Culture

Recently I've learned so much about cultures and different ways of viewing life. Many people only like to have one perspective and one way of looking at something, but it's not enough. There's a whole world out there waiting to be seen and understood. By limiting yourself to a certain way/idea it's wasting everything you can live for. Adventures and discovering new places aren't only for experiences and fun, they're supposed to be food for the mind. Feed off of different cultures and see the way others live. People choose to close their eyes to the world and the real things that are happening, and the different people with other life styles. Being open minded to it all can evolve your whole mind set and truly make you a more cultured person. Surround yourself in a random restaurant with new tastes, or drive somewhere you've never been to. Absorb the adventures and let the world sink into your mind, because that's what adventures are for and there's a whole world waiting to be touched by you.

- Soph

snowed in

Snow:  A beautiful yet irritating water vapor frozen into white flakes that fall to the ground and claim their territory. They stick to the ground and come down like minions on a mission. The sky is white, mirroring the ground, and it as though we are surrounded in a bubble of colorless peace. Usually, I would love snow, as it falls to the ground and jeopardizes the opening of school. Today the schools hold their stance, and refuse to close. The students are forced wander through the streets, driving unsafe and avoiding trouble. We, some students, chose to stay in our sheets and make a cup of hot coco. We let the warmth feel of our covers comfort us and we smile at the fact that the schools are half empty. I sit here, glancing out my window, with my kindle by my side and glance out my window. I look at the beauty of the snow and at my car that is covered with the sheets of white snowflakes. Snowed in, well technically..  

Sunsets;;

When I saw this sunset it looked like I was staring at a postcard my friend sent me. This could not be real; I could not be standing here in front of this masterpiece. The sky looked vibrant like a child high on sugar before he crashes. The sun was being overpowered, as it waits to retreat. If one is lucky to catch the moments in between the rise of the moon and descend of the sun, the colors will ultimately surprise you every time. The rich blue engulfs the red until it is spread out across the sky. The sun modestly hides beneath the colors, before the richness of it all could register in the onlookers’ eyes, the sun is gone and the moon is out. The sky is dark and the faded peach is only in your head. The walk is slow as you descend off the beach; the air is cool as you shower and change into your night attire. But all you could think about is that sunset..and how the rich red subdued into something you will never see again. For no sunset is the same, as for is no day in ones life.

         Traveling is a thrill. The places I visit all feed my will to explore and my desire for adventure. The one thing I look forward to every day is sunsets. The sunset reminds me of my emotions; in the end what is meant to happen will happen. The sky will turn a dark blue, no matter how much the sun fights, and spreads itself against the darkness. It still will happen. Unlike the sun, we have a choice. At the end of our day we can be engulfed by darkness or let the brightness of the day contribute to our night. One must take adventures to know where they truly belong, learn from your surroundings and take it in. Don’t let the darkness consume you at the end of the day, you be the one to consume the darkness and use your vibrant colors to strengthen relationships, learn, educate and most of all explore.

      -Flo

Time Heals

They say that time heals all wounds,

and that I'll be stronger one day.

But what they didn't tell me was

how hard it would be

to grow muscles after being weak for so long

I wasn't warned about the weights,

and how heavy they would be to carry,

or about the non stop visions that would haunt me

through every better day.

What they didn't tell me was how much easier carrying things would be

once my muscles grew larger.

Because when the lights get swapped for night,

and winter freezes over everything including me

I can say I carried the weights and grew muscles

strong enough to get through it this time.

- Sophia Safdieh

Explore the Change

My coffee wired brain keeps me up at night with the memories of last years mistakes and this years opportunities. Change has scripted itself through the clouds and it sways through the air in which I breathe. Change is scary to me not because of leaving behind what I've come to know. It's scary because of what I don't know and what lies ahead on the luminously frightful path. My mind pulses like a blender at the very thought of the future and the different challenges I will be faced with. As John Green said in his book Looking For Alaska "we use the future to escape the present". That quote has stuck with me like a scar from the moment I read it. Even though the future can be in a year or five the future is also now. My thoughts are in the future, we're all living in the future scientifically delayed from the present. Change is the future, and I want to be that change. It's useless to worry about change because it's inevitable like the sun coming up every morning.
Adventure isn't about fearing the dusty road.  Explore the change that is bound to happen and the future that is occurring right now. Explore the thoughts that feed your mind each night. Explore the unknown and make it known.

- Sophia Safdieh

Be Zen

Adventure is a word that can be interpreted in many different ways.

Define Adventure: an exciting or very unusual experience.

​When one says they want to go on an adventure, what do they really mean? Do they want to escape and fly away to a place where the hot uv rays will beam on their skin, and act as their therapy. Do they want to try a new restaurant, one that is known for its excellent food?

An adventure can be from simple to as far-fetched as you want to make it.

I find that adventurous people are so focused on moving forward and learning new things, that when something bad happens they don’t stumble, instead they make it part of their dance. The dance of an adventurous soul is one that goes to its own beat, a beat that is immeasurable and unique.

Although they are so steadfast on making their mark, sometimes the dance can overpower them and a small storms hit them like a tornado. It engulfs their passion and life, immersing in them thoughts of hatred.

That was me today, the world seemed cold and bleak. My mind was out in the world seeking adventures but physically I was trapped and unable to move.

Until Sophia looked at me and told me, “Be Zen,”

And Zen I shall be…

-Florence Catton

Prisoner or Volunteer?

Stuck isn't a word I use lightly.

Stuck means having no way out like a spoon in a peanut butter jar; sticky and thick. I'm not stuck here with chains around my feet and tape on my mouth. No one is. There's a map projecting through my eyes and a plan of a journey I hope to proceed. New journals are awaiting my presence with the adventures my mind revels in. Mistakes are in the past along with self doubt and objection to start living. A new year is coming up and I intend on making it a productive year. No more sitting in my bed from when the light hides out until it reveals itself at dawn. Self pity is destructive and selfish to what I can and want to do. 


I'm not stuck anywhere besides my own mind.

-Sophia Safdieh