Sine qua non.

Sine qua non
"without which (there is) nothing."
It refers to an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient.

The meaning in life.
The essence of my life.
What gives essence to my life?

People.
Hands down, it is the people in my life that bring on the essence, full force.
My life would be an essence-less lump without those who surround me, sharpening, testing, growing, adventuring, beaching, romping, loving, and sparkling with me.
A personality does not come from reading about personalities, or dreaming about them. A personality is grown and formed from living, loving, laughing, crying, trying, hurting, and learning. It is from experiences with people that you grow into your highest potential, or your most flattering shoes ;) I think about myself and how I have been loved, hurt, appreciated, touched, approached, reprimanded, used, cared for, and it is through each of my experiences that I have been pushed or pulled towards who I am right now. Because of my parents I am strong and determined. I strive for greatness because that is what they have expected of me, not average, not anything below great & while this has overwhelmed me time & time again, I cannot go another day without thanking my parents for instilling a determination and a will to move beyond where I stand at any current moment.

Because of my friends, oh glory, from near and far, oh how I am blessed. Each day I find myself supported by those whom I have gotten to know and grown so close to over the years. From those right next to me but also even those from far away, back home, or even half way across the country, I find some of my greatest support. It is these people who have truly taught me friendship and unconditional love. They have taught me about who I am, and supported who I was even more than I support myself at times. It is those people who remind me when to stand up for myself, and when to be strong, but also when to be weak and when to grieve, that have held me up and put my heart back in place when it needs to be. It is because of the people in my life that the fire inside my heart thrives. I am energized, exercised, encouraged, and inspired. Each day I wake up and start each day thinking about the people that I am going to meet, see, eat, play, and interact with. & each night seems to end with a typical episode of Gilmore Girls, on my couch, with Disney firework booms in the background, next to my ultimate roomie. It is the people in my life that give my life its sine qua non. Amen.


Danielle Nicole.

Dear Summer,

Dear Summer,

I think we're off to a great start. Now that you've finally decided to turn up the temperature and invite tank tops, sundresses, and flip flops back into my regime, I can securely welcome you in and embrace you full-force. & while i love basking in your warmth, the occasional June gloom day is also refreshing and has added an inspiring sparkle to the day. In the past I have been an extreme bitter-bear to the slight breeze or tiniest drizzle, but in this season I am finding a comfort and optimistic pleasure in making hot chocolate (with whipped cream, obviously haha) and sipping it sitting here in a sweatshirt sitting by my open urban window, listening to classic Mariah Carey, yes, I did just admit to that.

I am discovering the benefits and simple treats of living in orange county this summer. The weather, the opportunity, and well, the beach. Things here I have taken for granted in the last 3 years and completely passed up the millions of opportunities to become a beach bum and love my life to pieces. This summer, I have decided to take advantage and bask in this place and explore and create and live. Cheers LA, you bless my life.

Love, Me.


Danielle Nicole.

Quotable Survival.

"Life is a growing expedition through the tangled and unfilled-in parts. What happens after age nine? Because of the fear, we don;t trust our own life.
our story.
our colors.
To be afraid and leap regardless there is such a power in that. To live into the questions of our OWN lives, when nothing feels clear.
We have this chance to do absolutely anything, to reach out to another, vulnerable and true.
To dance on the roof of euphoria.
To pray into the ocean&let go.
We have this chance every moment to be alive and give to this world, which needs each one of us.
We must show up for our own life.
be brave.
be messy.
be loud.
be strong.
trust yourself."


--Sabrina Ward Harrison


I survive off reading empowering and delightful quotes like this one by Sabrina Ward Harrison. It's like life could be on it's last straw, and then my eyes drape over words like these and there is that hope, that piece of tape that mends the broken last straw, that brings desire, power, and significance, all back into their empty places of my heart. Thank you Sabrina Ward Harrison, today, you put my life back into the right places :)


Danielle Nicole Davis.

Airport Stations, Hearts, and Growth.

It always gets me what picking up or taking people to the airport does to you, or to me at least.

