It takes courage… to endure the sharp pains of self discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives.
Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.
The plain state of being human is dramatic enough for anyone; you don’t need to be a heroin addict or a performance poet to experience extremity. You just have to love someone.
It doesn’t matter how sensitive you are or how damn smart and educated you are, if you’re not both at the same time, if your heart and your brain aren’t connected, aren’t working together harmoniously, well, you’re just hopping through life on one leg. You may think you’re walking, you may think you’re running a damn marathon, but you’re only on a hop trip. The connections gotta be maintained.
Berry once punched Keith Richards in the face for tapping him on the shoulder, and has a reputation for being both ornery and withdrawn, but today he isn’t either of those things. He’s gracious, in a southern sort of way. Pleased to meet you. He shakes hands and his hands swallow up the hands of his guest. He once was as handsome as Elvis, and he’s still got a great face, and eyes that don’t seem so much cruel or aloof as just kind of wry and sharp and maybe a bit amused, like he’s in on some sort of joke.
Great article from Esquire on Chuck Berry, who’s still alive, still performing, and recording songs that he doesn’t want you to hear.
Photo by Danny Clinch
Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
If white America would come face-to-face with white poverty, it would realize that these anti-poverty programs are needed in their communities, too. And we would move beyond a view of poverty as the pathology of a specific racial or ethnic group. Would white people casually accept Newt Gingrich telling them that their children have no work ethic and need to start cleaning school bathrooms?
Poor White Kids: Are They Invisible? (via robot-heart-politics)
That awkward moment where the only way to make white people care about poverty is to show them how it affects other white people. C’mon, white people.
(via dionthesocialist)
(via edmunddantes)
