Here I am. It's 4:00 am, and I am starting a blog. Exactly one week from today I am leaving to go to India, where I will live for 4 months researching, interviewing, photographing, exploring, learning, and finding myself. I will need a place to record and share my adventures there, so I decided to just start a blog in general where I can share positive experiences and things that I learn!
So, here's for a good start. I just got back from Denny's. Yep... I was driving home at 2:00 am after a good chat with a good friend, and despite my tired body, I decided to give priority to my hunger and go to Denny's!
Now, first of all, let me throw out there that I have absolutely no shame eating at a restaurant by myself. I love being alone, and sometimes doing things out of the ordinary.
This time, I had 2 simple but interesting experiences.
#1: I pulled up to see a guy pacing outside the front of the restaurant, smoking. He had long scraggly hair and a beard, and looked pretty homeless to tell the truth. I'm not going to lie, I totally judged him. I mean, it's 2:00 am, and I have a car full of camera equipment which has value to me far beyond it's price, and I'm about to go inside and leave it all there. I was skeptical, and double checked to make sure I locked my car.
To my surprise as I walked up, this gentleman rushed to the door and held it open for me. I thanked him and went inside. It turns out this guy has come to this Denny's for over 15 years. He's a regular. He comes at night and has a table set up with jewelry which he sells. I got seated right across from him. I pulled out my laptop and asked a worker if there was wifi. After she explained to me how to use it, this guy said to me "and if you need to plug in, there's a plug over there behind that video game, and another down there behind that booth." "Wow... thanks!" I said. This guy proceeded to chat with me here and there throughout the entire night, making sure I was aware that I could ask him for help if I needed anything. He didn't work there, he just knew and was a nice guy. He never even mentioned that he was selling jewelry, although it was obvious just by looking at where he was sitting. But he never bothered me with it, not once. All he did was be exceptionally friendly.
#2: As I was sitting there, one of the servers continued to pass by me and ask if I needed anything. The first thing he said to me was "How are your whole-wheat pancakes? Aren't those the best? They're my favorite!" I told him that they were my favorite too.
(see photo. yum yum yummmmmmm)
He was extremely friendly, and eventually asked me what I was doing (I'm sure he was curious as to why some 23 year old girl was sitting at Denny's alone at 3am typing away on her laptop). I explained to him that I was getting ready for a study abroad and that I was working on getting things put together and finished before I left. Each time he passed by, he continued to ask me questions about my study abroad and about India. He even sat down once and just chatted with me. He told me when I got back he would buy me some whole-wheat pancakes and I could show him my photos from India. He didn't ask my number, he simply called me by name as I was leaving and wished me luck on my trip.
These two guys were guys I may have normally judged. Although I never would have treated them poorly, I might have seen them as ghetto, uneducated, or simply there for personal gain. And I was so wrong! Neither of them were there for personal gain in any way or form. They were both sincere, kind, friendly, respectful, and real. People like this exist!!
I wanted to share these experiences, because I believe in people. I believe that people are good. I believe that if you don't love someone, it's because you don't know them well enough yet. I believe that every person is an incredible miracle. A complex creation. A world. A light.
We can learn so much from people, and there is so much good in this world. Whether or not we recognize it depends on us--but that doesn't change the fact that it exists.
The title of my blog--4 am--comes from a song by Kaskade. Here's the song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovsjkYytGOU
and here are the lyrics
Sleepless gliding
Over the city lights.
Watch us flying
Over the streets tonight.
And I say,
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way.
I know that someday we will surely find it.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
Someday, there's a way.
Someday, there's a way, I know it.
Sunday morning,
Watching the city sleep.
Dreams are shining.
Finally they're within reach.
And I say,
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way.
I know that someday we will surely find it.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
Someday, there's a way.
Someday, there's a way, I know it.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way.
I know that someday we will surely find it.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
Someday, there's a way.Someday, there's a way, I know it.
Oooook, so everyone has their own interpretations of songs. If you want to come up with your own for this, stop reading! Because I am going to ruin it for you with mine. :)
4:00 am, to me, is that point that you reach where you finally see brightness. Morning is coming. After all night of sleepless gliding, adventures good and bad, you finally reach a quiet point where there is peace, and you realize that you are almost there. It is actually going to be a reality.
I don't think that a dream has to be the same thing as a fantasy. A dream can be reality, if you make it so. A dream can be a goal. It can be possible, and real, and practical too. Once we realize how much we can accomplish if we really passionately put our efforts into life, we recognize the value and divinity that each of us has--and the power that each of us has to literally change the world.
There are so many incredible and beautiful things in this life. So much positivity! So many impactful situations and experiences and lessons learned. My point, in writing this blog, is to spread that positivity. Motivation. Inspiration. Truth. Light. Honesty. Sincerity. Real happiness. Learning. Understanding. And optimism. Those are the things I stand for, and those are the things you will find here on my blog, as we all sleeplessly glide towards our goals and through life, continuously making it to 4 am with each one, and eventually making it to 4 am in life--where we feel the morning coming, the hope that becomes a peaceful reality, knowing that we have reached our goal, and the reward is just ahead.
