The Capacity to Survive

What gives me hope for the human race is that we usually manage to handle what we have to. Somehow or the other, we survive. We finish the project. We calm the crying child. We accept our grief. We survive. 

I never thought I could handle laundry and food and cleaning and generally running a household before I moved out. But I could. I never thought I could survive that History course in college. I did. And let's not restrict this to the little things. There are people my age who are mothers. I don't think I could handle a child. But if I were put in that position-I think I would. When the Arctic circle melts and global warming is unbearable because we as a species suck at long term planning, I think we'll figure out a way to handle it. When flying cockroaches take over the world, we'll figure out a way to handle it.

Because we survive. Scarred, wounded, hurt, traumatized, one way or another, we survive. And we heal. And we move on, to survive new things. 

Because survivng is human.

~Sam

Hate and Love

Hate. It's such a strong word, isn't it? So much stronger than love. Think of Hitler. Think of aggression, of wrath, of the violent father's fury, of seething jealousy. Think of anger, of a human scorned, think of sore egos and nurtured scores. Think of the storm, wiping everything in its path. How could anything withstand the forceful tsunami of hate?

Then think of love. Think of the boy in the striped pyjamas. Think of childhood, think of innocence, of forgiveness and acceptance, of a mother's healing hand, of embracing the good in others and in yourself. Think of trust, of wounds healed and scars faded, of the waves washing all that is ill and all that is good into the past and leaving clean sand. Rejuvenating, regenerating, rebirthing. A renaissance. Think of second chances and a stranger's smile. Think of the birds rebuilding, think of the bud peeping through after everything has been wiped out. How could anything resist the gentle persuasion of love?

~Sam

I'm not even sure why we have viewers anymore (if we do).

Hi, it's time for the normal spiel again, i.e., it has been a long while and I am in no position to write something deep or coherent [shit loads of work left, and a friend is making the strangest noises as she experiences Confessions of a Shopaholic-the movie, not the book-for the first time]. So here is a bunch of things I've thought since the last time I blogged, in no particular order.


Loving is giving more, and getting more than you'd ever imagined you could or would.

Beginnings and endings are so special to us, to all of us, as a race. One rarely comments about the beauty of the sun at high noon-it's always a sunrise or a sunset that wells the heart. Maybe because they actually are more beautiful, but the same can be said about births and deaths, which have a way of bringing us together in a way that most occasions don't. We celebrate birthdays every year, a symbol of a beginning; we celebrate weddings and moving and retirements and farewells, because they're a new beginning, and an ending.


Not yet.
Not yet decided,
Not yet written.
Not yet a star,
Not yet a somebody.



Putting something into words is such a big deal. It imparts such a sense of certainty. Permanence. Words are so..lasting.



I am intensely fascinated by bruises, both metaphorical and literal.



Epiphany of the week: I've realized that I actually have hope for the human race, despite all our contradictions and our wars and our stupid silly quarrels and our egos and our occasional insipidity. Despite our Hitlers and our Idi Amins. Because we still have Schindlers, so many Schindlers that we don't even know their names. Friends, lovers. Who sacrifice for us, even if it is something as simple as staying up all night just to let us rant. And despite what Ayn Rand may have preached, I still do believe that to sacrifice for someone is the greatest thing you can do for them, and, in the right situations, for yourself.


~Sam