8:08

       i think a part of me falls in love with everyone i meet because everyone has their own beautiful thoughts and details and flaws and laugh and words and passions and soul and just the fact that they exist and are living, breathing, feeling beings is incredible to me. to know who you are as a person is almost a necessity in achieving your purpose and spending your minutes in the transparent, blissful urgency that is so required of us. from the day you are born to the day you die, every morning is a chance to learn and every evening is marked by a slightly deeper understanding of who you are and why youre here. im not a morning person but i hate sleep but sometimes going to bed early is nice but also im a night owl at times but every now and then i have to wake up early for no reason in order to keep my sanity and after years of living with myself i still havent quite come to fully understand how i feel about sleep or time or clocks or dreams but i can rest easy in the fact that tomorrow i may know a little more of the puzzle than i know right now. knowing yourself takes a lifetime to achieve and to begin to know another person in such a way is to embark on an incredible, lasting journey with a full tank of gas and endless miles of uncharted territory.

       there is a simple kind of beauty in the complicated nature of each person you come into contact with and also every person you may never even know exists. sometimes its weird to think about the fact that there are hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of people on this earth that you'll never get to meet or hug or know what their middle name is or what their laugh sounds like or what they are afraid of or how many colors are in their eyes but it's that remarkable thought that should remind us how important it is to connect with the people around us and love every ounce of who they are. ask questions-observe-remember the little things that dont even really matter like how the number 8 follows your sister everywhere she goes or the face your best friend always subconsciously makes in the mirror after brushing her teeth or your mom's favorite word that nobody can ever use correctly. because at the end of the day and above all else, we were made to love.

Jacob

we are living,breathing dream-keepers-makers-seekers-doers and we were made to chase the sun from dawn until dusk and shake the world under the reign of the moon. we are fighting for the most noble cause there is and how can we expect to carry out such a task without receiving some sort of opposition. our thursday mornings are carried out with a wide-eyed, pure-hearted urgency and our lowest points should not be treated with any less faithful enthusiasm. the anthem of our greatest days will keep us strong, focused, and whole in our darkest hour. we are made to do and made to fight and do these things together-- when you are knocked on your feet, do not be afraid to take a moment, close your eyes, and breathe. it's okay to not be okay. but when we let our spirits sink and our obstacles control our navigation of the passing minutes, we are discounting ourselves and the infinite power that is coursing through our finite veins.

the incredible part about the battle we are fighting is that we already know who won. we already know that the same power that floods the earth with light each day covers every inch of our worldly skin. we must not let our untouchable faith hide in the shadows of the darkness of our present troubles. we should instead let our faith be empowered by the legacy of the souls who have already completed their journey and returned home. instead of moving on, try moving forward. instead of forgetting your losses, remember the reasons you will overcome. we are made to thrive and endure. and we will not be quiet.

i am a fool and you

i am a fool and you
are a rogue-lipstick stains on
my coffee cup: the blueprints of our
wide-eyed wanderings.we are
radical when
the hour calls for rational.we know to live a
life full of sense is
senseless-we will not be
shaken but together we will
SHaKE the world-there are many
things of which i am uncertain but i am confident of
this:
i can see
myself the clearest when i look
into your moon-beam eyes

remember the splendor of

remember the splendor of
venice in may--christmas morning packed
in your old car,everything we could ever
need typed and folded and
dusted with glitter. pages of words defined and
pages waiting to be filled with
life-lets climb the highest
building we can find and ask the coffee
man what to do with the
rest of our lives(26)

you do not truly leave this

you do not truly leave this

earth until the last time your name escapes

the lips of another--you are

irrevocably golden,your name

will be spoken tonight and when tomorrow breaks and in

the many mornings that follow but

even if it happened that one 

day the sun rose and your

name forgot to awaken, you will still

be here; you are timeless because

your heart was won and you will

spend an unbroken day in the

Kingdom of the Bold and the Free-

and it is for this reason the world

can breathe-smile-rejoice

in the fact that you are a Conqueror and you are

Home

Paul

time is selfish and unforgiving and running away from each of us in a full sprint- it does not do us any good to try to capture it, keep it, stop it in its tracks; any efforts to do so will be in vain. time is the silent killer of potential and dreams and un-lived promises. 

STOP.

breathe-

revel in the sunlight that saturates your skin and the love that opens your eyes each morning.
life is not about beginning at point A and ending at point B. life is the lines in borrowed blue ink hand-drawn in your back-pocket map to lead you home. may we always remember to livelearnlove fearlessly and without ceasing. every 60 seconds is a minute you will never again know. 

we are each called To Be and To Be wholly and completely and unapologetically-- live out loud and in color and on fire before your name is called and it becomes too late.

-- live each moment with intent and on purpose

in such a way that when your time comes

they will smile and say

'he was a revolutionary'

atlas eyes- how long i

atlas eyes- how long i

could study the native dialect of

your cryptic laugh- your

biographic hands can fill my mind

with words for days- i am

a map maker and you are

the world i must

explore

composed of pieces of

composed of pieces of
dust and gold,the wind
courses through my red dirt
veins to my
vagabond
heart;until my clock
runs down-'she
was a revolutionary'