Have you seen this poster already? Probably. I simple had to post i though,  because this is the story of my life, people. The story. Of. My life.

{Photo courtesy of AwkwardlyAlex}

{credit: photo by Gabriela Camerotti | quote by myself}

(P.S. Argh! It was brought to my attention that there was a typo in my first quote! I’ve since fixed it. That’s what I get for creating these things so quickly without proof reading. I hate when that sort of thing happens. Anyway, sorry about that!)

{via weheartit}

Like so many others around me seem to be expressing, I am more than happy to see 2009 go. Although many wonderful things have happened to me in the past year (graduating from college, finishing my internship, meeting my wonderful boyfriend), it all seemed to come along with a lot of– for lack of a better way to describe it– bad stuff. Certainly, I am not naive enough to assume that the coming year won’t bring its fair share of bad stuff, but I just love New Years for the fact that we can all start fresh with the idea that anything is possible. It’s like the perfect “Ctrl+Alt+Delete” analogy.

So, here are my obligatory 2010 New Year’s Resolutions. Some of them are specific. Some are more broad; all I believe are absolutely doable.

1. {Feel better about myself.} This doesn’t necessarily mean one particular thing about myself needs to be changed. I’m not going to say “Lose 10-15 pounds” or “Work out 4 times a week” or “Eat healthier” because my physical appearance is not the only thing I need to work on in order to feel better about who I am as a person. I need to work on making myself feel better about all facets of who I am– from my personality to my spirituality as well as my physical characteristics. My resolution is to do whatever it takes to make myself feel better about myself — inside & out.
2. {Take more photographs.} I have this nice camera that needs to be used. My resolution is to actually use it. Easy enough.
3. {Read more books.} Another rather self-explanatory one. I love to read, but I haven’t been reading for pleasure lately.  I want to change that.
4. {Take care of the people I love.} Start nurturing relationships of friends & family members. Stop focusing on the relationships that make me feel bad about myself.
5. {Do what I love.} I resolve to find a way to live a life that I love & sustain myself while doing so. As a recent college graduate with a Bachelor’s degree now in tow, I feel such pressure to do something with my degree. I have been constantly stressing myself out about finding a job. My hope for 2010 is that I find a job that allows me to thrive!

I like that I only have five. That feels manageable to me. Now, what about yourself? What goals are you trying to reach in 2010?

{via Ben Javins}

***
“Hope”, by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune–without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

***

This is my absolute favorite poem by Emily Dickinson. Especially that first line. To me, it’s perfection.

As a lover of words, I am going to begin posting a “visual representation” of some of my favorite quotes. Bare with me as my Photoshop skills are rather amateur. But, I hope the words can speak for themselves! The first being by one of my all-time favorite authors Chuck Palahniuk. This quote is from the book Invisible Monsters which I highly suggest you read if you haven’t already.