Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Saturday [The Summer Break...]

oh. 
my.
really?

2011, you have proven yourself to be wonderful so far.
I had high hopes for you at one stage, but now, they're even higher.
School starts again soon, and with it comes adventures and procrastination and learning and lots of hard work.
But before that, summer has been a blur. A sweet, wonderful, sticky, hot blur.
Hand holding and good morning kisses, swimming in icy cold waterholes on boiling hot days.
Friend dates and real dates,
food and laughing.
Ridiculous music.
Regular sleep ins and tired eyes.
Hugs and happiness.
So so so much happiness.

The timing for this was perfect. 
A few weeks ago I realised I was finally completely over and done with everything regarding that ex.
Letting go was the best decision of my life.

And you?
You are wonderful.
Entirely unexpected.
But completely and utterly wonderful.

My head is still spinning from the unlikeliness of it all.





she pulled you in, and she bit your lip, and she made you hers....

Monday, January 3, 2011

Friday [The Train of Thought...]

One of my friends got me a whole lot of post it notes for my birthday. I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t have much need for them, and I already have a ton of lovely heart shaped ones to keep me amused. Nevertheless I am determined to find a good use for them, so here’s a post it note sized letter..
The fun part is that once you’re done reading it, you can stick it up in places. Not that you’d want to. It’s pretty uneventful so far.
Today has been a quiet at home day. It occurred to me last that that there are a number of things (call them bad habits if you like) that have somewhat taken a hold of my life and I would very much like that not to be the case anymore. Funnily enough it was watching Scott Pilgrim VS the World that drew my attentions to these issues. I love movies that do that unexpectedly and without pretension.
I digress. The reason that today has been a quiet at home day stands like this: it is cold and on and off sprinkling out, my mum has my car, and I’ve been in a thoughtful, pensive mood all day.
Once upon a time, I would have been dead set against the idea of me being an introvert. I know, it’s preposterous, but I was always so sure that I wanted to get into social work and spend my life helping people, and being introverted did not fit into the picture. However, it has gotten to the point where this fact is simply undeniable, and so, I have come to accept it and, in some ways, embrace it. However, I feel that i my acceptance of the fact, I have become slightly complacent with the things that I had always disliked about introversion. I mean, the fact of that matter is that I will never be someone who has hundreds of friends and is constantly out at parties and such. I’ve always preferred a small group of close friends to a large one of shallow friends. That’s just who I am, and for the most part, that’s okay. But sometimes I wonder if it is. If I’m somehow missing out on a huge amount of life because of it. I guess sometimes I wish it was easier for me to talk to strangers, or make friends, or just be amazingly bubbly and airheady and forward with everyone. I’m not. There’s no point in trying to be that also, because I hate the idea of being fake. But at the same time, I feel like every now and then I might need to be. 
Fake it till you make it, right?