So, here's for a good start. I just got back from Denny's. Yep... I was driving home at 2:00 am after a good chat with a good friend, and despite my tired body, I decided to give priority to my hunger and go to Denny's!
Now, first of all, let me throw out there that I have absolutely no shame eating at a restaurant by myself. I love being alone, and sometimes doing things out of the ordinary.
This time, I had 2 simple but interesting experiences.
#1: I pulled up to see a guy pacing outside the front of the restaurant, smoking. He had long scraggly hair and a beard, and looked pretty homeless to tell the truth. I'm not going to lie, I totally judged him. I mean, it's 2:00 am, and I have a car full of camera equipment which has value to me far beyond it's price, and I'm about to go inside and leave it all there. I was skeptical, and double checked to make sure I locked my car.
To my surprise as I walked up, this gentleman rushed to the door and held it open for me. I thanked him and went inside. It turns out this guy has come to this Denny's for over 15 years. He's a regular. He comes at night and has a table set up with jewelry which he sells. I got seated right across from him. I pulled out my laptop and asked a worker if there was wifi. After she explained to me how to use it, this guy said to me "and if you need to plug in, there's a plug over there behind that video game, and another down there behind that booth." "Wow... thanks!" I said. This guy proceeded to chat with me here and there throughout the entire night, making sure I was aware that I could ask him for help if I needed anything. He didn't work there, he just knew and was a nice guy. He never even mentioned that he was selling jewelry, although it was obvious just by looking at where he was sitting. But he never bothered me with it, not once. All he did was be exceptionally friendly.
#2: As I was sitting there, one of the servers continued to pass by me and ask if I needed anything. The first thing he said to me was "How are your whole-wheat pancakes? Aren't those the best? They're my favorite!" I told him that they were my favorite too.
(see photo. yum yum yummmmmmm)
He was extremely friendly, and eventually asked me what I was doing (I'm sure he was curious as to why some 23 year old girl was sitting at Denny's alone at 3am typing away on her laptop). I explained to him that I was getting ready for a study abroad and that I was working on getting things put together and finished before I left. Each time he passed by, he continued to ask me questions about my study abroad and about India. He even sat down once and just chatted with me. He told me when I got back he would buy me some whole-wheat pancakes and I could show him my photos from India. He didn't ask my number, he simply called me by name as I was leaving and wished me luck on my trip.
These two guys were guys I may have normally judged. Although I never would have treated them poorly, I might have seen them as ghetto, uneducated, or simply there for personal gain. And I was so wrong! Neither of them were there for personal gain in any way or form. They were both sincere, kind, friendly, respectful, and real. People like this exist!!
I wanted to share these experiences, because I believe in people. I believe that people are good. I believe that if you don't love someone, it's because you don't know them well enough yet. I believe that every person is an incredible miracle. A complex creation. A world. A light.
We can learn so much from people, and there is so much good in this world. Whether or not we recognize it depends on us--but that doesn't change the fact that it exists.
The title of my blog--4 am--comes from a song by Kaskade. Here's the song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovsjkYytGOU
and here are the lyrics
Sleepless gliding
Over the city lights.
Watch us flying
Over the streets tonight.
And I say,
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way.
I know that someday we will surely find it.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
Someday, there's a way.
Someday, there's a way, I know it.
Sunday morning,
Watching the city sleep.
Dreams are shining.
Finally they're within reach.
And I say,
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way.
I know that someday we will surely find it.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
Someday, there's a way.
Someday, there's a way, I know it.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way.
I know that someday we will surely find it.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
There's a way, there's a way I know.
Someday, there's a way.Someday, there's a way, I know it.
Oooook, so everyone has their own interpretations of songs. If you want to come up with your own for this, stop reading! Because I am going to ruin it for you with mine. :)
4:00 am, to me, is that point that you reach where you finally see brightness. Morning is coming. After all night of sleepless gliding, adventures good and bad, you finally reach a quiet point where there is peace, and you realize that you are almost there. It is actually going to be a reality.
I don't think that a dream has to be the same thing as a fantasy. A dream can be reality, if you make it so. A dream can be a goal. It can be possible, and real, and practical too. Once we realize how much we can accomplish if we really passionately put our efforts into life, we recognize the value and divinity that each of us has--and the power that each of us has to literally change the world.
There are so many incredible and beautiful things in this life. So much positivity! So many impactful situations and experiences and lessons learned. My point, in writing this blog, is to spread that positivity. Motivation. Inspiration. Truth. Light. Honesty. Sincerity. Real happiness. Learning. Understanding. And optimism. Those are the things I stand for, and those are the things you will find here on my blog, as we all sleeplessly glide towards our goals and through life, continuously making it to 4 am with each one, and eventually making it to 4 am in life--where we feel the morning coming, the hope that becomes a peaceful reality, knowing that we have reached our goal, and the reward is just ahead.
