first you dream.

"Put your hand on your heart," 

the old man said. 

"Inside you, there is a power, 

there are ideas, 

thoughts that no one else has ever thought of,

there is the strength to love, 

purely and intensely, 

and to have someone love you back--

there is the power to make people happy, 

and to make people laugh--

it's full compliments, 

and the power to change lives and futures. 

Don't forget that power, 

and don't ever give up on it." -- atticus

 [these pictures are blurry. but they capture a moment. a beautiful moment of expectation, achievement and joy. pure undiluted excitement and joy.]

Yesterday was a good day. Just a very, very good day. Spring is here in Provo. There is hope in the air. And spring in my soul. 

Did you know there is a pink blossom tree right by our stairwell? I don't know what kind of tree it is exactly. Maybe an American Redbud. But right now it is a pink blossom tree. And I love it. 

[hello there, pink blossom tree.]

The real spring is here. And there are so many possibilities. Spinning arrows. Doors opening. Life. Life in all of its forms. 

[the look of a dreamer.]

Because you know what? Life--real life--can be frightening. It can be suffocating. 

But it is also glorious. Glorious, beautiful, and real. 

As Emily Dickinson said, the "soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience." 

Because you never know when that ecstatic experience will come. 

Be ready to catch and embrace it. 

song of the day: "first you dream," audra mcdonald