My ex used to get to frustrated with me all the time. He thought the mysteriousness was intentional, an act I put on to get attention, keeping secrets just to be frustrating. 
It’s not, and I don’t. The one thing I’ve never been is an attention seeker. 
I don’t like keeping secrets. They catch up with you eventually. I tell people about everything in my life. That’s just how it is. I’m not sure where the mystery stems from, but he wasn’t the first, nor the last, to tell me that I’m mysterious. I don’t know where it stems from.
I’ve always been an open book. Maybe most people just don’t care enough to turn the pages.
Their loss, I reckon.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s possible to become someone else. To act like them so much that you forget who you are. That you, as you thought you were, just ceases to exist. It would be nice, I think, to be someone else for a change. 
Maybe then I might understand how everyone else manages to function so well. 
I can’t help but think it silly how we all put on airs. How everyone pretends to be normal, competent human beings when, in reality, we all are secretly falling apart, held together by bits of string. OUr seams are a all a little frayed, and we all have nightmares that haunt us.
I think people should be more honest with each other.
Not just in the “I’m not going to lie anymore” sense.
I think we ought to start being real and not just hiding behind perfectly composed exteriors. It would make so much more sense.
Sometimes, I wake up and feel like the fattest person in the world. None of my clothes fit right, my hair is a complete wreck, and my skin looks like the surface of the moon. On days like these I don’t want to go out and be surrounded by skinny people with awesome clothes, perfect skin and hair, all glowing and laughing like they own the world.
But I’ve learnt to grin and bear it. To accept the fact that everyone has bad days, and it doesn’t at all change who I am. I guess I can only hope that I might run into someone having the same issues as me and, seeing me being okay with my less than perfect exterior, maybe they might learn to be a little more okay with theirs.
I think it comes down to a matter of believing in yourself. More so, I think it comes down to trusting yourself. For example, if I’m typing something, I know very well how to touch type. There’s no need for me to look at the keys, as I’ve been doing this so long that my fingers automatically find the right spot. But the minute I start to doubt myself, or sneak glances at the keyboard, then I hit the wrong keys, make ridiculous typo’s, skip letters all together. It’s like the minute I start to doubt myself, my brain freezes up.
Now, what if I was just to believe in myself about everything? All the time? Regardless of whether it was the first time I was doing something, or the thousandth. Wouldn’t it make sense that I’d be better at everything? I mean, obviously there are things I couldn’t do. I’ll never be a tightrope walker, for one, or pilot a submarine. But when it comes down to the things that I know how to do, that I know I’m good at, that I’ve succeeded at in the past, why should I doubt myself anymore? The truth is, if I don’t believe in myself, then no one else will. And if no one believed in themselves then there are so many thousands of things that would never have been invented, created, achieved, dreamt, brought to life.
And how sad would that be?



what if you should decide, that you don't want me there in your life...

Friday, December 17, 2010

Thursday [The Way Things Go...]


it's come to my attention, 2010, 
that it is almost your time to be over.
i'm surprised at that, and honestly,

just a little sad.

you have been good to me.
truly.
more so than i could have ever hoped for.
there are no doubt a hundred thousand and one things i could thank you for:

for art school, and awesome grades.
for new friends and old friends and late night adventures.
for cute boys and cute outfits.
for somehow surviving a year without a job, even though i never thought i'd manage that.
for a newly decorated room, and an almost entirely new wardrobe.
for creativity and creating and creations.

but honestly, most importantly,
2010,
if there's anything i take away from you at all,
the most important thing in the world would be this:
thank you for the courage to finally believe in myself,
for the reassurance that the things i love and the things i believe in
are the things that work in my life,
the things i was made to do.
for the knowledge that i am capable of succeeding in anything i put my mind to,
and above all else,
thank you,
for teaching me to love myself again.

it was never going to be an easy task,
and it may have taken me a hellishly long time to get there,
but i know i couldn't have done it without you.

i'll miss you. 
you were wonderful.
and i'm looking forward to what you're next of kin has in store.






and your ghost will have to leave...

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Wednesday [The Past, The Present...]


I found this:

"I've wanted words for this for so long, but they've never come when I was prepared, and the moment I was, they'd leave again.
And now? Someone else is writing the story I always wanted to.
If this sounds cryptic, that's because it is.
There's so many how's and why's and when's and so many things yet to be explained/discovered/understood.
The only thing I do not question, because it is written on my heart, and doubting it would be like doubting my own existence.
The only thing I do not question is that this is what I am here for. That giving my life to others is where my story begins and where my story ends.
I feel, as I read someone else's words, completely inspired and yet somewhat... hopeless?
The truth is, I do not know where to start in living out my story.
I do not know what word comes first.
There, I've said it, and it's out.
I guess really, it's a matter of beginning with the beginning, and since my beginning is to learn all I can, that's where I'll start.
In reality, it's where I should have started two years ago, 
but I didn't know all of this then.

I wish I did.

