just LOVING

"Unwritten"

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined

I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines

We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten

a United WORLD

Since coming here I've been able to learn and experience so many different cultures, people, languages-from Brasil to Bosnia, from Korea to Ecuador, from Argentina to US, from Australia to Vietnam, from Burundi to Egypt. It's amazing how each culture is so unique, but living here makes me realize when we focus on similarities and unite differences, we can live a "united world." Sounds like an utopia, but that is the experience I live here with girls from 23 different countries.

But really you would ask: how can we have a united world when there's wars, natural disasters, murders?,...if only we could all treat others as we want to be treated; the golden rule in every religion. If we focus on our similarities instead of differences because in every human being there's a similar desire: to love and to be loved. The greatest suffering in the world are not people who are starving from malnutrition, or diagnosed with an incurable disease, but it's people that are not "loved." People that are abandoned, alone, and uncared for.

Just think about that for one moment if there's someone in your life that isn't loved...just maybe you can be that person to bring the love.

To bring the love in each and every "present moment" to the person that is beside you....which leads me to my next experience. Yesterday I was peacefully in my room because I had just finished writing my life story which we all had to do, and I was busy doing something else. Then one of the girls who arrived not to long ago came into my room and sat beside me. When a new person arrives many times it's hard to adjust to our busy schedule, and to enter into the whole scheme of things. I knew that she hasn't gotten to know many people, and many times she told me she felt lost and alone. She came to just sit beside me to write her life story. When I started to talk to her I realized she was stuck and lost in how to write her life story, in my heart I was kinda focused on doing something else. But in that present moment, I stopped what I was doing, put my pen down, and started to talk to her. I tried to ask her basic questions and asked her to tell me experiences that has helped her grow and make her the person she is today. Slowly, she started to tell experiences about her family, school, and friends, and God. It was beautiful to get to know her a little more because a person's life story defines the reasons why a person does or acts in a certain way. In each moment I let go of everything in my mind what I was thinking of and only focused on what she was telling me. Because many times, we are not physically doing something, but our mind is lost in our thoughts. Stopped everything in my mind of my own thoughts or desires to be fully "present" for her, to listen and to love her as she would want to be loved. Even though initially I would have wanted to just continue doing my thing and help her at the same time, I needed to love the person who is presented to me in the present moment. While I was helping her with her story, she thanked me and said "you're like my guardian angel." We can really only live life moment by moment because in reality the future has yet to come, and the past is in the "past."

So bring the love to whoever is presented to you in each moment!

a little Change

 it's been quite a while... SORRY everyone!
the internet has been down for a while these past weeks.

but just an update on the past few weeks...

but in January, I changed units which means that now I sleep in a different room, eat with different people, have group sharing with different people...a small change and an opportunity to get to know other people.

old unit :) <3

new unit! it was Liberata's (Korea) Birthday (the one under
orange cloth)

In my unit, there's a girl from Ecuador, Paraguay, Australia, Brasil, Vietnam, Korea, United States...pretty interesting as we're probably the most international unit since there's not 2 people from the same country. Also in the month of January, there were 5 festas for 7 people who left, but 15 more arrived, many from Brasil, a girl from England, Argentina, Bosnia.