Arête

Arête: all around human excellence.




I have spent the better portion of the last two years of my life getting to know myself. Of course alongside & with that I have also gotten to know many others, met fabulous, smart, witty, encouraging, even discouraging & vicious people along the way. & I have had many jobs, some at the same time, sometimes all at the same time, others further apart, & that have taken me all over California & even out of the country for a trip last summer. I finished a degree, a prominent relationship, an undergraduate senior thesis paper, a lifestyle, and an era of my life. I have experienced myself in laughter, in love, in harmony, in loneliness, in anger, in defeat, in hope, in inspiration, and even in complete brokenness. I have built myself up from the places I have fallen, time & time again, I have built myself higher & with more depth than I ever thought possible, & I have felt more deeply, intentionally, & authentically then I can ever remember. I found out things about myself I knew & denied, things I know & love, things I know & find rather ugly, things I didn't know & am so thankful to know now, & things that I didn't know & continue to learn their place in myself and my story, my personal arête. 


I know that I am strong.
I know that I am capable of loving people very deeply & intentionally.
I know that I value honesty.
I know that I am independent.
I know that I tend to care about things passionately with my whole being.
I know that I am a bit of a workaholic.
I know that I am bound by fears.
I know that I fear being good enough for those I love.
I know that I fear being forgotten.


I believe in joy.
I believe in community.
I believe in love.
I believe in Jesus Christ.
I believe in commitment.
I believe in learning, always.
I believe that if you care about someone, they should know it.
I believe that sometimes frozen yogurt is the cure-all.


I do not believe lying is the best way, ever.
I do not believe focusing on only ourselves gets us nearer to our full potential.
I do not believe that counting calories benefits us.
I do not know what to expect from tomorrow.
I do not know what career I want to pursue in my future, or now to say the least.
I do not know where love & commitment takes you.
I do not know why I can't help but give second, third, & lots of times fourth chances.


I want to know more about obligation & it's affects on & inside the human brain.
I want to see many places.
I want to read like 7 books at the same time right this minute. (thebigbookofbasketball,waterforelephants,socratesinlove,bittersweetagainagainagain,gossipgirl1,harrypotter6&7.justsayin).
I want to be more loving.
I want to learn more about repressed memory.
I want to learn, constantly.


& I am.
I am learning everyday who I am. & that this is me, & that it's all a big story, 
mine.


Danielle Nicole.




"Know your limits, but never stop trying to exceed them."  --Anonymous Author.