a charming day with a thoughtful friend, creative strangers, local treasures, and natural smell-goods for kinfolk magazine’s dinner series. 

© alexis collins.

but his hand was out the window & i didn’t have the heart to not see it flying freely in front of me.

this really means it: spring has sprung.

i consider myself a positive person.
my friends say the glasses i look at aren’t half-full,
because they are overflowing.

people i don’t know inquire about my optimism.
complete strangers call me happy.

a few even say i’m naive.

but the truth is, i know the world is hurting.
i know that hurt lives; i acknowledge its existence.
the world hurts every day.

it’s not that i choose to ignore hurt.
it’s that, rather, i choose to embrace the goodness.

i choose to cradle it at night and to wake up to it each morning - to lift acts and events of love to the height of existence that they deserve.
to put them on praiseworthy, meriting pedestals.

just two days ago, the same day of the boston marathon bombing, i was invited to photograph a hear now mission at the starkey hearing foundaiton headquarters - my first.

during this mission, i watched numerous hearing aid fittings take place - both for children and for adults.
during this mission, i watched people’s faces light up with happiness, and i watched their hearts melt with appreciation.

and while our hearts are breaking, rightfully so, because there are bombs at marathons, it reminded me that the world is still so good.
the mere hours i spent at starkey left me with such a large impact - a lasting impression.
those hours reminded me what a wonderful thing it is,
to see people doing good for one another.

after all, isn’t that the purpose of our very existence?

so yes, this world may be full of terrible incidents - of bombs.
but that day, it was also full of people running toward those explosions.
running toward them in order to save complete strangers.
people whose dinner tables they had never sat at.
whose hands they had never shaken.
whose names they had never spoken.

and that’s all the proof we need.

proof that this world is full of love, kindness, and of selflessness.
of those willing to risk themselves to better others.

of organizations like the starkey hearing foundation and of every single person diligently working behind it.

in the words of starkey’s founder himself, bill austin,
“alone we can’t do much, but together we can change the world.”

what can you help with today? what can you contribute to? what can you start?

so we may learn to help one another;
so we may share and store hope within our hearts.

so the world may love,
and so the world may hear.

(1) http://www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org/
(2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zbHmDliaRE&list=UUORLvBNDFARVO9Kf15cVvvw&index=6

© alexis collins.

emphasis on the big.

friday brought sunshine and warmer weather.
it was also kind enough to bring me my first big-girl interview.
even more, friday gifted me with some great, growing gigs.

i nailed my morning interview and solidified my internship.
we spoke and laughed and lounged back in our seats.
would it be wrong to say that an interview was entirely enjoyable?

we poked fun at my small heels, and the fact that i could barely walk in them.
we talked about dreams, designs, and honduran getaways.

we cracked jokes about the things we soon found we had in common; made light of the fact that there are only six degrees of separation between any two people in the world - only two degrees in our state, minnesota.

as we sat around a long meeting table, we shared our genuine selves.

and in the evening, i visited the loft literary art center - where i gained an even more regular engagement with thirty two magazine.
where we brainstormed ways to get me more involved.
where i was given more responsibilities - more assignments.
where i was told that these opportunities will be regular, consistent.

all because i didn’t just tell of my interests, but i found ways to show them.
to display my commitments. 

ah, my heart. at only the conversation of it all. 

friday was big,
and as i enter into another interview this week, i feel only the most positive thoughts and energy. i head into this non-profit organization wanting, with my entire being, to keep up my streak - to continue filling my plate; filling my love tank. 

i’m grateful to have so much to look forward to.

if we have the drive and the heart to do things for the right reasons,
then nothing can prohibit us.

if we do those right things and always care about others,
then the right things will happen to us.

then others will extend their necks to help us out; then our efforts will be recognized, and our lives will be rewarded.

giving and receiving - they’re so synonymous. they’re such synonyms.

what a gift, friday.
it feels as if i’m being dipped in humankind’s beauty. 

