The New Year arrives as a parcel of luminous anticipation. Delicately, we hold all its promising potential, as we would hold our breath. The New Year appears like the fragility of a dream, awaiting fulfillment, an elusive bud before it blossoms. 
We pencil our resolutions, for the New Year, staining papers with inscriptions of both ambition and doubt. Those who fear failing, make no resolutions at all. 
On the eve of two-thousand and nine, I compose a singular resolution: to live passionately, and thoughtfully. If we live with all we have, with intent to make each hour our finest, what can we regret? 
It is not that we should try for flawlessness, but that we try. Always forgive, because the human spirit is easily splintered by grudges. Speak tenderly, lovingly. Allow the fluency of routine be interrupted, at times, by impulsiveness. And pray, never clip the wings of hope, for with them, you can rise above despair. 
Life is far less in memory, and spirit, though, if we do not stop and savor in all that is tender and warmhearted: The intimacy of a kiss, of breathless desire. The winded laughter of friends, echoing into long emptied coffee mugs and lamp lit rooms. The vivacious feeling, of an affectionate embrace. The stretching smile of unadulterated delight, from someone dear, someone cherished. 
We live, and this world we live in is satiated in splendor, in daily miracles of magnificence, only waiting for one to lift the blinders of materialism and observe: The silken yawn of dawn and dusk. Sun beams fragmented, like a kaleidoscope, by leafy tree tops. The scent of the earth after a summer rain. The sea, with all its elegance and vigor. Misty mornings, blades of grass crowned with dew. Fireflies winking in the melodious twilight of summer. The serenity of earth laden with the pale powder of snow. The tiny pin-pricks of stars in the ebony mantle of sky.
And then there is, the sacred rhythms of your heartbeat, the delicate whistle of your own breath. The intricate, mystifying ways in which the human body survives. That we are here, that we are alive... 
What are your New Year's resolutions, if any? What are your greatest hopes for the upcoming year? How well do you usually keep the resolutions you make? Other thoughts? Title Quote: Lao-TzuPhoto Credits: Photographer Kim at www.flickr.com/photos/depressiverealism
On Friday, the fanciful Kit, otherwise known as Ms. Unreliable, gave me the challenge of the "7 Things" tag, requiring me to mentally root around in my cluttered mind of thoughts and memory and collect seven things about myself to share. I am not very fond of talking strictly about myself, however I am who I am, and I have learned I am the one most hurt if I ever compromise myself. 
I. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve shared my bed with a pile of books, numerous novels I immerse myself in before sleeping and upon waking, kindred souls paged and laid open, to mark my place. What I’ll do should I ever get married and my husband wants somewhere to sleep, heaven knows. After all, I don’t know what I love more, the company of a good book, or the company of a good man. 
II. I do believe in ghosts, though I have no desire to associate or attempt to converse with them.
III. Whenever the day comes and I have an apartment or home I of my own, I am set on hosting classy dinner parties, with a select company to inspire and communicate in ways that have been lost to the era of often impersonal technology and vague text messages. 
IV. If I ever think about dying, of death, the one thing I am sure of is that I don’t want to go quietly, or peacefully in my sleep, I want to go out with a bang!
V. The traits I admire most in a person are compassion, a sense of humor, honesty, ambition and enthusiasm.
VI. I believe there is nothing a woman can wear that is more alluring than fine perfume.
VII. There is only one factor that is nearly always responsible for making me late to appointments, and events: getting dressed. I find putting together a look quite arresting, and when I'm done, I often want to take everything off, and do it again. 
Have you ever been in a situation in which you've compromised yourself to try and please someone else? Did you regret doing so? Now that I've told you seven things about me, please do tell me seven things about you! Also since it's the holidays, and because this entry didn't have much of a topic anyway, what do you look forward to most this holiday season? Are you traveling anywhere for the holidays?Title Quote: Janis JoplinPhoto Credits: Photographer Glynis Selina Arban: www.glynisselinaarban.com.
They say a glass seen as half full represents an optimistic view, while a glass viewed as half empty is a reflection pessimistic perspective. Yesterday, my momentarily distracted mind caused a car crash, and I wrecked my car, leaving me in a sullen mood and a glass that I was certain was half empty. 
