Latest Posts by ayoungwomansthoughts - Page 4
i know the mortifying ordeal of being known is real for too many of us, but consider this: someone saw you once and loved your hairstyle. someone loves your laugh, how you scrunch your nose when you find something funny. your birthday could be an old friend’s password. that one song you recommended to your crush a couple summers back could still be their favorite. you are in other people’s birthday party photos. someone could’ve fallen in love with you on public transportation. our lives intertwine beautifully and you, dear human, are a little piece of other people’s fond, lovely memories. part of the ordeal of being known implies the ordeal of being loved.
mary oliver, upstream
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
I wish everyone would admit that classic literature is inherently difficult to read, and that you shouldn’t feel stupid if you don’t “get it”. Especially the dark academia/ classic lit fandoms and stuff. Like unless you have the vocabulary and pop culture knowledge of an 18th century nobleman, it’s going to be a tough read. It’ll take you longer to read; you’re not stupid if you’ve spent several months on a single book! And you don’t have to enjoy everything. It’s okay if you got bored after one chapter of Wuthering Heights, and couldn’t be bothered to read the rest. It’s okay if you want to read your favourite kids book for the 10th time instead. You’re not stupid. No piece of literature is inherently better, more “important”, more “meaningful”, or more “intellectual” than another. First and foremost, read what brings you joy.
Virginia Woolf // Selected Essays of Virginia Woolf; Dafoe
you know what my perfect gift would be? an annotated copy of your favourite book. i don’t just mean a couple of tabs, i mean annotated. i mean highlighted to the ends of the earth, pages black with scribbled annotations, entire pages underlined and captioned ‘THIS’. i want to see tear stains on the pages, corners bent from when you threw it across the room, spine broken because you were too absorbed in the story to care. i want paragraphs of you yelling at characters, i want your witty remarks and sarcastic comments, i want your little doodles in the margins. because then you’re not just giving me a book. you’re giving me a little piece of yourself, and i think that’s the best gift you could give.
I am desperately romantic when life has given me no reason to be and that, I think, is the definition of hope.
c.r.w. (via my-writemind)
Maybe if I hadn’t been so afraid of rejection I could’ve shown you how much love I had in store.
k.b. // i missed my chance tho (via whendidmythoughtsgocrazy)
“if no art makes you feel anything, make your own art and feel something” is too raw of a line to have come from a jenna marbles video of her painting a rainbow/polka dot seahorse saying “it’s seahorse time” on a denim jacket
small things to add to a hand written letter:
a teabag of your favourite tea
heart shaped note with cute drawings
stickers on the outside of the letter, and inside
handmade paper doll
small print or postcard
a sketch or a little painting or a poem
glitter or sequins or pearls or buttons
small candies or bubblegum
cut out magazine pictures or articles
folded paper, like origami
textile like small ribbons or clothing patches
coins or flat things found in a souvenir shop
pressed flower or leaf
Susan Sontag - “Death Kit”
Alain de Botton // Jon Kabat-Zinn // unknown
1. V.E. Schwab // 2. Unknown // 3. Rudolph Vitkauskas // 4. Charles Bukowski // 5. Margaret Atwood
how to fall in love with life again
go cloud-gazing, lay down in the grass on a sunny day, or empty roads on a rainy day, stare up at the sky and let your mind wander.
read a book so complex that you don't understand anything, fill your arms with scrawled definitions.
writing poems and notes of kindness, hiding them for other people to find and pass along!
read passages of love in another language, untranslated and realise that love can surpass even the greatest of barriers.
find your favourite flower! hunt for it, research it, write an essay on why you love it and how much it means to you!
buy another copy of your favourite book, fill the pages with annotations and give it to a second hand shop for somebody else to experience it the way that you do.
fill a journal with moments of your life, even if you don't think they're very interesting.
listen to music whilst looking at the moon and stars, realising how beautiful life is.
visit an art gallery or a museum near you. become familiar with it, visit it until you know it inside out. make it your special place.
learn the little things about people, including yourself. find their favourite colour and why, find their music taste, their taste in books until you know them perfectly.
the small things! taking sips of warm beverages becomes the most comforting thing, closing your eyes for a moment on a bus and focusing on the lull of movement.
bake/cook your favourite treat. experiment and find the way that makes it taste simply ethereal.
i want to be so kind it echoes backwards in time and undoes the things that hurt you. i want to be so kind it radiates from me. i want to be so kind that i make someone else find faith in humanity again. there’s not much i can do, i’m small and weak and i only know so many words. but i know i can be kind. and sometimes, i believe, that changes the world.
