#02 - highlights & lowlights

a wise man once said “travel doesn’t relieve your problems it throws them into relief” and i couldn’t agree more.

Rachel Leeke Alexis travelled around and found out. Sometimes, what you need is not money nor more money to be happy—what you need is to travel; to get lost.

it’s in the lost that you eventually find yourself.

the noticing and seeing doesn’t happen with the eyes alone.

it happens with the skin pores, the sounds from the belly, the electric rush from the strands of hair on the head through the body and to the feet, the goosebumps that rise without cold, the tears that fall without sadness, etc.

writing is more spiritual than art because the more you write, the more you see.

Andrew Ricketts made me picture the sweat on kobe’s face. The long hours he worked possibly burning midnight candle just so he can be the best at exhaling in what he excelled at.

i love visual lines like this because they help you see what the writer sees. To the point of the previous highlight “writers see”.

that’s the beauty of art.

it’s very patient.

And like the prodigal son’s father, she will gladly welcome you with open arms when she thinks you’re ready for her.

falling in love and out of it, isn’t reserved for people only.

You can fall in love with things, places.

i fell in love with writing during the pandemic. Shouldn’t be surprising as an introvert who was forced to do more staying inside than i appreciated. I like staying in but on my own terms.

6 years dating, with strings and ink attached. Marriage or not, the point is we focus on expanding the love.

to the point where the writing now dictates what to create without me being in control; with me just falling.

but I digress.

i really love seeing writers/artists share their love for the game. it fuels me even more and gives me more reasons to love the fall.

this made me fall in love all over again. Thank you, steve green. 🙏🏽🙏🏽

this one’s evidence you can be in close proximity to something, in fact, consume it and not learn anything from it.

you drink water everyday (at least, i hope you do?) and mind your business but never taught something as lifeless as water is worth learning from.

it goes through the throat and into the body without clinging to anything and gets passed out later on.

it takes the shape of wherever it ends up and keeps going. No grief for the last container nor anxiety about the next one.

which is either the most peaceful thing or deeply unfair, because water doesn’t have a personality to protect.

all that to say that, i can’t see water the same way again!

thanks but no thanks DOM 🙂‍↕️

“faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”

one of my fav verses from the bible.

to navigate this life, we almost have to be a little delusional before the dream becomes real. And sometimes, you need people around you to point out those evidences when you can’t see them yet.

i don’t know what things rebecca 🦢 hasn’t gotten over but it’s clear those things could shape her into the writer she hopes to become.

trying to laugh after missing a flight to attend your ex’s wedding is not a funny scene at all. But if you look on the bright side, you never really should be going anyways.

the only thing left is for you to laugh at how wise you taught you really were.

because why TF are you attending your exes wedding?

trying to laugh about shit that makes you want to cry without actually crying-laughing is a skill reserved for those who have hit rock bottom and found a basement there.

substack is quietly brewing some of the authors whose books you’d be picking up at the bookstore in the coming years.

Rachel Leeke Alexis is one of such authors.

she writes like a maniac who has devoured so many novels and now we the readers have to suffer for it.

once again, to the point earlier in this essay; writers fucking notice things and then give us the language to help us see and feel those things—like cold packs in hand. 😓