If there is something that I have learned through the process of applying to art schools is, they don’t want to hear you say that your friends are your Inspiration. Although in writing I find my inspiration in every person I meet and their stories and sometimes it so happens that a friend inspires me with a beautiful sentence.

Recently I’ve been in love with these beautiful and raw videos from Thoraya Maronesy, where so goes up to strangers and ask them questions. A couple of her videos left me in tears of happiness, sadness, and understanding.

I have learned that life is precious and by meeting new people every day, you become more aware of its value. As a cashier on my part-time job, I encounter strangers every day (because I have to). But some of them make me appreciate who I am, the things that I have, and the life that I live. For example, a customer finds it hard to find something, but they’re in a hurry. And even so, they look you in the eyes and say thank you. If you’re having a long day at work a simple thank you can brighten your day.

There was this time that customers were complaining about things I had no control over. I had a good day, but I started to get annoyed over this matter that I almost wanted to become cranky towards every customer that came next. At some point, a customer smiling beautifully looked at me and said: “I don’t know what it is, but there is a cool vibe about you, I don’t know you just have this cool vibe.” And that comment made me smile throughout the whole day.

Life is precious when you decide that it’s precious. I value the beautiful things people say, also the things that might hurt because those words may shape you into a better version of yourself. A friend of mine used to keep a jar of compliments, to remind herself that those compliments mean something.

This post is mostly based on how much a stranger can have an effect on you if you let them, also the memory of my friends’ compliment jar to write about that one stranger that made my day.

Even though it’s not okay that your friends are your inspiration for your art school admissions, I now know that the things they say inspire me most. So, perhaps the right thing to say is that humanity is my inspiration.

Enjoy your day and accept everything that comes your way and turn it into something beautiful.

xo, Gely

Enjoy one of my favorite videos from Thoraya Maronesy