DO:
wake up earlier than you think you need to.
start your 5AM with a hot mug of lavender tea. 

DON’T:
forget your yoga mat.
or a very large bottle of water for that matter.

but then again, you know that phrase?
that everything-happens-for-a-reason phrase?

well, sometimes we are meant to make those mistakes (forgetting our mat; our water) so that others can show off their selflessness.

needless to say,
the instructor rented me a mat, free of charge;
the older woman to my right (a  stranger, mind we) bought me a coconut water - in the very middle of our heat yoga class.

kindness is contagious.

people are incredible.

go, now,
and pass it on.
 

yesterday afternoon, a friend sent my phone into an obnoxious buzzing state.
within his message, he had attached a photograph of his whereabouts.
a photograph of the snow-covered colorado pines. 

and i immediately found myself shuffling through old prints.
reminiscing on nearly year-old photographs.
reminiscing on road trips and the rockies. 

on the sudden impulse we had.
the impulse to buy a ticket to bon iver at the red rocks.
a ticket that we purchased without any of our travel details accounted for.
a ticket that ensured we would leave. 

reminiscing on the squirrel who stole my breakfast
in the woods during that first morning’s walk.

and most of all:
on the old man who, passing by, told me i was young and crazy for climbing out onto the edge of such rocks - who told me to always keep that childhood gift. 

i’d return in a heartbeat.

© alexis collins.

to take a walk through the forest.
to go to the mountains.
to build a campfire.

to dress in a smile.
to help others.  

this morning, on my usual two-mile walk downtown, the ice was thick.
i stood on one end of the alley; an elderly woman stood on the other.

from our opposite sides, her and i, we each struggled to navigate the patches of frozen water - we each stumbled over the ice.

our arms out for balance; our feet performing an action somewhere between walking and skating.

and from across that alley, we met eyes.
with no words necessary, we shared a laugh.

and it wasn’t just “a laugh”
but one of those loud, escalatory laughs.
one of those best-kind-of laughs.

and it got me thinking back to all of the encounters i’ve made by merely walking each morning - all of the strangers that i’ve come across.
the woman who waited for me to catch up to her, simply so that we could converse.
the man who asked me what i was reading in the park while we waited at a red light.
the man that opened our conversation with a cheesy question and concluded it with a compliment about my winter hat.
the couple that needed directions and gave me the most sincere thank you for doing a less-than-perfect job for them.
the customer who recognized me from work; who walked six blocks with me as he told me, with all of the excitement his heart could bear, about the book he is currently writing. 
who promised me a copy upon its finish - just for simply being willing to talk. 

i love the warmth of moments like this - these moments with strangers. 

it’s a small and hearty reminder that we’re all in this moment, all on this crazy journey together - all equal parts of one 7,000,000,000+ piece puzzle.
that it’s our duty to practice oneness and connectivity.
to show compassion. 
to be genuine. 

i guess that, ultimately, i just adore it when we can recognize the internal beauty of others - of strangers.
of those we don’t even know one simple fact about. 

i met with a group of really wonderful and welcoming women this early, rainy evening. as soon as i walked into the loft literary center and saw them crowded around a table cluttered with coffee mugs and laptops, i knew we would hit it off.

the publication’s founder, katie eggers, talked of travel and of hard work; she talked of the “labor of love” that is her magazine - her creation.
a very strong, selfless, and inspiring woman indeed.

i want nothing more than to see her, an utmost deserving individual, be supported.
to watch her succeed - to do all that i think i can to contribute to her getting there.

and when the clock caught up to us, i left with two valuable things: i left with both a smile and an assignment.
i was given two poetic pieces to review and then match my photographs to.

collaboration and contribution are two very powerful, beautiful things.
and human interaction and connection is at the base of all beauty. 

i promise,
the publication is well worth the interest that i know you’ve already got sprouting. 

i can’t wait to chip in.
be grateful; be humble.