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How to assemble a gun. 1. To load the magazine, remove it from the pistol by depressing the magazine release button. A 16 year old Sylvia from India was very excited about getting flowers for her friend. That was the day she found out that florist stores don’t keep sunflowers because they wither too quickly. She watched as the florist picked every blue orchid and white lily she could afford, and wrapped it in clear cellophane, tying a bow at the end. The uncomfortable reminder that people tend to stare when she was carrying flowers in her hands, forced her to get them wrapped in old newspapers. She bought a train ticket, daintily holding the bouquet, trying to avoid the curious looks from everyone around. In security check, it was taken from her hands and put through the metal detector despite her telling them that it’s just a bunch of flowers. That was when she realised that a bouquet looks too similar to a loaded rifle. 2. Completely push the loaded magazine into the pistol grip to insure magazine catch engagement. 19 year old Maxwell, living in New York, is terrified for his life. There is no blood on his hands. No robbery he has run away from. No crime he has ever committed, except, maybe, the one of having a little too much melanin in his skin. Every single day, he comes home directly from college and shuts himself in his room, his ears ringing with new headlines of innocent teenage black boys being shot on site by cops who just seem to be searching for reasons to shoot. Every new shooting weighs him down, like stones tied to his feet. Every post on social media about teaching young black boys precautionary measures instead of nursery rhymes, makes him fearful for his nephew. Makes him wonder why the colour of his skin changes the rules of law. Why they’re all just guilty until proven innocent. Why they never get the chance to prove themselves innocent at all. 3. Pull back the slide and release it. Clutching her teddy bear tightly against her chest, Nuzeefa warily eyed the man standing behind the counter who was talking to her amma in a tone that hurt her ears. They had been planning to go abroad, where dada and dadi lived, but from the tears in amma’s eyes and a small black booklet in her hand with a red stamp harshly pressed against it, she wondered if they’d ever even let them out of the country. “You are murderers.” the girl with freckles had once spat out, before asking the teacher to change her seat because her parents had warned her to stay away from the girl with flowers for fists, who kept burying them within her chest. The irony never went unnoticed. This man had been denying them escape from the same country which is too afraid to let them walk on its soil. 4. The slide will automatically pick up a cartridge from the top of the magazine and feed it into the chamber. The children in Syria have seen worse than what even soldiers are able to see in the war. They have seen shredded remains of their mum or dad, blown apart by air strikes. They have seen dismantled human beings that used to be their parents, or their siblings. Out of families of five or six or even ten, there are just about one or two survivors who tend to have physical impairments or amputations or severe injuries, and they somehow make it to the refugee camp. The doctors said It would be insufficient to say that these children have PTSD. They made a new term for it. They called it “Human devastation syndrome”. 5. As long as there is ammunition in the magazine, a pistol which is loaded and fired, will automatically pick up the next round and feed it into the firing chamber. There have been more than 200 school shootings in America, in 2016 itself. Six, seven year olds, turn into just names in a list of casualties. Mothers are afraid of sending their children to school. Teachers develop paranoia, constantly thinking about how they’ll hide the children under their desks if a man with a gun storms into the room. Playgrounds turn empty. Classrooms don’t feel safe anymore. Hallways once filled with laughter and children running about, now covered with blood and bullets. 6. When you are ready to fire, place your index finger inside the trigger guard. In some parts of Southern America, hunting still prevails as a sport. One bullet through the brain of the prey, and they fall to the ground, lifeless. One quick slice of the neck and the prey bleeds out. Maybe, at some point, the prey became humans. Maybe at some point, we became our own predators. 7.Gently squeeze the trigger. How do we live in this world where we’re all just terrified of each other? Where the colour of our skin or the religion we follow determines whether we’re worth trusting? Where childhoods are snatched and children are caught in the crossfire in wars that they never wanted to be a part of? What is this world we have created where none of us can trust each other anymore? Where mothers are afraid of sending their children to school? Where no place feels safe anymore? Who is to blame? 8. When the last round has been fired, the slide will remain open. This is what we have created.

Tamarind Fall; How to assemble a gun. (via blackpenwritings)

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seattle, washington

instagram: bethanylebeau

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Rosy morning porthole view.

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Tea Facts

Black tea

Think black tea makes you feel good? You’re right. It’s been proven to help you de-stress fast. It also helps eliminate bad breath. Plus medical research indicates that it lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and reduces bad cholesterol.

Green tea

Want to stay slim, trim and beautiful? The antioxidants in green tea just might slow signs of aging, prevent the flu and raise your metabolism. More dramatically, it’s being shown to prevent and slow cancer, and help with arthritis and bad cholesterol too.

Oolong tea

This one’s known as a fat-buster in China, and science is indicating that it does indeed speed up your metabolism, burn fat and block fat absorption! Use it to fight expanding waistlines, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

White tea

Science is saying that white tea might be more effective than even green tea at preventing cell damage, shrinking cancerous tumours and stopping the growth of cancer cells. Plus it’s becoming the new cosmetic fix for aging skin. Beautiful!

