on the poetry of life-

i arrive in newcastle prayerfully around 1:00pm wednesday, after a layover in both chicago and london. a seventeen hour flight, full of reflection and anticipation of what's on the other side. the time has finally come, though i couldn't be more ready and less prepared- quite the paradox. the obstacles have been overwhelming to get to this point, buying my plane ticket the day before i leave (that's a whole other post right there) and it is finally sinking in, the special day i am flying out on. i must admit, i am a bit intrigued by the eeriness of my date of departure. like most happenings in my life as of late, patterns are forming and different parts are connecting and i don't quite get how people believe in coincidences when life aligns so perfectly, so poetically. i can't help but to think my trip will resemble the magic of extremely loud and incredibly close... i will take pieces of this novel with me on my adventure.

the sadness: 

“The mistakes I've made are dead to me. But I can't take back the things I never did.” 

“You can't love anything more than something you miss.” 

“I thought, it's a shame that we have to live, but it's a tragedy that we get to live only one life, because if I'd had two lives, I would have spent one of them with [him].” 

the wishes: 

“We need enormous pockets, pockets big enough for our families and our friends, and even the people who aren't on our lists, people we've never met but still want to protect. We need pockets for boroughs and for cities, a pocket that could hold the universe.” 

“I hope you never think about anything as much as I think about you.”

“It broke my heart into more pieces than my heart was made of, why can't people say what they mean at the time?” 

and that which i look forward to: 

“I like to see people reunited, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can't take in all of the change, I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone.”  

i can't wait to step off that plane, claim my luggage

 and look up only to find a familiar face staring

 back at mine. then as time progresses,

more familiar faces and reunions and oh

 my heart cannot contain it all..

“My life story is the story of everyone I've ever met.” 

photo via

all quotes from jonathan safran foer