A song for my city. The aching hearts. The pain, the fear, at a little school 3 minutes from my home. Kendrick Castillo, you were taken too soon. This is not fair. You should have graduated high school by now. Beautiful boy. The most beautiful boy. Brown eyes of promise. Jesus, please heal and save. … More Hope for my hometown
Hallelujah nevertheless, was the song the pain couldn’t destroy Hallelujah nevertheless, you’re my joy invincible joy —Switchfoot Spring break road trip 2019!! A car full of best friends. Cheap motels in small towns, friendly strangers, spontaneous pull-the-car-over explorations, early morning too-much-creamer coffee, four-day-old sweatpants, crazy lightning rainstorms, Polaroid pictures, roadside diners, tears-streaming-down-cheeks laughter. Driving through the … More The rocks cry out
I am glad daylong for the gift of song, For time and change and sorrow; For the sunset wings and the world-end things Which hang on the edge of to-morrow. I am glad for my heart whose gates apart Are the entrance-place of wonders, Where dreams come in from the rush and din Like sheep … More In Sorrow and In Joy
Waking Up to Life’s Meaning (These are excerpts from a paper I wrote for my existential philosophy class last fall. For the past year or so, I have been thinking about my death every day, and it has caused me to change my life in the form of taking risks and loving more deeply … More Authenticity toward death
New York City is a poem. That’s what I know after living here only a month and a half. It has a vibe unlike any other place in the world. It sings its own soul-vibration song. I understand why artists and writers and musicians and creators are drawn to this city, and have been for … More New York City is a poem
The sense of deep time brings a deep peace with it, a detachment from the timescale, the urgencies of daily life… a profound sense of being at home, a sort of companionship with the earth. —Oliver Sacks I spent my summer working at Whispering Winds Catholic Camp in the desert mountains of Julian, California. Most … More Desert Mountain Days
My eyes are small, but they have seen the beauty of enormous things Which leads me to believe, There’s light enough to see That you make everything glorious —David Crowder I just got back from a grand and life-changing adventure/pilgrimage/trip to Spain and Italy. I honestly don’t know where to begin, but this post will … More Spain & Italy: grace upon grace
So I just watched the movie Loving Vincent and salty teardrops are still dripping down my face as I write this. If you haven’t seen it, make some time for yourself to curl up and dwell in a story of art, mystery, emotion and the radical importance of a life. Human creativity and human … More Starry Starry Night
For all the air that’s in your lungs For all the joy that is to come For all the things that you’re alive to feel Just let the pain remind you hearts can heal —Paramore Adieu, 2017. And by 2017, I mean the overall suffering endured by so many this year in every community. We’ve … More Adieu, 2017
Freedom, ‘I’dom, ‘Me’dom Where’s your ‘We’dom? —M.I.A, “Borders” This past weekend I went on a short trip to Mexicali with a small group from my school. It was the perfect weekend getaway/break from the hectic schoolwork and daily grind. We explored the city, ate the most incredible food, went to a Mexican baseball game, and … More Mexicali
