201 Dawes

Today, the last roommate in my presence has begun to move belongings out.
Through our door.
Into the next chapter.
And watching it happen,
it hit me.

We've graduated. We've finished. We're starting a new chapter.
And the memories we made at 201 Dawes,
will be the ones to stick.

It was here where we stumbled as we figured out how to be adults.
We made mistakes.
Birthdays were celebrated.
From 20 to 21.
21 to 22.
22 to 23.

The memories we have are the ones we will never forget.
Our nights led to one of two things:
a good time
or
a great story.

We captured sunsets.
We grilled out.
We danced,
and played our music too loud.
We ran laps,
and laughed enough to fill the block.

We took pictures in the mirror that grew to know us,
dressed down for socials,
and dressed up for formals.

This kitchen is where we experimented with cooking.
This house taught us what cleaning upkeep looks like
(and what it doesn't look like).
This living room has taught us how to create community.

We thought sharing was hard in kindergarten,
no one tells you how hard it is in college.
This house taught us how.

We learned how to talk to neighbors.
How to shovel.
How to park.
And to appreciate good communication.

We made friends,
and left friends.

These walls have heard breakups,
and have embraced us as we grew to fall in love with our soulmates.
Secrets were shared,
and tears were shed,

As I sat in a bare house the morning my parents left,
I couldn't visualize graduation.
Today, I'm in awe that I have only numbered days remaining.

And will forever be baffled by the fact that
while the current me can't wait to move out,
the future me will be dying to come back.

They came in.
They moved out.
And they will always remain apart of.


8 girls.
over
3 years.
at
1 address.

I believe

I believe in camp.
I believe that yelling at the table is healthy.
I believe in dancing around the dining hall.
I believe in sitting, standing and being hoisted up on chairs.
I believe in summer air,
in mosquito bites,
and in lake smelling hair.

I believe mud pits are awesome medicine for a rainy day.
I believe in games.
I believe in songs with actions.
I believe in noise makers.
I believe in sticks,
and rocks,
and pine needles.

I believe in sandals,
and t-shirts,
and shorts.
I believe in the skit closet,
and fanny packs,
and bro-tanks.
I believe no one will look socially acceptable when we go out on Friday's together.

I believe nightly campfires warm the soul.
I believe the starts from the athletic field are the most beautiful.
I believe in group building,
in waking up campers with metal plates and wooden spoons,
and chaco tans.

I believe in camp outs,
in raids,
in pranks.
I believe in staff shenanigans,
and sometimes I still believe that the directors don't know they're going on.

I believe camp can change a person forever.
Camp may be made for the campers,
but I believe,
that while camp will always impact a child,
it will forever change the course of a counselor's life.

inspiration

Three things that my heart celebrates the most, Faith, love and words. Put them together and you get something magical.

www dot

We live in the realm of the notification from an object. We have fallen in love with a screen. We are prisoners to a device 1% of our size and immeasurable amounts less than our personal worth. Striving for the acceptance and approval of a fellow device rather than a being.
We converse with mere ghosts of people. Seeking acceptance from strangers we'll never meet and exchanging words that we'd embarrassed to display face to face. Words written that your grandmother would be ashamed of.
Seeking gratification from a buzz.
The light that illuminates our rooms late at night is that of a touch, swiped left or right, not from the eyes of another. Their words lacking luster as they are displayed rather than spoken and take a stab at who we are and lack any form of respect.
The essence of the presence of a soul is lost in the lack of our ability to see the necessity. We are soul searching in a soulless place.
We have shifted our source of appreciation and acceptance. We are no longer looking to fellow beings, but to electricity.
We are feeding ourselves with a source of no nourishment. All of it will never be enough.
We seek so much recognition from data uploaded to an unreachable place that we forget the beauty around us.
As you submit what you consider beauty to an uninhabited audience, you are putting yourself into a box. Defining yourself by a 2*2 inch square and 114 characters.
I will not let myself be defined by those minuscule dimensions. I believe my beauty is far more grand than a square of that size. I have far more important thoughts than to be limited by characters.
Last time I checked, the world was larger.
Why not live there. Experience there.
Live in the totality of your being, not a snip-it of it.
Do not be scared to experience something bigger than a 4 inch squared footage.