Yesterday is only a past-tense representation of my life though, and today the glass is half full. Most my hard-earned savings will be spent on fixing my car, leaving me nearly broke, but I won't let my spirit be broken too. My enlightened perspective now is that I have nothing to loose, and everything gain.
Perspective is fuel for originality. We look at the same world, and see something else, our own worlds blossoming into life as a result of what we see, and what we are looking for.
Recently I've been flattered by blog comments from readers requesting my opinion of their blogs and similar. Lola asked me how to make her blog more like mine, to which I would advise, "in order to make your blog more like mine, make it less like mine." What I mean to say, is I depend on my personal perspective to blog, and I would be sorry to see anyone offer their readers anything other than their own unique perspective. 
Sometimes though, perspectives are shared. An individuals perspective may inspire another, and that person's perspective will adapt and reform. In fact, I do believe we would be missing valuable links and benefits if we weren't open to hearing and seeing others' perspectives. 
The manner in which we filter our perspective, what we look for, and then see, can provide us with a bounty of inspiration. In illustration, I have recently changed my perspective in fashion, and gathered inspiration from sources that I had previously left untapped: cathedrals, the night sky, a song: Ave Maria, candle-light, religion, eerie silence, and masked heroes. This territory I'm venturing into now, while it may only be fashion, is nonetheless a refreshing advancement of the evolution of my personal style.
Embrace your distinctive perspective, but never narrow your mind so that it is only possible to view your own perspective. Be open, and tolerant of the world's diverse perspectives. Conversion to another's perspective is never required, but if one is receptive, the discoveries we may make are virtually endless. 
Said more profoundly by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus." 
Has changing your perspective ever changed your life? Do you change your perspective often, and/or are you easily open to and influenced by others' perspectives? Who in your life, if anyone, has influenced your perspective the most? Since many of you are fashion fans, what is your perspective of fashion right now? Other thoughts? Title Quote: John Lubbock Photo Credits: By photographer Camilla Åkrans, and via Arvida @ http://arvidabystrom.blogspot.com.
I am so stirred by this entry's title quote by Bernadette Devlin that I am considering printing it across the back windshield of my car. Devlin does not glamorize risk, but instead acknowledges the gritty truth that we must first be willing to struggle, before we may dare to achieve and accomplish. Risk, after all, is not for the faint of heart. 
Perhaps one of the truest forms of life, is a life of risks. If we are too timid to allow ourselves to become vulnerable, too unsure to be willing to put everything on the line, we will never really experience the abundance of opportunity life can offer. 
What losses may we suffer, should we take a risk? What is so critically important to us, that we cannot seem to let it go of, in order to venture into the unknown? Our reputation? Our money, and material goods? Our dignity or our pride? 
Chances are you've asked yourself, before a risk-requiring situation, "What's the worse that could happen?" 
Considering my immensely vivid imagination, I can usually answer that same question with numerous possible results that would all be hard to swallow. 
Recently though, I've come to the conclusion though, that perhaps we should not ask, "What's the worse that could happen?" in regards to the actual risk, but that same question in regards to what could happen if we do not try. 
In doing this, I've noticed that the worse that could happen if I do not try at all, is most likely burden me more that if the worse happened from taking a risk. I know now that if I do not take the chances I have to make life happen, then life, as I desire it, may never happen at all. 
I believe most of us would coincide that a life full of risk, and even mistakes, is more honorable than a life of never trying at all. Therefore, we should, with a granted extent of caution, embrace the opportunities that rest in the risks given to us. 
Since spending this summer living in New York City (the event in which this blog's title was originally given for), I have been desperate to return and make NYC my home. Many great obstacles stand in my way, and while my parents are strongly advising me to wait until everything is perfectly aligned for me to move to NYC, I've made a monumental decision of my own. 
When the new year arrives, no matter what the situation, no matter how much struggle may lie ahead, I am packing my most precious belongings, leaving all else behind, moving to NYC, perhaps with no job ahead, weak funding in the bank, complete uncertainty, and taking the greatest risk of my life, risking my life itself, to accomplish all that I passionately desire to do. As Ella Williams smartly said: "Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it." 
Do you consider yourself a risk-taker? Are there any risks you'd like to take but are still unsure about? What is the greatest risk you've taken? Are there any risks you did not take, but now regret not taking? Other thoughts? Title Quote: Bernadette DevlinPhoto Credits: Matt Sundin, www.emsfilm.com.
