In this world many people give voice to their beliefs and opinions, but comparatively few back those words with action. Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepards has been arrested in Germany on behalf of the Costa Rican government and the illicit shark-finning group that filed complaint against Captain Watson. It is more than vital that Captain Watson be acquitted of these charges and set free immediately so that he may continue his invaluable work in the field of oceanic conservation.
Please give him your support, and back it with action: donate to Captain Watson’s defense fund and demand his immediate release!

Friends are people that come and go, they’re fair-weather and unpredictable, but best friends are supposed to be forever and all the time. I deserve better than you. You looked me in the eye and said that you’d be here for me, but you’re so caught up in your own drama that you’ve devolved into this immature, selfish person with blinders on to your own flaws and the pain of others. Wake up. I defended you when no one else was at your side, I answered every phone call and dried every tear and now that I’m suffering you’re too busy to care.

Clearly you’re not who I hoped and believed you were. Hopefully one day you’ll take a hard look at what you’ve become and you’ll pull yourself back together and do justice to the strong, considerate, mature person I know you can be. You just have to try.

The barrel of the gun looms in the distance

reminding her of all she has, and all she will lose. 

Her heart has disassembled in preparation for impact, 

her vitals are flatlining

and there’s no way to bring her back.

A shell cannot bleed, no matter when it’s shot.

It can only shatter

when the bullet hits its mark.

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving,

Cause our hearts are heavy burdens we shouldn’t have to bear alone.

It’s an uphill slope, but I won’t lose hope 

because,

I wasn’t born to be a skeleton, 

and I

Realize that life goes fast 

and that

Good and evil lay side by side, 

so please, 

Excuse me while I kiss the sky.

Confidence is the stain they can’t wipe off,

so

I smile and act like nothing is wrong. It’s called putting shit aside and acting strong.

To err is human, to forgive divine

and

It’s times like these you learn to live again 

and so

I focus on the pain, the only thing that’s real 

and

I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance

Cause you can take it in stride, or you can take it right between the eyes.

You want a revelation, some kind of resolution,

Seasons change but people don’t 

and

I’ve got reservations about so many things, but not about you,

Because I know

You would leave me if I told you what I’ve done.

You can’t choose what stays and what fades away, and I’d do anything to make you stay.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end,

and

If I fail, if I succeed, at least I live as I believe.

So leave me alone,

Go make a life, not a living

That only involves judging.

Prompt: Duration

Response: Sometimes in life things are so hard and so heartbreaking, that one can do nothing more than endure — no matter how long it may last, you just endure.

(Source: oneword.com)

At the beginning of a school year, there’s roughly 25-30 unknown faces staring up at you with expressions of fear, boredom or excitement, and at first you’re just as intimidated as they are. You stumble over their names for a good week or two and cringe inside every time you make a mistake, praying that the kid doesn’t take it as a personal insult. Slowly the names start to come to you on command, eventually before you even realize you’re saying them, and the faces are imprinted in your mind. Then, as you begin to interact with each of them a little bit more, fragments of their personalities start to fill out the name tag inside your mind; Andy comes from a single-parent household but has the biggest heart you’ve ever seen, Josh suffers from depression but still tries so hard to learn, and Jill’s English still isn’t very good because she doesn’t qualify as an English Language Learner, despite the fact that she’s everybody’s friend. They’re no longer numbers on a roster, or places in a seating chart — they’re human beings with the capacity to love and learn, and the classroom starts feels wrong when they’re not present. 

Soon, they start to come to you with more than simple questions about the lessons or what’s due, they start to share their fears with you, asking if you were bullied in middle school, and if you think they’ll be okay, or asking if you think their hair looks better down or in a side-pony, and if high school is as terrifying as they think it is. When a terrified substitute comes in to take the class for a couple of hours, you find yourself in the role of the teacher instead of the helper, and it’s you giving directions and keeping toes in line. Finally, the day comes when instead of going to the teacher, they come to you with questions. Whether it be simple clarification, or much-needed advice, the point is that they trust you, look up to you, and want to be around you. Nothing in the world is more satisfying or heartwarming. 

