One Tree Hill Life Lessons

I've been watching One Tree Hill recently and it has gotten me to thinking about lessons I've learned from the

show. One Tree Hill has relationships, thoughts and events that really make you think about your own life. Now some of you may be laughing at me thinking I'm dumb to take life lessons from a TV show, but One Tree Hill to me is more than a TV show. I've grown up with that show watching it through high school and

college.Many of the quotes I turn to for inspiration or guidance are from this show. Like this quote below, 

we have to continue to believe in our dreams and wishes if we want them to come true because we never know when that might happen. I often forget to believe in my dreams, instead choosing to believe I am foolish for believing in something that will never come true, but this quote reminds me if I want it to happen I have to always carry it with me and believe. It's not easy to keep a dream in your heart, especially when everything and everyone is telling you you should give up, but it wouldn't be a dream if it came easily. A dream is something that has to be worked for so when it comes to fruition we realize how lucky we are to have it come true.

Another Quote that sticks with me is this one:

In life we often become obsessed with the end result instead of the journey we take to get there. We become so concerned with finding the perfect job, finding our true love, getting married and starting a family, we forget to enjoy all the mistakes and all the twists and turns that get us to the destination. This quote reminds me that every mistake, every fall, every adventure is part of the journey. if you let fear hold you back you might miss out on a better destination than the one you wind up at.

Along the same lines of worrying and fearing the journey is the obsession of happiness as a destination. The quote below describes what's wrong with thinking of happiness as a destination.  

We're taught that we need to be happy and that it is something you can search out an attain by having the right things or the right job or the right partner, but happiness doesn't work that way. One Tree Hill reminds me that true happiness is a mood not a place that you can arrive at. You can't picture happiness as being achieved by having the right job, or the right house, or the right amount of money. If you picture happiness that way then you may never be happy. Happiness is a mood it's not always there it comes and goes like any mood, but if you view it as a mood instead of a destination you may just find happiness more often.

If you find yourself unhappy or afraid or your life not where you want it think of this quote:

I think of all the time we waste trying to figure out why our life if where it is and try to put the blame on others but the truth is we are where we are because of ourselves. We can try and blame life, circumstances, fate whatever target we find to blame, or we can accept that we shape our own life. Life may not always be fair but if we fight back and chase after what we want we can achieve our dreams. Every choice we make every, every decision we decide takes us a step further on the path. So make the right choices if you want to stay on the right path because if you wind up on one you don't want to be you have no one to blame but yourself.

The Last lesson and one of the firsts One Tree Hill taught me is this one:

The fact of life is we are all struggling with something in our lives. Each person you meet is battling something that you may have no idea what it is. Remember that the next time you insult someone or judge someone. We have no idea what each other is going through and the struggles that each other faces. It can make a person feel incredibly alone to know that they are just one of many fighting through life. If you can find that one person, doesn't matter who they are if they are a friend, family, significant other, the journey will seem a little less lonely and scary. All you need is one to make you feel connected to the world and remind you you can make it through.

In life we are struggling to find the answers and find the help to make it through. Some people turn to God, some people turn to science, some people turn to books. I turn to anything that sticks with me, whether it's a tv show, a book, a person, history, myself. Anything that can help make sense of this journey we are on I gather and store in my mind for those times I begin to doubt and wonder what I'm working for. Whatever you may turn to I hope it reminds you to enjoy the journey and not be afraid.

Poetry Throwback

Finally a new post! well... kind of. Life has been crazy and I have been going through a rough patch. I didn't want to take the risk of writing a post that was me whining or complaining because that's not what this blog is about. Also I was just feeling a lack of inspiration, but I'm back with thoughts in my head that are ready to be written. I have perspective on this past rough patch so I can write about now from a place of reflection and analysis. So stay tuned for those posts coming soon!

I didn't want to leave you hanging though with just an update and I did promise some of my poetry so here it is! A couple of my favorite poems that I wrote in college. I have them complied into a collection that I hope someday I can publish. It never hurts to dream! So check them out and leave any comments and thoughts below. If you really like what you read then share my blog please!!

Puzzle Piece

did you ever wonder where you fit in?