How do you fall back in love with life?
clean your room. clean space, uncluttered space, space that doesn’t have miasma clinging to it can work wonders. clean the dishes. sweep. take out the trash. peel the clothes off the floor and wash them, and then actually fold/hang them. take a long shower. scrub behind your knees. brush your teeth. (this can be utterly exhausting, but try to get it done in a day, if you can. the end result is worth it.)
pull out your notebook. it doesn’t need to be a new notebook, but preferably one that you don’t usually write in, or that you haven’t touched in a while. fuck moleskins. the yellow legal pad will work fine. sit in your room, or in the park, or in the library, and write a list. count clouds. describe all the colors that you see, and note patterns that arise. sketch the cracks in the walls. note the shape light makes when it enters a space. talk about what the air tastes like, smells like. what sounds are there? even the white nose, break that down: air planes, fans, cicadas, anything. remind yourself that you are sitting in the middle of a space brimming with detail. remind yourself that you are not in nothingness and emptiness. your world is fathomless. it has potential.
drink cold water and try to eat something that isn’t processed. it does not need to be fancy. buy yourself an apple with the change between your couch cushions. eat it outside. if you’re someone who walks, walk somewhere afterwards, just to stretch your legs. take your fucking meds. remember that its a good thing that you are inside your body. your body is a fantastic and endlessly intricate machine, and even though society has smacked a bunch of poisonous ideas on it, that doesn’t change its inherent worth and splendor. take care of it.
read a novel. underline your favorite lines, and write phrases that twist your heart inside your chest on the back of your hand with an ink pen. read a novel like it’s poetry. read poetry, something decadent but unpretentious. watch a movie you haven’t seen before. if there are free art galleries near you, walk through one. take your time. let yourself bask. if there are patterns in what makes your soul ache, write those patterns down – marbles arches or soot crumbling bricks or dandelions or descriptions of dresses or whatever it is, write them down.
your chosen family is important. remember, they picked you as much as you picked them. the love has no obligation. it is given freely and it is given from a place of compassion. you are not a burden. if you need to breathe, take a minute by yourself and just exist, but remember to go back to your people. when they need you, listen and be gracious. always be gracious. the universe sometimes remembers things like that.
listen to new music. link jump on youtube or related artist jump on spotify or ask the chap beside you in the cafe what their favorite band is, and listen to that. listen to something that you don’t usually listen to. we tend to tie up a lot of memory with music. we are falling in love again. the soundtrack needs to be specific to that.
allow yourself to indulge in romantics. press flowers in old books. play movies with subtitles and mouth the words. dance in your room. wear something that makes you feel good, even if you wouldn’t wear it in public. write your chosen family letters, even if you hand deliver them. write poetry, even awful poetry. revel in its awfulness. eat dark chocolate and when your chosen family want to go out, try to go out with them sometimes, even if its just to the market.
Kathleen Glasgow , Girl in Pieces
05/04/20
19:07
If you find that person
Who doesn’t tell you what the right thing is to wear, is always happy to take you anywhere
Who doesn’t take their lows out on you remorselessly, and doesn’t take all of your lows so damn personally
If you find that person
Who can put up with all your crap, can always see right through and know you’re more than that
Doesn’t try to change you, force you to fit their mould
That’s something you should pursue, watch it turn to gold
And it will, I’m certain,
If you find that one person
Who will ask you how you’re doing, has nothing to prove and will hold your hand whenever they can see a storm brewing
Encourage, motivate, feed you when you’re tired and it’s late
Maybe love will be great
But that’s only if you find that person
Autumn is Gilmore girls and coffee.
School Mindset
how to get into the academia mindset and look forward to romanticizing school and studying, while making it more enjoyable
1) Spice up your uniform, by adding jewelry, perfume, hair accessories and keeping your uniform neat and tidy
2) Bring a book to school every day, even if you don’t read it, you can feel like rory gilmore :)
3) Choose your personality for the year, but don’t forget to be yourself at heart. You can be mysterious but also be yourself around the friends you make.
