Recess in primary school: I hung from the metal spider web–whatever you call it–upside down, until my face would flush as bright as a ruby. The bells rang, the teachers gathered us in.
During class I noticed I lost the ring that my best friend Marie had given me cause we got along so well and easy. This ring bore a little ladybug, my lucky charm, and it was the only piece of jewelry I owned at 9 years old. It must've slipped out of my finger earlier, wiggling in the playground pretending to float, I thought. Once I put the pieces back together, recovering the ring became my top priority.
The next break was a race against the clock. Although the other kids running around got in my way, I could reach the spot and began scooping the pebbles with my hands. I turned the ground over–my nails and knees all dusty–I dug and dug and picked every rock in this square, but nothing. I was defeated.
The ring may still be here as of now, an artifact of where once great friendship took flight.
This story isn't an achievement of any kind, it isn't a staple in my life, just an anecdote among many. But it is how I wish to be remembered: a dear friend, arm-deep in the grime, trying to find something special, something shiny, a gift.
Thank you for the memories that your question brought up, given that I don't recall most of my childhood, it's a real brain twister (in a good way).
Feb 18, 2025
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I love stuff and i love hanging onto things. I love that i have a stack of letters my friends and i wrote and passed back and forth in class at 13 years old. I love that i still have the fake menu my best friend and i made when we were 8 for our fake restaurant that only served bug-based dishes. I love that i have a drunk love note scrawled on toilet paper at 3 in the morning in 2012. seemingly meaningless things like this from my past help remind me that I’ve actually led a wonderfully full life despite often feeling like I’ve not done enough.
Jan 29, 2025
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When I think about it, I think most of my nostalgia stems from being a child because I was unequivocally aware that I was filled with joy and trusting my present state. I was able to thrive in naivety because I was around people who had my best interest at heart. I didn't feel heartbreak simply because I was a child and had no purpose to date. I never felt true betrayal (even on the contrary of my second grade best friend randomly becoming my third grade bully...or attempted bully). My friends lived next door and on hot summer days we stayed outside from sun up til the street lights came on. Riding around the neighborhood on our bikes, buying candy from the corner store, then playing hopscotch with the bigger kids across the street. The nostalgia to truly feel free from the complexities that I face daily with interactions.
I look back and my sisters and brothers were always around. I think about the days where we danced and sang songs. Never aware that that day was the last day where we are under the same roof, laughing and mocking but with so much love in our hearts that we don't care. We just feel good.
Apr 24, 2024
its call takes me back to when I was outside all the time as a kid. my cousins and I often explored our family's property together, climbing trees, walking across frozen streams, seeing wildlife and flowers, and really just being innocent children. we aren't really close anymore though.
its call takes me back to taking a walk many years ago. there's a photo from it, me walking up a hill, my toddler self with my grandma and dad holding my hand on either side of me. I've seen the original photo too, with my dad as a toddler walking up the same hill with my grandma about 30 years before that. I'm glad I have that photo because, not long after the photo was taken, she was too.
its call takes me back to being at my grandpa's house early in the morning after my mom dropped me off before work in the summer. maybe there were birds in the birdhouses on the porch. and maybe there were nestlings being taken care of by their mother, and we could hear their soft chirping through the screen door. we had to have the door open because there was no air conditioning. well, not was, there was never air conditioning or heat. but I never minded because he always made sure I was cool or warm or whatever the season called for. I'm freezing now though, and he's not here anymore to help me.
its call takes me back to when things were a lot simpler, and I find peace in that feeling.
Feb 22, 2025
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There's this one note on the app I fill with everything– from the most joy-inducing to the shortest happening– that matters to me.
Key word is sincerity. Anything that can catch you saying: "What a blessing it is to be alive!". It's thoroughgoing work but once you commit it's very rewarding to see the outcome. Your very own reflection in this world through what you notice. The sense that you're surrounded by proof of love, knowing that you belong in that space.
I go over it again and again perfecting it, I try to stay true and aware. My friends began theirs at my incentive, we share our findings together and it mutually gives us inspiration. I wish everyone made a list of what they love. I'm kickstarting the project.
Feb 17, 2025
The Rhodes in Riders on the Storm (played beautifully by Ray Manzarek) turned the notes into delicate droplets of water. One of a kind sound, like a smooth lullaby. I saved a 115-hour-long playlist on Spotify containing only Fender Rhodes jazz and listen to it religiously. Praise the Rhodes.
Feb 17, 2025
I spent all night reading poetry, at 5am I wasn't halfway done. Here's what I found:
Feb 17, 2025