The Oneironaut

And then I looked and I saw a sky full of Big Bangs.
Each genesis lighting up the sky illuminated my path.
Sometimes I wonder if in each and every one of these new universes,
You would be there, healthy and whole, waiting for me.
So, until I know for sure, I’ll set my sails for the unknown shore
Just a few kilometers from my origin.

When the wind smiles at my back and gently caresses my neck,
I remember that night when all of the universes began again.
Sailing on the dreams of last year,
I’ve learned how to navigate lucidity and coast on the current of the subconscious.

Now I’m back again, at the place where the sky gave birth to new existences
Hoping to find breath and catch sight of our waking life.

The bow of my vessel stirs the galaxies below
As I shake off sleep, dusting bits of God off of my shoulders.
Heaven lights up again and I see you, finally, dressed in deep greens, and
Ready to take me in.

I’ve traveled through visions of longing, of terror, of desire and of nostalgia
For longer than I can remember.
I can’t remember the last dream I had,
Here’s hoping you can remind me.

If you like my writing, you can join the site to the right of the page, like Speaking with Storms on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+ . If you have questions or just want to chat, I'm on Formspring too! 

Thanks for reading. Stay human, my friends.

The Symphony of the Universe

Symphonium Universi

The world is singing! Do you hear it?
The world is singing. All you have to do is listen.
On this spinning globe, there is so many millions of expressions of life!
They all are singing out in a beautiful choir of existence,
That hits me like an earthquake that brings me to kneel
In reverence. I can’t help put part my lips to sing along with them.
When all the noise is blocked out, and you stop to listen
You can hear it.
The world is singing.

I sit on the floor, with eyes closed and ears eager to listen.
The familiar pat-pat-pat of raindrops on my window
Ushers in a welcome rain.
Nature is has lifted its voices too.
I hear strings and voices in the Wind, drums in the Earth,
Horns and cymbals in waterfalls, raindrops and rivers.

Now I know why sages travel to mountaintops, prophets spend months in the desert
And the wise know the value of quiet.
It’s not so they can get away from the world!
It’s so that they can get closer to it.

We are part of it! Do you hear us singing along?
Hallelujah, we sing!
Let all creation join in!
We are here, we are alive!
Let us do what is good and right
And let the innumerable expressions of life create!

If you like my writing, you can join the site to the right of the page, like Speaking with Storms on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. If you have questions or just want to chat, I'm on Formspring

 and Google+ .

Thank you for reading. Stay Human, my friends.

美

I keep finding people who are unhappy with the way they are. I don't look down on them, though-- It is, sometimes, difficult to perceive yourself as someone who is successful, intelligent, confident, or attractive. Everyone feels that way, and it sucks. A lot. It sucks chasing carrots, trying to live up to society's expectations of success. It sucks pouring over books for the sole purpose of not looking stupid. It sucks mustering up the courage to talk to that cute girl or guy in your English class. It sucks looking in the mirror and telling yourself "I am not pretty enough" or "My muscles aren't big enough".

I personally believe (as corny as it sounds) that every person has their own beauty. In the 道德经 (Dào​dé​jīng​), the main Daoist scripture, LaoZi (also called Lao Tzu, written 老子) says that we only know what beauty is because we know what ugliness is. His point is that the entire concept of  beauty only exists because we compare one thing to another, and we rank one thing 'more beautiful' than another. This was strongly rooted in one of the main concepts of Daoism: duality. Male and female, white and black, hot and cold, strength and weakness, evil and good. However, another main concept of duality is that existence does not actually come of duality, but rather that two opposites come together to form reality. We only know what beauty or ugliness is because we only see the two opposites, and instead of seeing these things together (and thus removing the concept of both) we compare them, we rank them.

Life should not work that way. Life should NOT revolve around putting yourself next to another person and evaluating. That does nothing but divide.

I've talked to countless girls who have put their health in grave danger because they thought they weren't skinny enough. They freak out about 2 random pounds here or there and think that their peers will talk smack about them. I see many very, very intelligent girls compare themselves to others and cut out entire meals or even DAYS of eating just to drop that last few. It breaks me.

So... you're here, reading this silly blog post that only about 5 or so other people will actually read. (Thank you very much for your support.) Think for a second. What were you insecure about today? Be honest with yourself. I'll go right ahead and tell you one of mine. This morning, I looked in the mirror and thought "I wish I could look good with straight or short hair. I wish my nose wasn't so big. I wish I had a bit clearer skin. I wish my muscles were bigger."
Think about an instance today that you felt like you fell short when compared to another.

Now realize that you don't have to think that way. You don't need to compare, and you don't need to tell yourself you aren't good enough. There is someone in this world (besides your mother) who thinks you are one of the greatest things to ever grace their lives. I can promise you that.

It's not easy to rid yourself of those thoughts. At times, yes, you will fail and this world will get to you and hurt you. However, you don't need to put your physical well being in danger just to prove to someone else that you are beautiful enough. Stop comparing yourself to others. Remove duality and embrace reality.

Society throws hundreds of messages at you, every day, that show you tons of beautiful people and tell you they can show you how to be beautiful. I'm throwing you just one message to tell you that you already are.