Pu’erh tea

Traditional Chinese medicine prizes Pu’erh as a wonder tea. It’s said to aid digestion, cleanse the blood and help with weight loss. Studies in Europe are also saying it busts cholesterol as effectively as some medications.

Rooibos tea

It’s said that rooibos helps you recover from hangovers, and that it could slow dementia. Plus there’s evidence that it fights skin cancer and boosts the immune system. And it’s supposed to help with insomnia!

Maté tea

Yerba maté is a fabulous stimulant, without the jitters. It’s also full of antioxidants, so there’s scientific speculation that it could have anti-cancer properties, help stimulate the immune system and protect against disease.

Herbal tea

Herbs, spices, fruits and flowers have long been used in traditional medicine to cure everything from headaches, stomach bugs and colds to stress and insomnia. The power of the tea depends on its ingredients.

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Be with someone who makes you feel like you’re the blinding moon amoungst the stars

Tenari Ioapo (via tenari-ioapo)

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Summer waves they roll back, sipping from a peppermint tea

Indian Beach, Oregon

instagram

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i. Loosen up. Don’t take things so seriously. If shit happens, laugh it off and decide not to take it too hard. Nothing matters that much. ii. But also, embrace your softness. Find that balance. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable, emotional and full of heart. The world will thank you for it. You will thank yourself for not pushing feelings away. iii. Love yourself. Wear a smile on your face like a trophy. You’re beautiful and there’s nothing wrong with loving yourself. Isn’t that what everyone wants? Love everything about yourself, because not doing so is a huge waste of time. iv. Choose happiness. Choose kindness. Choose empathy. To be overflowing will all these sweet things will make your heart nothing but softer and better for yourself, the people around you and the world.  v. If you’re happy with yourself, if you’re proud of who you are and if you’re okay with your circumstances, then it doesn’t even matter the tiniest bit, what they think of you. vi. Work hard for what you want. You love doing this, don’t you? Go for it. It won’t be work anyway, it will be fun. vii. Have fun. If you’re not having fun, then what’s the point? viii. Do not focus on negativity and people who doesn’t understand you or like you. That’s their problem. Just keep smiling.

Tina Jaxén // Promises to myself for the future (via tinaspoetry)

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1.4

petrichor.

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(n.) the pleasant, earthy smell after  rain.

petrichor

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luminescence

1.3.17

hey :)

today was not my favorite day. it rained today, which normally is a great thing, but on this particular occasion it was misty and depressing and it ruined my hair. i didn’t get the big, beautiful storm i was hoping for, and the humidity put me back in a dreamlike state for most of the morning.

you know that feeling you get after a break, where you feel like you’ve decluttered just enough that you find your hope to improve? i had that feeling when i started today. but it was only around 10:00 when i realized that was not going to be the case, and that this semester was going to be just as miserable as the last.

flash forward a bit to around 1:00 in the afternoon, i’m in my third period class and i’m hitting the same wall that i normally hit around that time. i’m hungry, i’m tired, i’m bored, and i don’t want to be there. but in that moment, i received one small compliment, and it literally made my entire day. everything was great after that. i was almost upset at myself for being fickle because all of my rant topics suddenly vanished from my mind. this one tiny sentence turned my entire day around so fast i could barely remember why i was so mad in the first place.

so, today, i just want to remind you that compliments go farther than we can possibly imagine. sometimes, you might feel like you’re getting brushed off, but you could be changing someone’s attitude, their day, their week, or even their life (rare, but possible). never underestimate the power of one well-placed compliment. and have a good day.

don’t forget to take care of yourself!

yours, ajc.

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(n.) light produced by chemical, electrical, or physiological means.

luminescence

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Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.

Oprah Winfrey

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epoch

1.2.17 (!!)

hey.

how are you doing today? i’m sick, i’m tired, and i’m going back to school today. it’s a great start to the year, i know. but there’s this all time low song (weightless) that says “maybe it’s not my weekend/but it’s gonna be my year,” and although the lyric is a little cheesy, it’s a good saying to remember at the beginning of the new year. i advise you to take a second to find some sort of thing that represents how you want your year to be. maybe you already have - maybe you have a goal or a personal mantra or something - but maybe you can’t find one. that’s okay too. just think about one little thing that you want to have/not have by 12.31.2017 (even thinking about that date gives me a headache, but someday it’ll be here just as 12.31.16 and 12.31.15 and so forth), or something you about 2016 that you wish were different (i have a long list), or even just some quote or song or picture that you want to remember throughout 2017.  it may seem useless now, but it’ll help you avoid those times when you feel like you have no idea what direction you’re trying to go in. oh, and try to take care of yourself this year. you won’t get it right every time, because you’re not perfect, but you’re damn beautiful, and don’t let yourself forget that.

love, ajc

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(n.) a particular period of time in history or a person's life, typically one marked by notable events or characteristics.

epoch

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(n.) a solution for all problems.

panacea

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(adj.) producing a display of rainbowlike colors.

iridescent