Hi, my name is Briana Cummings. I am better known as Bri, T-Bri, or Bri-T. All of which is me. I was born in Minot, North Dakota, on an Air Force base. Yes, you guessed it: I was an Air Force brat. My dad served 20 years, and during that time I lived in a total of 3 states. Once my dad retired, we moved to Mississippi, which is where he was born and raised.

I must admit, Mississippi has a very nice charm. To be completely honest, it's where I found myself. It's where I spread my wings and blossomed into the woman I am today. Yes, it may be small, but it's home to me.

Below are a couple of my stories; for more, visit me at Pretty Escape.

Perfect Escape

Do you ever wonder how life would be if you had made different choices? I know I'm not one to dwell on the past or the decisions I've made.

Life has a funny way of working out. I find my escape in music, art, love, laughter, and prosperity. There's nothing like good music; it soothes the soul and opens the mind. It gives you chills and changes your views on life. Why can't life be like a song? I guess that answer is easy because pieces come from others' life experiences; that's why they are easy for others to relate to.

Art, there's so much life in one painting. Artists put their heart and soul into their paintings, their feelings, their laughter, and joy, even their sadness and anger. Love, when you think of love, you think of storybook endings and fairytales. Some can't relate; love is real and raw. There's nothing like loving and being loved; there is nothing perfect about love, but there is always beauty in it. Through the good and bad, you find a way to still love.

Laughter, all the joy in your world. Everything that lights up your day and brings a halt to your negative energy. That ray of sunshine that captivates your very existence and makes others' days; there's nothing better than the sight of your smile and the sound of your laughter.

Prosperity is the very thing that keeps you going. Giving your life meaning and motivation to go on another day. You don't think of what has come to be; you just live in the now, and you are abundant with life. There is beauty in today and tomorrow, and surely every day after that. Your life is what you make it to be; the same goes for your mood, your day, your overall well-being. Find your escape in the things that genuinely are your happiness, and live life for you.

Give and let give, love and let love, live and let live. Here's to many more years of you and I, and everyone else who is finding their own escape.

Paradox

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more but have less; we buy more but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, and more medicine, but less wellness. We drink, smoke, and spend too much. Laugh, love, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've been to the moon and back, but we have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air but polluted the soul. We write more but learn less. We plan more but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information and to produce more copies, but we can't seem to communicate with one another.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits, and shallow relationships. Two incomes but more divorces, fancier houses, but broken homes. Quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.