resonating.

I just watched Garden State, all the way through, for the first time. I remember being a little scared away from it a few years ago because there were some drugs and one particularly sexy scene, and that sort of thing made me nervous. Now, I understand why so many people were drawn to this film - and why I kept hearing about it, for months and months, after it came out. I don't know the fancy filmmaker lingo - far from it - but from where I stand, we watch stories like this one because they make us feel human. Characters like Sam and Andrew remind us of the people in our lives - and, probably, of ourselves - and so we resonate with their struggles and joys and feel connected to the vast, diverse, crazy family of humanity. Stories like this one speak to the redemptive value of every awful bit of our lives, giving us hope that nothing is wasted and that life, with all of its seemingly random experiences, is about something much more meaningful and interconnected than we could've dared to dream.

I think that it's important to note, too, that we are so drawn to these sorts of characters because we're allowed to see their flaws. It's easy to think, walking around in this world of ours, that we struggle alone - none of us especially enjoy talking about how messed up we are, right? Maybe it's due to a lack of confidence, present in all of us to some degree, but coming face to face with imperfection is freeing. It allows us to breeeeathe a long-overdue sigh of relief, affirming our own messy and beautiful story.

giving thanks for this beautiful mess.
0071. wilted flowers

0072. a down comforter

0073. comfort food

0074. reallllly mellow music

0075. hot soup

0076. the brisk, biting wind

0077. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, which gave me new ways to think about story

0078. dialogue with those who are different

0079. warm, knotty hats

0080. my daily Bread