Hard Question, Simple Answer

It's simple.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Smile

Hey, you. Yeah you.

Sometimes, life is going to suck MAJOR ass. You're going to have to deal with heartbreak, death, failure, hate, jealousy, loneliness, fear, goodbyes, depression, weakness, doubt, anger, regret, and disappointment. The people you though you could trust are going to betray you. Dreams you thought you could accomplish will be crushed by unexpected reality. Love will make you feel like you could fly one moment and make you feel worthless the next. Just when you think the storm has finally passed, a cloud will appear out of nowhere and burst open, drenching you with hopelessness.

Yes, life will not always be kind to you.

Even so, I want you to remember that something will always come along to let you know that the darkness will soon be lifted. That something could be a smile from a stranger, a hug from a friend, a comforting quote from a book, a soul touching song. A ray of hope can come from anywhere. And when that ray of hope shows itself? Smile. Smile. Smile because the world just let you know that life is still full of beauty.

You just have to remember to look for it.

Family

This is my family.

Clockwise, it's me, my mom, my grandmother, my brothers girlfriend, my brother, and their baby boy.

We took this picture just a few weeks ago at my grandmas house. I set the camera on top of the television, put the timer on, and ran behind the couch just in time to smile and be blinded by the flash that signaled that the picture had been taken. I ran back to the television and picked up my camera. I pressed a button and the picture sprung onto my camera screen. As I studied it, I smiled. The picture was perfect.

Maybe it's not perfect in a photographic sense. It's off center. None of us are dressed up. We're posing on an old couch. My brother is still holding up the remote. The lighting is weird. Even so, to me, the picture is perfect, because we are all in it.

My family is definitely tumultuous. We have plenty of problems, sometimes problems so big all we can do is pray that the grace of God will be bestowed upon us and we will all make it out alive. We have moments where we get so angry at each other that we say horrible, hateful things. We have moments where we talk about all the good things that have happened to us, even if those things are few and far between. Rarely though do we have any of these moments together.

So, naturally, it's rare to have a photo of my whole family. Actually, I think this is the only one in existence. We are all always wandering around doing our own thing, or arguing with each other, or we're too busy to even think of taking a picture.

So when miraculously we all happened to being the same room at the same time looking mildly decent with nothing to do, I whipped the camera out of my pocket and ushered everyone onto the couch. No one complained as I fumbled with the camera and dropped it (I'm such a klutz). When I finally managed to get the camera working and set it on the television, everyone straightened up and smoothed their shirts. I pressed a couple of buttons, and as I raced to get in my spot next to my mom, I saw my family look up at the camera and smile. In that moment, we were together and we were happy. And it was perfect.