I wish someone had told me the story of a girl who was born to help people and would never feel accomplished, or even truly happy,
until she did.
I wish someone had warned me that once you learn what it is that has been placed in your heart,
the calling becomes stronger than anything imaginable.
I wish someone had told me that it was possible.
That it is possible to live it out without completely sacrificing everything that is necessary to you,
because once you start feeding your calling, the necessities take care of themselves.

I'm going to start my story now:

My name is Dominika. I am 19. I am engaged. I am at university studying psychology and counselling.
More than anything in life, I just want to help, whoever needs it.
And above and before all else, I believe this is the one and only thing that will make me happy, because it's the one and only thing God has carved into my heart.

The rest is optional."

It's four years later.
Oh, how things change.
Sometimes, I am so terribly sad for that girl. 
So terribly sad about the fact that all the things she thought were real and good and true turned out to be
all the things that weren't right for her.

And yet, I'm glad that she had a chance to exist. 
To be the person she was so that she could become the person she is.
I am none of those things anymore.

My name is Dominika. I am 23. I am single. I am at university studying fine arts and arts.
More than anything in life, I just want to create, however that happens.
And above and before all else, I know, without a doubt that this is the one and only thing that will make me happy. 
Because it's the one and only thing that makes me happy.

The rest is optional.



all things go, all things go...

Monday, September 13, 2010

Tuesday [The Thing That Is...]


so there's this thing...
i mean.....
it goes like this....
well, no.
once upon a time...

who am i kidding, those never work out.

is it strange that sometimes i spend days
in a daze
in a daydream
in a...

i'm not sure how this works anymore.
be patient with me, won't you?

smile.
stop.
stutter.
smile.
if i get to 2689 blinks, it'll work out.

oh.
there's no bargaining here.

hello springtime.
sunshine, blossoms, birds, butterflies
in the air, or
in my stomach.

it's been too long since the flowers grew.

there should be more moments like this.

let's grow old together
never growing old
at all.


ever.





all we can do is keep breathing...

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Monday [The Complaint...]


dear boys of the world:
when will you understand that when a girl says no,
generally,
it means no.
not maybe, or yes if, or possibly, or one day.

that's not to say i don't admire your persistence.
it is, indeed, an admirable quality.

but you need to realise one thing:

the constant badgering and begging,
the displays of gentlemanliness and strength,
the promises and endless flirtations with hope,
are pointless

if she doesn't like you.

am i making myself clear?

in fact, 
if one might be so bold as to assume that this is the case for most girls,
if she doesn't like you,
and you do these things,
you may very well run the risk of losing her friendship altogether.

i guess it comes down to whether or not you think this is worth it.

i hope you can choose wisely.




is she right way up, or upside down...

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Sunday [The Recurring Nightmare...]


why does my heart still race a little when i dream of you?
why does the thought of you coming back, 
even only in my subconscious,
make me a little bit melancholy,
a little bit lonely?
even though in reality,
i don't want you back,
i wouldn't ever want you back....

and yet...

i don't know if i'd say no if you were to suggest it.
i'm not sure if that's just because i want someone to fill that spot,
or if, 
deep down, 
i wish it had worked out.

this morning i dreamt that you told me you loved me.
even in my dream state i thought to ask you,
what happened to the girl you were marrying?
you told me not to worry about her,
but i knew, deep down, that you were still together.

what am i meant to do about you?
it's been three years since i saw you last.
my entire life is different,
wonderful, 
and going in all the directions i always wanted it to go.

you absolutely destroyed me,
and it's taken me this long to get back on my feet.
there are still things i struggle with, but i know,
those too shall pass.

the thing that shatters me most is that i know you don't care.
the likelihood of my name or face ever crossing your mind,
well, 
i'm sure it doesn't happen.

i guess i take comfort in the fact that the you i dream of sometimes,
isn't you.
he has brown eyes, where yours are blue,
a dimple that doesn't exist on your face,
and the best smile i've ever seen.

still, there are certain characteristics that are entirely you
and it is these,
more than anything else,
that sets my heart a racing.

but why?



i want to find someone worth loving again.





someday, you will, be loved...