Powerful Pictures Thread (stupid replies = infraction)

My Little Brother…
graduated from high school today. This Fall will be the first time we are really apart and I’m going to miss him like crazy. We’re four years apart, used to fight all the time, but now… pretty inseparable. He gets the jokes no one else gets and we can laugh for hours about nothing at all. He’s seen me through my worst and my best and we only grow closer. I am so proud of all his accomplishments, his character, and his ambition. I’m excited to see where he will be going in life and I wish him the best of luck.

At his graduation today, the students voted on the faculty member they wished to speak at the ceremony. The college admissions counselor was chosen to be that speaker. Expecting one of the sweet, mildly humorous, but redundant commencement speeches that are normally given, I was not prepared for the lesson I learned today.

He talked about what it means to live, to truly live, one full day. At first thought you think, sure, I’ve had days that were great, days I would want to relive over and over- but part of that day must have been spent eating, or sleeping, or doing something painfully mundane. He spoke instead about the moments of concentrated living- times when you were at your happiest, the most memorable, the moments in which you learned your greatest lessons. He spoke about holding his wife’s hand for the first time and the first time he heard his baby’s heartbeat through his wife’s stomach at the doctor’s office.

He said that he is 34 and has only lived 7 hours, 33 minutes, and 20 seconds in his lifetime. I came home and really thought about that. What are the moments I’ve lived that I will never forget?

When I turned 21, instead of getting wasted ( because we can do that anyday!) I had a party with my closest friends and family. They each wrote a little something- words of wisdom for me, a memory of us they hold dear, or what they hope for me in the future. It was one of the moments I really remember appreciating the support and love I have from those around me.

The second was last year, when I was able to survive Program Night with my four other ladies— I’d like to say that whole year was “living”, but it was probably those two hours on stage- specifically even, the three minutes it took for me to dance my hula for the talent portion of the night, that truly was living. It was the first time I had ever performed without feeling nervous or needing to think or try. It was as if everything was perfect and alright and I knew that nothing could go wrong. I didn’t really hear the music, or feel the steps, or think about the next move— everything just worked.

Last, was my trip to Hawaii this past March. D and I went to hike Koko head and I hadn’t realized it was going to be such a climb— stairs and stairs and stairs up the mountain in the form of abandoned train tracks. At one section, the land dropped away, 15 feet below, and it was just tracks across for maybe 25 feet. I’m scared of heights and the spaces between the slats made me dizzy to look at. D said there was a way around it— a path that went down, around, and back up the other side- but something in me was too stubborn to let this moment get away. I knew then, I was changing, that this year, 22, I was a different person than before. Before, I would have cried, I would have turned away, I would have taken the way down, around, and back up, but my legs carried me, one shaky step at a time across the wooden beams, my eyes trained on the metal rail, my thoughts numb. It seems like a little thing looking back- halfway through I almost couldn’t do it, crouched down and had to breathe, but I made it, D encouraging me all the way as he always does. That moment of stubbornness, those 10 minutes, maybe fewer allow me to realize how strong I was. That there is drive and willpower pent up inside waiting for the moment to be released. In that moment- standing on those tracks, I was living.

virunga got the war photos on lock, where is that mass grave from, and the one with all the Africans dragging a white corpse, was that Mogadishu?

also... if you havent already

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/29/yale-students-final-essay-goes-viral-after-fatal-car-accident/

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/may/27/keegan-opposite-loneliness/

I went to high school with her boyfriend (who survived the crash).

Damn..

Damn You guys putting me on some Philisophical shit now, thinking bout what it means to truly live. I think the best is not to overthink things, just live life and try to enjoy it while you can.

also... if you havent already

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/29/yale-students-final-essay-goes-viral-after-fatal-car-accident/

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/may/27/keegan-opposite-loneliness/

I went to high school with her boyfriend (who survived the crash).

Damn..

yea.. damn. makes me sad cuz i knew someone else who was like in the same position as her and got into a car crash and died =/

Damn You guys putting me on some Philisophical shit now, thinking bout what it means to truly live. I think the best is not to overthink things, just live life and try to enjoy it while you can.

we're getting to that age man. idk about you but im reaching my mid twenties..

if you guys havent... watch Take Me Home Tonight. wasnt that great but wasnt that bad either but it's pretty much the same idea of whats it mean to actually be "living"... especially those who are in their 20's in college, just got out of college or wasnt able to go to college..

everyones lost but you still have time to "live".. idk. hahaha