Like the way you hug a friend visiting when you pick them up at the airport. & the way that hug changes when you take them back to to the station to leave you again. The way our hearts grow more intimate towards one another by each conversation, each laugh, each interaction.

I have dear friends in Minnesota who once came to visit California for the first time. That trip changed me. That trip changed them. Nine days and our hug went from an excited, buzzy slam, to a grip that seemed would never be able to be released. Our hearts were grown towards eachother, in the kind of way you would love to get used to. To be able to see eachother everyday, by the drop of a phone call.

& that growth is revealed abruptly upon taking dear friends and hearts to the airport station to leave you. But it is in that bittersweet pull of your stomach that the growth is seen & touches us. The rememberance of the glorious week & that longing for more glorious weeks like that one in the future.

I guess what they say is true, distance really does make the heart grow fonder.


Danielle Nicole.

This Place.

Dear Azusa,

You taught me things, you taught me people, you taught me life.
I learned about books, and about writing.
I learned about time, and about age.
I learned about people, about laughing, about feeling, about choosing.
I learned about love, about tragedy, about brokenness.
& when I have gone to new places and heights and paths, I hope that I will come back to you and remember the things you taught me.
Like the lesson on life & how short it is and precious the gift is.
Or the time I learned about guarding my heart, or the few hundred times I relearned that lesson.
Or the time I learned that in order to live fully, you have to give fully and risk not receiving what had been poured out, but that even when you do not receive what you are hoping for, that life moves forward and God's hand holds good for the future.
& the times when I feared and worried and ran my head in circles, that you continued to teach me the ways God is faithful and careful with my life and my heart.
This is a place I will never forget & will return to for memories and reminders on how precious and endearing life is & beyond the pain, tragedies, and mishaps, there is a growth and a lesson that puts worth and delight back into it's place. That is what I will seek to remember about this place.

Love, me.


Danielle Nicole.

Fearless God

"God is not afraid of our questions" --Taylor Storey.


This is something I heard a couple of months ago that made me think. And yet again, these words have found their way back into my head.

4 months ago I had a plan.
3 months ago, I heard about a scholarship that rocked that plan around.
2 months ago I was convinced that I would never get it.
1 month ago I had never wanted something so big & crazy as that scholarship in my life.
& 3 days ago, I returned to the original plan.

Life seems to take the most ridiculous winds and turns. I feel like I am constantly looking to God asking, "Why God? Why couldn't you have just have left that part out? Why was it necessary that I put all the effort into something I wouldn't even be good enough for?"

And as I run in circles with my questions to God, I am reminded of how big God's plan is and that even when I feel entitled to know the justification behind his strategies, I am just being silly. & no matter what I demand, doubt, or question from God,
He is not afraid,
in fact, i like to think He embraces my challenges and questions to Him,
with a smirk ;)


Danielle Nicole.

Growth in Grief.

"In much wisdom is much grief"

In the first sentences of deep river, grief is introduced. At first I was taken aback and uncomfortable with the start of the novel. However, then I realized, that reaction was my own instant reaction to want to romanticize everything. We want everything to start and end happy, or "nice." But in raw, real, truth, are things always that way? Does every ending end well? Does every middle of a story even have a white carriage and a prince charming? or huge salaries and nice cars? No. Let's get real here, the middle of most stories is the time of a person's life where they might begin experiencing true pain, or true grief. In the last two years of my own life I have experienced the loss of 11 people I have known. 2 years ago began the middle of my story I have come to believe. You see, we are children and we grow and learn in an imaginative fantasy play world, then we grow older and learn to use our minds academically, and then when that is near its end (depending on how many degrees we choose to pursue these days) we then grow to use our hearts in new ways, ways of maturity, healing, and power. These grievances, trials, and tribulations shape our paths and stories and mature our minds and hearts. Therefore it is through the pain that we become those who we are currently striving to become.

Grief grows us.
through suffering comes wisdom, in our trials we are grown and taught, and through our growth we learn to persevere.

James 1:2.

Danielle Nicole.