The Point of Things

After an unexpectedly disheartening day, its hard to see the point of writing this blog.

This blog.

A blog with no comments, no readers, and no reason.

Work can get you down; there are only so many times you can shrug off the same disappointment, and it can sap the joy right out of your limbs. Most days it is easy to shake off, but the same sadness over and over again becomes exhausting, and it is hard to see the joy in anything, even something as amazing as magnetic nail polish (Which I have just put on and I'm sure tomorrow I will be in awe of).

But on my walk home from a day at work, when I was up to my eyebrows in melancholy, I decided to listen to a particular poem.

Some time ago, there was an app released called The Love Book. A wonderful app you can pick up for only a few dollars (Some of which goes to charity!) and have a collection of poems and literature in your pocket. What sets this particular app apart however is that certain selections of the collection have been recorded for your enjoyment by famous actors. These wonderful persons include, but are not limited to; Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, and my personal favorite, Tom Hiddleston.

I came across this app because I am a Hiddlestoner, and I wanted to hear his contributions. What I did not expect was for him to have read aloud some of my favorite poems. Not all, but some. This brings me back around to the point. When you are melancholic, and you feel the walls of sadness closing in, I recomend opening up The Love Book, and listening to Tom Hiddleston read to you 'Desiderata' by Max Ehrmann.

You can listen to it here on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-2dezSW0q4&feature=kp

Also here is the poem on its own, for your consideration, o phantom reader. Thought I find a certain grain more inspiration in Tom's reading rather than my own, it is always uplifting in any form.


Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

-Max Ehrmann