only the essentials

i recently had a birthday that when i was younger, i never believed i would live to see.

 

i am now 21 years old.

looking back, some of the reasons i have survived for my beautiful 21 years:

random fearless explorations, francesca lia block, the trees in jackson's autumn, mr. herro, short stories, concert posters, graveyard nights with bryan j, wes anderson, live music, 

polka dots, emmalayne rose, woody allen, destinationless driving, european adventures, taking pictures of anything and everything, lazy summer skate park afternoons, best friends, 

dirt cheap wine, old boyfriends, mixing paint, antique postcards, high heels, kristina marie, hand holding, polaroids, fairytales, green green grass, foreign languages, lyrics that mean something, used bookstores, blue blue sky, arica obermann and her nicotine addiction, charlotte d and her beautiful cupcakes, thrift stores, people who smile when you need it most, clean air, oversized sunglasses, road trips, yellow yellow sun, star gazing, neverending laughter, national geographic, the pacific ocean,

the sky in montana, railroad tracks, finding the beauty in trashy LA, old sneakers, dad, bonfires, sleeping bags, newspaper clippings, stoked crowds, vanilla, 80s soundtracks, making movies with chris, jones soda, glory days, terrible outfits, thumbtacks, finding the beauty in smalltown idaho,

dj nights in LA and dancing like tomorrow won't ever come, folk singers, beautiful imperfections, mom, disneyland with the high school band, bruce springsteen in the summertime, harmonica melodies, shopping cart parking lot heroes, midnight parking lot discussions that end up meaning the world, conor oberst,

learning each and every day, living, laughing, crying, loving, breathing, holding on, letting go. 

and every single one of my old yearbooks.

the challenge that lay ahead for the next 21 + years is simply this:

find comfort and solace in littlest things. 

life really is beautiful.