• protein pancakes
• swinging bridge picnic area
• yosemite valley lodge -> merced -> emeryville -> sfo (a total of 7 hours to get home)
• so cool to pass by the same lodge i stayed at with other friends a year ago. how much of that ben is still the same?
• harvest snaps by calbee is so good
• round lab 1025 dokdo lotion & la roche-posay effaclar medicated gel cleanser
• watching clips of friends at midnight
• also watched notting hill scenes

surprised by joy

on pg 80 something for surprised by joy by C.S Lewis, interesting to read about his upbringing in ireland and his time at school. he prefaces the entire book with his experiences of Joy, something different from Happiness or Pleasure, sharing only the one characteristic that anyone who has experienced it will want again, and what separates them apart is it might almost equally well be a particular kind of unhappiness or grief, but the kind we want. anyone who experiences this kind of Joy will trade all pleasures in the world for it, because it is never in our power and pleasure often is.

it's interesting to read about his experiences in boarding school, and his upbringing in an upper class environment, with literature and poetry, and how he lost his foothold in christianity as he was influenced by other ideas and beliefs i.e. occultist, and found it to be a relief. and the strong argument for atheism of by Lucretius: had God designed the world, it would not be a world so frail and faulty as we see.

there's still so much to unpack in this book, and i'm curious to learn about how he eventually returned to God not emotionally, but through reasoning. it will help strengthen my faith and help me understand what it means to be a true christian.