Living with Abandon

“Just remember, the same as a spectacular Vogue magazine, remember that no matter how close you follow the jumps: Continued on page whatever. No matter how careful you are, there's going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn't experience it all. There's that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should've been paying attention..."

- Chuck Palahniuk

I don't ever want to feel that collapsed feeling. Am reminded today that my best memories, my happiest hours happened when I truly let go and lived with abandon. So in the spirit of abandon, here are some things I'm doing in the month of October.

Can you guess which thing on this list I am NOT doing?

A. Reporting for jury duty

B. Judging a beauty pageant

C. Performing a vaudeville piece

D. Taking a dance class

E. Driving into the mountains of Pennsylvania

F. Visiting my first haunted house

What about you? What new experiences are you having this month?


love, elizabeth

Girl Seeks Adventure. Will Travel.

My mom has an expression. It started when I was probably 11 or 12. We were visiting a museum and I was whining about how bored I was, etcetera (gimme a break, I was 11). Mom said, "You need to start looking at everything you do as an opportunity to fill your pocket full of experiences." Gradually, this was shortened to "pocketful of experiences." Any time something happened it was "just another thing to put in your pocketful of experiences!" By the way, when you're fifteen and CONVINCED the world is ending because the boy you like doesn't like you or you have a zit...this is not a helpful comment. But still, Mom's advice has had a tremendous impact on me. I find myself saying it constantly.

Source: matchbookmag.tumblr.com via Kyle on Pinterest

When Kyle and I started this blog last year, we had been talking about how everything we had been through in the previous years (and if you've been reading this blog for awhile, you've heard a little about that) was like an adventure in and of itself. Not just because it was dangerous/scary/sad, but because we weren't always sure how it was going to work out. What if we looked at our life together the way a sea captain looks at an unexplored strait in the middle of the ocean? It certainly would be more exciting to think about it that way.
Seriously, if you picked up a novel and the story was about the day that Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday went for a yacht cruise on a perfectly calm day and they had a few beers and got safely back to port, you would probably put that book down in a hurry...

Source: timetogetpaid.tumblr.com via Kyle on Pinterest

So today I wrote my own personal ad to my life...

Source: shadows-in-paradise.tumblr.com via Kyle on Pinterest

Girl, still learning, still unsure, seeks adventure. Will travel. Not afraid of delayed flights, lost luggage, or forgetting the map. If you're an adventure worth having, she's ready to take a chance. Serious applicants only.

What about you? If you wrote a personal ad to your life today, what would it say?

love, elizabeth

PS: Just FIVE more posts until our giveaway! Clue #1: It's summer-themed...