Self-flagellation And Self-bullying Are All Bad Motivators For Change BTW. It Can Be Hard To Escape From

I think some people forget that some literature and some media is meant to be deeply uncomfortable and unsettling. It's meant to make you have a very visceral reaction to it. If you genuinely can't handle these stories then you are under no obligation to consume them but acting as if they have no purpose or as if people don't have a right to tell these stories, stories that often relate to the darkest or most disturbing parts of life, then you should do some introspection.

I hate the “Thoreau’s mom did his laundry” criticism so much, it drives me crazy.

Henry Thoreau did not go to Walden Pond because he thought it would be a fun adventure. He went into the woods because he was deeply depressed and burnt out. He was running from the horror of his brother and best friend recently dying in his arms, and the haunting memory of causing the Fairhaven Bay fire. His friend Ellery Channing literally gave him the ultimatum of either taking some time off to write and think, or else be institutionalized.

I think Thoreau’s mother saw her depressed son choosing to retreat into a small cabin in the woods, and was worried about him. Of course she did his laundry - just as Ralph Waldo Emerson probably brought him firewood and bread. These were not chores of obligation to support a “great” man, but services of love to help their deeply depressed 28yo son and friend.

And if you ask me, there’s a lesson in that - to “suck out the marrow of life” and “live deliberately,” one must also accept help offered from the people in your life who love you. There is no true transcendentalism or individualism without love and friendship behind it.

happy Thursday the 20th

I think that we need to get more in touch with the concept of community. Actual community. I mean supporting each other, uplifting each other, and speaking to one another to reach an understanding. This idea that, if you get into a romantic relationship, that's when you're allowed to be vulnerable, your partner is your everything and nobody else matters is really detrimental. Your partner shouldn't be your whole support system.

Crocheting one of those trendy shrug things

i know it's probably a bit problematic of me but i do kind of love it when a fictional character is clearly lgbt coded but too haunted/possessed/avenging a dead loved one/investigating a series of horrifying murders/undergoing a disturbing and painful metamorphosis/etc. to do anything about it

You're not immune to being the bully btw. You're not immune to being in the wrong

Lesterpollo and the babies as kitties bc I’m insane

ALSO Meg as a tokay gecko bc she’s full of rage

self love

Whoever said college would be the best years of your life is a liar. Wth is this 😭