Read Me Somewhere

It's been a difficult year but never a better time to reflect on the privileges you take for granted.

Farewell until the new year.

What? Humblebragging isn't a new thing? Nope. People have been people since forever. And First World Problems? Since always.

A man wonders if his existence has any meaning in the world.

Where does courage come from? Does it matter?

Repressed by his unloving caretaker, an ill child creates a mythological temple in his back yard. Persistence and quiet resolve in the face of oppression. Resistance done right.

There are many ways to mark the passing time. Why not vegetables? 

The Devil takes on the guise of a Holy Man in a ruse to possess the soul of a Good Friar. Memento mori.

Some experiences are even more beautiful than your memory could hold as a youth.

What are we? Perhaps components of an unfinished world, being made into something quite unpredictable—though sustained by an instinctive knowledge that we are being made into something better.

There's something ethereal and intimate about reading by candlelight.  

...and reflect on who you are, where you're going, and who's at the  controls. 

Gardening: the relaxing pastime that also puts food on the table—at least in theory. 

Re-inventing yourself with a hobby farm can be transcendent. Or, source material for a situation comedy. 

Loving a pet is both a gift and a sacrifice: priceless fulfillment for the eventual cost of letting go. Joyous years in return for terrible weeks. But I would do it all again—and have. 

The thirst to acquire new necessities that promise to improve our lives is nothing new, but do material comforts create simplicity? 

Immerse your senses in the soothing calm of the forest at night. 

To escape the noise and bustle of the school, a man seeks refuge in the library—where he experiences an unexpected encounter. 

Helen Keller reflects on the richness of her world and the comparative disability of five senses.