How your puzzle piece fits into the whole?

Sometimes I feel like my puzzle piece

has fallen off the table.

The missing piece that no one

has even realized is missing yet.

It lays on the floor right

under the table,

as others work hard with all

the other pieces fitting them

into their place.

They work with the pieces that matter,

the pieces that make up the edge

of the image.

While my piece is one of those

annoying middle pieces

that isn't touched till the very end.

It doesn't make up the image.

It's one of those filler pieces,

a solid blah color

like black or blue

part of the sky or night.

A piece that just blends in

no different from the other sky pieces.

It's one of those pieces that

is easily mistaken for another,

which is why it remains

forgotten on the floor.

The last piece to be remembered.

The last piece to find its place.

Avoiding Daylight

She awakes to the feel of the cold

against her warm exposed skin

sending shivers down her spine.

She turns away from the threatening day

retreating to the inside of the bed

where light can not yet reach her.

She knows its almost time to rise

hearing her alarm clock tick away

her last few minutes to lie in bed.

She shouldn't waste her time like this

but she can't force herself to move just yet.

She hates this part of the day where

she must force herself to awake

and begin the monotony that has

become her life. Each day becomes

a little bit harder to climb out of bed

a little bit harder to not just lie there

just for a few more minutes.

As she hides from the sun, which slowly

becomes stronger with each passing minute,

she wonders what the point is...what is she

doing with her life? Each day she wakes

and follows the same routine the same schedule.

All excitement that might have been had vanished

consumed by responsibility and chores.

The only time her life promised any new

or exciting change was at night when

she could retreat inside the world of her dreams.

Her dreams were the only place where she could

let go,live out what she really wish could happen.

Morning ruined all of that, forcing her back to reality.

Morning was the enemy of her dreams.

Forcing her away from where she was happy

back to a place where she had nothing to live for

but what others wanted her to do. Her alarm clock

sounds its fifth attempt to drag her out of bed but

she ignores the call hitting the snooze button

for just ten more minutes of the dark.

The sun now covers her bed reaching its

full peak and she knows she can no

longer hide from its beckoning call.

She knows she must begin her day.

realizing that there is no point

she can't put off her day any longer.

Her alarm clock sounds for the sixth

time and she begins to rise. Slowly

trudging out of bed to face the same

old routine that is her everyday life.

The Walk

Thump thump thump. Listen to the heartbeat. Ringing constantly in your ear. Squish squish squish. The shoes hit the pavement. Rain splashes on the back of well worn jeans. Ripped and torn. Frayed and jagged. Pieces missing where jean should be. These pants have seen many walks. Many steps taken. Over and over the same miles. Again and again. Each step,Each heartbeat. Thump squish thumb squish. It's a lonely walk. More time to think all by yourself. Cars pass by. Cars speed through red lights. Brakes squeal as drivers abruptly stop. Zigzagging, rushing to nowhere. Splashing the water from the curb on whoever is near the sidewalk. She doesn't mind a little water. The bottom of her jeans are soaking wet. Why not the rest of her? Yes please soak her head to toe. Cover her in dirty curb water. Filled with leaves and cigarette buds. Whatever trash someone decided to throw out a car window. She loves the feeling of wet cloth against her skin. Clinging to each nook and cranny of her body. Showing every flaw, every roll of fat she may have. Jeans soaked rub against each other, on the inside of her thighs. Rub them raw. Stain them blue. She doesn't mind. What's a little pain? It'll be gone by tomorrow. Start the walk all over again. Lose a little more jean. Soon they won't be pants. They'll be floods. Up by her ankles. The part that made them pants long gone. So ragged and frayed, they fell away. She doesn't mind. These are her jeans. They are good for now. Dirty and torn but still. Long enough to cover her shoes. In the front anyway. She doesn't care about the back. If she doesn't see it what does it matter? What she only sees. It's what matters. Pay no attention to the cars passing by. The cars that don't stop. Won't stop. If they don't see it doesn't matter. Right? Thud collapse. Tires squeal as they abruptly. STOP.


And as an added bonus here is a picture or 2 of what I looked like at the time this poetry was written in 2010