I grew up in a house where I had to cite sources on my feelings. Every subject was an acceptable target for debate. My parents kept telling my sister and I that “not everything is a contest” but that might have been more impactful if my dad wasn’t an Argumentation professor who brought his work home with him.
What I am saying is that I was essentially constructed from the ground up to be the most unpleasant, contentious, prickly, contrarian motherfucker you’re likely to have the misfortune of interacting with this week.
And I have decided that you are a person worthy of love who has had unique experiences that make you special and important. It is my understanding that you are an everyday miracle and your very existence is a gift to the universe.
So nothing you can say will make me believe that you are worthless and useless and incapable of growth and undeserving of kindness. Bullshit. I won’t have it.
Fuck your negativity.
You are a treasure and if you wanna tell me I’m wrong then fucking fight me.
Some bastardous positivity for your friday night.
There’s a bunch of scary shit happening in the world but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re valuable and important and people love you.
I’ve been looking through the notes and the tags on this and I want you all to know: You never deserved the way that people were shitty to you.
No matter what you did you deserved to be treated with respect and allowed your dignity.
And god fucking damn it if you were a child and people treated you like shit you deserved so much better.
You’re worth kindness.
You never had to earn it.
You never had to earn it. It should have been free and expected and if other people wouldn’t give it to you you can have some of mine.
don’t let this world’s obsession with youth rob you of the big and small joys of adulthood. i spent most of my teenage years and early twenties struggling with my mental health. but there’s no timeline for happiness. for many people, getting older and growing up means having more chances to redefine their values, find their path and stability in life. some people go to college in their forties. some people marry in their sixties. some people recover better after their thirties. there’s no timeline for this kind of stuff. your childhood and teenage years won’t be the only chance you have at experiencing freedom and joy.
I see a lot of ‘you should be writing’ and 'you should be making art.’ And part of that is true but also…
…if you arent, that’s not a failure. Maybe you’re struggling to find free time outside your job. Maybe you’re raising a child. Maybe you’re traveling, maybe you dont have a place to create the art you want. Maybe you’re not inspired, maybe you’re too tired, maybe just just dont want to.
Maybe there isnt a reason for you not creating the art you want. It’s no ones business why you’ve stopped doing your thing.
That doesnt mean you quit. It doesnt make you a failure. You didnt 'used to be’ something because you lost your momentum.
A fallow field does not cease to produce wheat just because the soil is tilled. It is still a wheat field, and it’s time to grow isnt so far away. These times seem endless and dark, but sometimes they are necessary.
You are allowed to rest.
It’s also beneficial to rotate crops.
Spend some time doing/creating something different. Learn a new skill. Pick up a new hobby. It’ll replenish your creativity in a way that simply taking a break won’t.
And don’t be afraid to just putter around. Dabble. Experiment. Explore. There is no benchmark or measure of success you need to worry about. The only thing that matters is that you enjoy yourself
A part of being an adult is living with regret and not allowing it to consume you. The older you get, the more mistakes you’ve made, opportunities you’ve missed, people you’ve disappointed. And every day you have to remind yourself to be kind and forgiving of yourself. You accept and love the you from the past and understand that it’s all a part of the process. Then you move on and live your best life, knowing now as old as you feel today, you’ll never be this young again.