It is my firm belief that there is no other profession that allows a single person to influence so many lives throughout a career. Simply doing the math is astounding; a class of 30 kids every year, for roughly 25 years; that’s 750 lives guided by your words, your actions, your determination to see them succeed. In high school it’s even higher, 30 kids, 25 years, roughly 5 periods a day; 3,750 lives. Of course, not all the student are going to love you, and less will take what you say to heart; but it’s the simple fact that you try to reach each one that counts. 

Every great teacher was once the student of an even better teacher, and being able to observe and interact with three very different teachers over the course of my two years in Careers in Teaching has clearly outlined what I believe makes a truly effective and beneficial environment. It’s a delicate balance between tough love and friendship, creative encouragement and restraint, and a sense of humor paired with a hardworking mentality — but those who manage to perfect it have the happiest and most productive classes by far. I can only hope that the amazing experiences and relationships I’ve made will help me to not only emulate the best qualities of those under whom I’ve studied, but also to branch out and find my own way to make learning genuinely enjoyable for as many kids that walk into my classroom as I possibly can. 

Prompt: Petition

Response: A small, terrified fifth grade girl walks into the Principal’s office with her fickle, fair-weather friend by her side, palms sweating and hands shaking, cheeks flushed.

“Do you girls know why you’re here?”
“Is it about the petition?” the friend asks.
“Yes, it is. I hope you girls realize that it’s simply not possible to replace the styrofoam trays with plastic ones — we would need to buy dishwashers, or hire people to wash them!”

(Source: oneword.com)

I like how you mispronounce words sometimes, how you fumble and stammer and stutter looking for the right ones to say and the right ways to say them. I appreciate that you find language challenging, because it is, because everything manmade is challenging. Including man, including you.

When you sleep on your side, I like to map the constellations between your beauty marks freckles pimples, the minuscule mountains that sprinkle your back. I like the tufts of hair you forgot to shave and the way you smell when you haven’t showered in a while; I like the sleep left in your eyes.

I like the way your skin dies in the middle of the night, how you die from embarrassment the next morning; how you writhe in the snake casing you’ve left behind. I like that you think pillow snowflakes carry more weight than pillow talk; that you think my opinion of you is so fickle that it could change overnight. (It’s not.)

I enjoy seeing you insecure, vulnerable. I like to watch red steam light up your cheeks, a spreading mist of shame when you think you’ve done something unacceptable like missing a step on the stairs or not having the perfect answer to something I’ve said. It’s like you honestly don’t know how wonderful you are, it’s like you have no idea.

The burns, the scars, the black and blues on your face body heart, I want to know their stories. I want to know what hurt you, who hurt you, how bad the damage is. I like your hard, ugly toenails and the layer of fat that lines your belly, the soft parts you try to hide. It’s okay to be soft, sometimes.

I appreciate your ability to get inappropriately angry as much as I appreciate your willingness to apologize afterward. I like how your passion manifests unpredictably and uncontrollably, how your feelings cannot be caged or concealed, how you’re incapable of apathy.

I like how you can’t dance, how you have pedestrian taste in music, how the worst song on every album is your favorite. I like how enthusiastic you are when you hear it, it’s like you don’t know how terrible it is, it’s like maybe how you’re able to love someone like me. (Perhaps that’s your biggest flaw, perhaps that’s the one I love most.)

Your flaws single you out, set you apart, make you different from the rest, and thank god. I don’t just put up with settle for accept your blemishes, I like them. I like them because they make you human, and humans are easier to love than photographs and illusions and ideals; humans fit more easily between arms and between legs; humans are welcome to their imperfections because if there’s one thing humans can do perfectly, it’s love. Humans can love, they can do it flawlessly.

(Source: stumbleupon.com)