out of line. But there is something to be said for words that come out of sincere emotion without dividing the lines of abuse and tactfulness. My words are merely spoken until they are acted upon. But I constantly think about how hard this is. To love the unlovable is sometimes easier than loving those you truly care about. It is hard to know how love looks in awkward or hurtful situations, but I think that compassion is absolutely essential. I will wear compassion, I will wear it, at the gates of Hell... We'll stand together...

~KL~

com-pas-sion
noun -
sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
from the Latin compassio, from compati "suffer with"

http://tinyurl.com/lvszcn

For the sake of all things good...

Last night I made a big mistake: I watched "PS. I love you" by myself. Why was this a mistake? Because I am sick, and getting weepy over a movie, doesn't really help that. Anyways, it got me thinking. For those of you who don't know the plot, here is the Cambell's Soup version: Irish boy finds girl, they marry, he dies from brain tumor, she tries to get over him, he speaks from the dead. Ok, so I am sure that cleared everything up.

Anyways, as Jerry (Irish stud and husband who dies) is in the hospital with his tumor, he sets out this entire plan to get his soon to be widowed wife on her feet and following her dreams. So he writes her letters to be delivered at different times and plans trips for her and makes her do things that she wouldn't have done if it weren't for him. This whole process takes over a year, but at the end of it, she realizes that she can't feel Jerry around anymore and she is able to, somewhat, rest with the idea that moving on is alright.

This made me think of my favorite quote from "Dan in Real Life". As follows: "This corn is like an angel..." Which reminded me of my second favorite quote, "Love is not a feeling; it is an ability." I think that too often we are confused as to what love is. Love can be lost; love can be found. Love is not easy, in fact, it is often the hardest thing that we have to deal with. Love knows misery, and love understands shame. But love can also die, if not nurtured. Aristotle said, "Love is composed of a single sole, inhabiting one body..." but this is only part of the equation. Loving one person is not enough; at very least love yourself also. Because if you cannot love yourself, you will not be able to pour love into others. It hurts me to see people that I love, struggling with their ability to love, especially when they don't see it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I could do it better! But I am saying that love hurts, and it is hard. And the only thing worse that living without love, is walking away from it.

~KL~

Power of Words

Sometimes I find myself on youtube, looking up acoustic versions of different songs. Sometimes, I am pleasantly surprised, and other times, I find myself wondering what I just suffered through. But, it makes me wonder about our perception of things. For example, the song "Here In Your Arms" by Hello Goodbye, is not a song that I would ever listen to on purpose. But, I stumbled across this acoustic duet of it, and I find that it becomes something that I quite enjoy. So why do I like one version and not another? I think it is because of my perception of it. I connect with acoustic music more than I do with this poppy-dance-ish mix style that I would hear pounding from my little sisters room. It is the exact same message, but it's delivery is completely different. Something to think about: next time you hear something that you don't really like, think about times you communicate the same things but in a different way. Some can be good some can be not as good.

Link to that acoustic version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j16phD1FFoo&feature=channel_page