(Source: the-healing-nest)
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
Ira Glass (via the-healing-nest)
1 week ago - 
72
72
Can’t people see that it’s entirely possible for both to be right, and that both, in fact, are? We’ve been subtly building up a society based on both fear and addiction. Now that we’re neck deep in it, it’s no longer subtle, but the average human is far too afraid to question and addicted to entertainment to see it.
(Source: yetanothermemory, via sara-made-of-stars)
I firmly believe in small gestures: pay for their coffee, hold the door for strangers, over tip, smile or try to be kind even when you don’t feel like it, pay compliments, chase the kid’s runaway ball down the sidewalk and throw it back to him, try to be larger than you are— particularly when it’s difficult. People do notice, people appreciate. I appreciate it when it’s done to (for) me. Small gestures can be an effort, or actually go against our grain (“I’m not a big one for paying compliments…”), but the irony is that almost every time you make them, you feel better about yourself. For a moment life suddenly feels lighter, a bit more Gene Kelly dancing in the rain.
Jonathan Carroll (via rainydaysandblankets)
(Source: jonathancarroll.com, via rainydaysandblankets)
(Source: gerdaros, via maximizeprofits)
A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.
Irish proverb (via rainydaysandblankets)
(Source: iheartloons, via rainydaysandblankets)
(Source: moshrcise, via be-a-dreamcatcher)
The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries
“Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.” -Ray Bradbury
For centuries, books have housed the collective knowledge of the world and formed the foundations of educational institutions. Given that these objects that contain such value, it only makes sense that throughout history people have constructed beautiful buildings to house them.
We put together a list of some of the most beautiful libraries as captured by Instagrammers around the world. For more photos from these architectural wonders, check out their linked location pages below.
- Stuttgart City Library, Stuttgart, Germany
- Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland
- Library of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
- Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, Rio de Janiero, Brazil
- The Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen, Denmark
- George Peabody Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
- Kanazawa Umimirai Library, Kanazawa City, Japan
- New York Public Library, New York City, NY
(via cup-of-letters)
why hasn’t anyone offered my parents 5 camels for my hand in marriage yet what am i doing wrong
The First Book of Space Travel: Getting Kids Inspired in Space, Circa 1953
Prolific children’s book author and illustrator Jeanne Bendick penned a vision of the future intended to inspire the minds of children to create the world of tomorrow. In 1953, when she wrote The First Book of Space Travel, that world was one where the stars would one day be within reach, despite preceding the space race by nearly a decade.
Maria Popova has collected many of the pages from this out-of-print book at Brain Pickings, and they are equal parts wonderful and sad (I seriously recommend checking them out). They painfully remind us that we have fallen short of these dreams, but maybe we can find hope in Jeanne’s words below:
Questions are more important than answers… If I were a fairy godmother, my gift to every child would be curiosity.
These visions are not yet out of reach. Let’s all exchange more of this gift. Here’s a little curiosity, with a bow on top. Because that’s the best kind of rocket fuel.
(via Brain Pickings)
| me: | [walking past book store] |
|---|---|
| me: | [bREATHES HEAVILY] |
| mom: | no |