4) Study hard for tests, light a candle when doing so and write by the warm flickering glow.
5) Make a playlist for your journey to and from school, including your favorite music and some of the songs which set you up for the day.
6) Get up a little earlier (unless you are like me and physically can’t get up until you are at least 10 minutes behind schedule) to make sure you can spend time on your hair or makeup if that’s something you enjoy.
7) Try your best to be confident, and be friendly to people around you. At least be approachable as this will help you gain real popularity and not just the fake type.
8) Enjoy every moment and romanticize every detail in your day, from the rain on the windows of your school while you study in chemistry, or laughing with your friends over lunch.
9) Make an effort to switch up your study location, for example in a coffee shop, a park, or a library.
10) Enjoy yourself, because your education experience (although you learn throughout your life) doesn’t last forever. make the most of it while you can, and make memories that stay with you forever.
ps. don’t take yourself too seriously :)
I just want forehead kisses
You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love-I love-I love you. Pride & Prejudice (2005) dir. Joe Wright
How do you fall back in love with life?
clean your room. clean space, uncluttered space, space that doesn’t have miasma clinging to it can work wonders. clean the dishes. sweep. take out the trash. peel the clothes off the floor and wash them, and then actually fold/hang them. take a long shower. scrub behind your knees. brush your teeth. (this can be utterly exhausting, but try to get it done in a day, if you can. the end result is worth it.)
pull out your notebook. it doesn’t need to be a new notebook, but preferably one that you don’t usually write in, or that you haven’t touched in a while. fuck moleskins. the yellow legal pad will work fine. sit in your room, or in the park, or in the library, and write a list. count clouds. describe all the colors that you see, and note patterns that arise. sketch the cracks in the walls. note the shape light makes when it enters a space. talk about what the air tastes like, smells like. what sounds are there? even the white nose, break that down: air planes, fans, cicadas, anything. remind yourself that you are sitting in the middle of a space brimming with detail. remind yourself that you are not in nothingness and emptiness. your world is fathomless. it has potential.
drink cold water and try to eat something that isn’t processed. it does not need to be fancy. buy yourself an apple with the change between your couch cushions. eat it outside. if you’re someone who walks, walk somewhere afterwards, just to stretch your legs. take your fucking meds. remember that its a good thing that you are inside your body. your body is a fantastic and endlessly intricate machine, and even though society has smacked a bunch of poisonous ideas on it, that doesn’t change its inherent worth and splendor. take care of it.
read a novel. underline your favorite lines, and write phrases that twist your heart inside your chest on the back of your hand with an ink pen. read a novel like it’s poetry. read poetry, something decadent but unpretentious. watch a movie you haven’t seen before. if there are free art galleries near you, walk through one. take your time. let yourself bask. if there are patterns in what makes your soul ache, write those patterns down – marbles arches or soot crumbling bricks or dandelions or descriptions of dresses or whatever it is, write them down.
your chosen family is important. remember, they picked you as much as you picked them. the love has no obligation. it is given freely and it is given from a place of compassion. you are not a burden. if you need to breathe, take a minute by yourself and just exist, but remember to go back to your people. when they need you, listen and be gracious. always be gracious. the universe sometimes remembers things like that.
listen to new music. link jump on youtube or related artist jump on spotify or ask the chap beside you in the cafe what their favorite band is, and listen to that. listen to something that you don’t usually listen to. we tend to tie up a lot of memory with music. we are falling in love again. the soundtrack needs to be specific to that.
allow yourself to indulge in romantics. press flowers in old books. play movies with subtitles and mouth the words. dance in your room. wear something that makes you feel good, even if you wouldn’t wear it in public. write your chosen family letters, even if you hand deliver them. write poetry, even awful poetry. revel in its awfulness. eat dark chocolate and when your chosen family want to go out, try to go out with them sometimes, even if its just to the market.
“I used to dislike being sensitive. I thought it made me weak. But take away that single trait, and you take away the very essence of who I am. You take away my conscience, my ability to empathize, my intuition, my creativity, my deep appreciation for the little things, my vivid inner life, my deep awareness of others’ pain, and my passion for it all.”
“Never say no to adventures. Always say yes, otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.”
— Ian Fleming