Seven Rules for a Princess

"1. Never announce to anyone that you are a princess. You know it and, if you behave as one, in time they will know it.

2. Never pretend you are not a princess in an attempt to lessen yourself because you deem it will make others more comfortable. You show others the most respect by offering the best of you.

3. A princess knows that success is most easily measured by how handles disappointments.

4. A princess is never so arrogant as to think she has nothing left to learn. As much as you like to be heard and understood, so does everyone else. The more you learn, the more intelligent you are. It's that simple.

5. There no such thing as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in regard to anything significant. Make time your ally. A princess understands the value of patience.

6. A princess is not frivolous. She seeks the just, the compassionate, and the wise. When she finds it she protects it. It is never a bad idea to be your own hero.

7. Above all a princess cherishes honesty. Hiding, shading, manipulating, or controlling the truth is a waste of everyone's time. The truth exists with or without our acknowledgement. If the truth is unclear, silence is often a useful tool."

Ethan Hawke. Ash Wednesday

Sociopathy

" As a girl I never felt outright anger, toward him or anyone. Mostly if things became uncomfortable I just wanted to be alone. Even when I left Texas, I didn't leave feeling mad, I left feeling elated that there was finally some quiet around me. From the time I was seven I hated Texas and most of the people I met there. I would go to sleep early so I could dream more. My father would drive us along those interstates, and it seemed to me that all there was in Houston were highways and car dealerships.

I wanted to run away, from the first time I heard of the concept, not because anything so dreadful was happening but because I craved solitude. My childhood was spent looking and waiting for a proper reason to run away [...].

Almost all my true enjoyment of people could take place from a distance. Appreciating people was easy as long as the weren't close: my father, specially. [...] Being alone was the only time my breathing would come easy. In some ways I'd felt allergic to my own life. With people talking to me, my head would swell and my skin would break out.[...] All my favorites memories didn't seem to involve anybody else. Reading, walking down the street, taking the bus, washing my clothes - inside that kind of quiet peace I could feel and enjoy my life. After Jimmy and I broke up, it was almost a relief. This way I would be able to love him forever; it would be easier. The habits I'd learned about how to survive all seemed to involve moving and solitude".

                                               Ethan Hawke, Ash wednesday

El viaje

"Todos los viajes son un regreso. El viajero que emprende un camino retorna a su hogar desde el mismo momento en que pone un pie fuera de él. Es necesario volver para contar lo vivido, para convertir el viaje en relato.
Por eso, los caminos que recorre el viajero son caminos que conducen al conocimiento y a la belleza, esa belleza que tantas veces es necesario rescatar de entre el mal y la miseria. Viajar es ir al encuentro de lo que nos emociona, delante de lo cual abandonamos todo deseo de posesión, porque el auténtico goce está en recibirlo de manera gratuita.
De esta manera, lo más importante que el viaje nos da, más importante incluso que la enseñanza recibida, es en realidad ese momento en el que tenemos el privilegio de tomar algo de lo que no tardaremos en desprendernos. Y es en ese instante fugaz, en ese ínfimo espacio de tiempo en el que la imagen de la hermosura o de la miseria humana contempladas parece abandonarnos, cuando en realidad se instala en nuestra memoria y se hace conocimiento y se hace aprendizaje, experiencia… y así nos va construyendo."
Xabier P. DoCampo