Here 🕳 Have A Void To Scream Into

a beginner’s guide to being a flower:

sit in the sunlight. try to go outside and let the sun wash over your skin at least once a day. open the curtains to let the light in. let the sun whisper secrets to you.

drink water. flowers need water to thrive, and so do you. keep water by your side and sip periodically throughout the day. we are born from water, we are filled with it- water is an important part of you.

stay rooted. regard the present moment for what it is: your own.

use fertilizer. fertilizer comes in all different forms. some of us need help being fertilized, so do what helps you grow and seek the help you need. 

love the earth. the earth gives life to all of us. walk barefoot in the grass. plant flowers. recycle. reduce your footprint.

remember that rot is a part of life. without rot and decay, the soil would not be fertile and things could not grow. if you are struggling, keep growing.

love your petals. they are yours. dress yourself in what makes you happy- look the way you like to look. if you can’t garb your physical self the way you want to, decorate your inner space with things that bring you joy: music, mantras, poems, books, films, anything that you can hold in your heart.

remember you are always growing. sometimes the person you are at present isn’t the person you want to be: you may be growing crookedly, you may have lost a leaf or a petal, you may be transplanted to a place that is inhospitable. remember that all of life is a process. you are never the same tomorrow as you were yesterday. you are constantly regenerating and growing. change is a gift.

nurture yourself. you are a flower! treat yourself as you would treat a tiny blossom. flowers need special care. they need to be loved and looked after- be your own gardener.

A Russian prankster glued a massive portrait of President Vladimir Putin to the inside of a residential elevator. He then placed a camera in the elevator to record people’s reactions.

It’s okay if you count on your fingers, if you continually change how you look, if you’re passionate about something you aren’t good at, if you’re confused about your identity, if you score low on tests often. It’s okay if you have an irregular skin tone, moles, frizzy hair, unevenly clipped nails, crooked teeth, acne, eczema. You’re enough, and you’re deserving of love.

Remembering my grandpa today. His old photo albums are filled with pictures of smiles, friends, and girls. I like to think that after 5 years of war and hunger he had his share of freedom and peace, was able to enjoy his youth. 

He would’ve been 96 today (May 2). Rest in peace grandpa, I love you.

The Jewish people of Uzbekistan photographed by Gueorgui Pinkhassov

“The term Bukharan was coined by European travelers who visited Central Asia around the 16th century. Since most of the Jewish community at the time lived under the Emirate of Bukhara, they came to be known as Bukharan Jews. The name by which the community called itself is “Isro'il” (Israelites). 

The appellative Bukharian was adopted by Bukharan Jews who moved to English-speaking countries, in an anglicisation of the Hebrew Bukhari. However, Bukharan was the term used historically by English writers, as it was for other aspects of Bukhara. 

Bukharan Jews used the Persian language to communicate among themselves and later developed Bukhori, a Tajik dialect of the Persian language with small linguistic traces of Hebrew. This language provided easier communication with their neighboring communities and was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until the area was “Russified” by the Russians and the dissemination of “religious” information was halted. The elderly Bukharan generation use Bukhori as their primary language but speak Russian with a slight Bukharan accent. The younger generation use Russian as their primary language, but do understand or speak Bukhori.

The Bukharan Jews are Mizrahi Jews and have been introduced to and practice Sephardic Judaism. 

The first primary written account of Jews in Central Asia dates to the beginning of the 4th century CE. It is recalled in the Talmud by Rabbi Shmuel bar Bisna, a member of the Talmudic academy in Pumbeditha, who traveled to Margiana (present-day Merv in Turkmenistan) and feared that the wine and alcohol produced by local Jews was not kosher. The presence of Jewish communities in Merv is also proven by Jewish writings on ossuaries from the 5th and 6th centuries, uncovered between 1954 and 1956.”

Royal Greenhouses in Laeken.Brussels /Belgium.by  P.S. Mildred

“The Pianist” (Roman Polański, 2002).