Up Close and Personal

“Be kind whenever possible, it is always possible.”   - Dalai Lama             A piece of paper with those words hangs on our refrigerator, peeking out behind other pictures and artwork that’s been hung over the years.             That’s the motto I try to live by, but as long as I am still driving, I don’t think I can ever achieve that level of kindness.         There’s something that happens when it comes to driving that I can’t help but think and act a little cruelly towards the other drivers. As if the barrier created by the cars is enough to let my true thoughts and actions show through. However, i n my day-to-day life I give people the benefit of doubt. Yeah, they might have been a little curt, but we all have those days. I do my best to make other people’s lives a little easier so they can have a more enjoyable day. So, it's a bit ...

As a kid I always envisioned that I would have lots of kids, so they could have a big family like mine. It’s like this whole little community right at the tip of your fingers. For me, my family’s my doctor, tutor, party partner, therapist, entertainment and basically my most valuable resource. At the center of it all are my parents. They’re the ones that have kept us sane through the years and made sure we shaped up okay. One of the most monumental injuries I got as a kid was when I busted my chin open. We all had gone to a park and my brother Ethan, my sister Eve, and I had discovered that if someone stands in the middle of the seesaw and pushes down by shifting their weight while two other people sit in the designated seats you could get it going extra fast. We got it going so fast once that I lost control of my body and came slamming down on the handlebar with my chin, giving myself a sizable wound along with a chipped tooth.  My mom, calm as ever, brought me home, made a quick ...

                 It’s a thick band, around one cm wide, polished gold and so clean that you can see your reflection on it. Love over fear . Those are the words engraved in capital letters along the outside of the ring.                When I first saw it, it made me cry despite my best efforts not to. It wasn’t anything too special, just a 20-dollar ring, but it made me so happy to have it. My brother, Ethan, had gifted it to me because of our shared interest in a brand called Seek Discomfort. The saying love over fear comes from their motto that the best adventures in life come from discomfort. Ever since I heard about this brand, I have been conscious about making little effort to get out of my comfort zone and trust myself. Now that I had the ring, I felt the urge to do something big, something to mark my commitment to a new confident me an...