Etty Hillesum, She found beauty and meaning to all life

“One day I shall surely be able to say to Ilse Blumenthal, ‘Yes, life is beautiful, and I value it anew at the end of every day, even though I now that the sons of mothers, and you are one such mother, are being murdered in concentration camps. And you must be able to bear your sorrow; even if it seems to crush you, you will be able to stand up again, for human beings are so strong, and your sorrow must become an integral part of yourself, part of your body and your soul, you mustn’t run away from it, but bear it like an adult. Do not relieve your feelings through hatred, do not seek to be avenged on all German mothers, for they, too, sorrow at this very moment for their slain and murdered sons. Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is its due, for if everyone bears his grief honestly and courageously, the sorrow that now fills the world will abate. But if you do not clear a decent shelter for your sorrow, and instead reserve most of the space inside you for hatred and thoughts of revenge from which new sorrows will be born for others- then sorrow will never cease in this world and will multiply. And if you have given sorrow the space its gentle origins demand, then you may truly say: life is beautiful and so rich. So beautiful and so rich that it makes you want to believe in G-d.’”

-Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum was a Jewish woman who lived in Holland during World War II. She wrote diaries which were published over thirty years after they were written. She, an incredibly intelligent and insightful human being, wrote about her relationship with G-d, views on life's meaning and beauty, interactions with lovers, and non-violent battles with Nazis. I recommend her diaries as a works of beauty, philosophy, and a new way to look at life that softens a person's soul to loving other human beings and being able to find their beauty no matter what. 

 A quote from Frederick Nietzsche

"How much one is able to endure: distress, want, bad weather, sickness, toil, solitude. Fundamentally one can cope with everything else, born as one is to a subterranean life of struggle; one emerges again adn again into the light, one experiences again and again one's golden hour of victory- and then stands forth as one was born, unbreakable, tensed, ready for new, even harder, remoter things, like a bow that distress only serves to draw tauter." 

- Frederick Nietzsche 

(On the Genealogy of Morals)

Time management

Finals finals
Everywhere
Finals finals
Messing up my hair.
But how can this finals, this final, this thing,
Cause me to cry before, sweat during,
But after make me sing? 

Giggle Queens

Forgot how much fun it is to giggle with your best friend. I'm so happy that my bestest friend in the whole wide world (like how we used to introduce one another when we were teensy) came to visit me today and is staying for a little while. The night's been amazing so far, acting like we did when we were younger and putting on fake English accents while stalking cute boys outside of Urban Outfitters.


Things like, "that tree is so ugly," are probably not funny to randos, but let me tell you, it brought on laughter to us, and was exactly how I wanted to spend the first night of Chanukkah.

 I should start by describing our relationship.


Actually, that would be difficult.


So instead, I'll tell you how we met.


It was a chilli February morning (not sure because I actually do not remember) and I was in pre-school, but I was absent that day. So I really don't remember. 


Wait we met the next day.

this is liat. insert happy dance here. and happy smiles. everyone likes happy smiles.


People tell us that when Liat came to the preschool, Temple Beth Israel preschool, everyone told her there was someone who she was going to like but she was absent that day. Even then, I used to ditch school a lot. Well I don't know if it was because I was just dumped by my pre-school boyfriend because I would cry every time I had to leave his house, or if there was just something truly magical in the air that day, but Liat and I have been bestestestest friends ever since and have also not yet finished our laugh from that first day. 


Last thing I'll say. Before the freeway from LA reached our houses, it used to take Liat and I a good half hour to get to each other's houses. The fact that we had to be driven by our parents both ways combined with impatient five-year old brains made the drive seem like kind of a big deal. But for fun, to pass the time, and to utilize every moment that we had together, we would put on a white haired wig and take turns making funny faces at the people in the cars next to us. 

Some people laughed, and others just stared.


Basically, just want to remind everyone that when you're down, or when you're too lazy to work your abdominal muscles any other way, find your bestie and just laugh, giggle, and share good thoughts with one another. Love those around you, and if you don't like them, then come over and hang with us. 


Happy Chanukkah and Merry Christmas. Happy Kwanza, and have a good holiday season. Whatever your tradition is, whoever you spend it with, remember to appreciate how much those people mean to you. And how much you love them and life. 

Peace

P.S. When I was done writing this post, Liat read it out loud in a Russian accent. And let me tell you, as a theater major, it was hilarious. Lots of love my friend.

Meow

This video is provided to you by Melanie and Molly. For more funny videos, follow their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melanie-and-Molly/196123173796927. 

On a side note, I guess I did not learn how to spell cous cous this quarter.... but I know now.

Teaching Lisa how to say L'chiam

Chickens and Eggs

I recently ended my veganism and encorporated dairy and egg products into my diet.


But when I went to the grocery store to buy cheese, I remembered my time at a goat farm in France, hearing the noises the goats made while their utters were clamped, and seeing the metal machines that looked unnatural next to the animals. So I decided to stop eating dairy again.


However, when passing by the eggs, I noticed a small carton claiming to be free-range and organic. So I bought them and enjoyed a couple for breakfast the next morning.


Today I was looking up pictures of chickens on the internet, and I came across a website that clarified what cage-free, free-range, and organic egg labels actually meant.


I was unsatisfied with the conditions of the chickens on certain labels, but go to this website and read for yourself. It is extremely useful and helped me to understand some of the ambiguities in egg labeling.


http://earthsongfarm.com/eggs.html


Also, my yearnings for my own chickens continues. Although I have wanted a few chickens in a coup, I would feel uneasy keeping my chickens in a small cage. But, the coup would be needed to protect them from other animals. It would be better to have a larger coup where the chickens could roam around.


For now, i would recommend everyone doing some research on chickens and eggs. And visit the farms where your eggs come from to see if you are satisfied with the conditions of chickens.

Here are some pictures of chickens.

 I love chickens.

A Peach

I sat on a rock 
On the sand at the beach 
Because some people did mock 
My purple and blue peach. 

They laughed and they spit 
Trying hard to recruit 
And that's when I split 
Holding tightly to my fruit. 

I decided that if 
We would be laughed at 
I'd go to the cliff 
And get him a cat. 

We stood on the hill 
Overlooking the sea 
Cats came in for the kill 
And so together we did flee. 

But because of the felines 
A flea is what we got 
And taking it as a sign 
I let my peach rot.