art, guilt, impostor syndrome, perfectionism

"smash the idea that you gotta be good at artistic things to enjoy them, that every hobby has to become something you're so good at, you can monetize it

a capitalist lie.

sign offkey, draw poorly, write badly. life is meant to be enjoyed, not monetized.
you're not a product."

parenting, children, society, unrealistic age expectations

"{1} daria, what is your goal?
{2} um... i dont have any
{1} oh! come, daria!
{2} my goal is to not wake up at 40 with the realization that i wasted my life in a job i hate because i was forced to decide on a career in my teens"

politics, fascism

"hate to break to you but "marx/engels said ______" is not the powerful argument some of y'all seem to think that it is.

you may insert any theorist name here and it's still not a good argument btw. or even an argument at all tbh.

revolutionary theorists of the past should be reference points for the construction of your analysis - whose strengths AND weakness are always taken into consideration - not treated as deified creators of incontrovertible holy texts

and when you DO treat their words like that, you're simply revealing that you have neglected to attend to building your own personal analysis at all. folks who genuinely learn from theorists dont have to quote them all the time to talk substantively about those ideas."

mental health, lgbt

"literally hate how lgbtq ppl are constantly asking "am i valid?" "is this a valid way to be?" every 5 seconds. girl idk what to tell you but if you live your life seeking validation from others your self-image will always exist at their mercy. you gotta get some self-respect and stop begging others to validate you"

body, society

"PSA: people have more right to feel comfortable in their clothes, than anyone else has, to feel comfortable looking at them.

this includes bras, binders, tucking, visible middrift, thighs, skin rolls, etc. no one should be required to wear physically uncomfortable garments just for other people's comfort.

if you dont want to see someone's body, then its on you to look away, not on anyone else to hide or contort their bodies to your satisfaction.

people are just trying to exist. they're not forcing you to look at them, and in most cases they would absolutely prefer if you just didnt."

guilt, depression, despair, society, individualism

"is it right to be happy in a world that's broken?

camus was disappointed that people felt ashamed of feeling happy and advised beauvoir, "happiness exists, and it's important; why refuse it? you dont make other people's unhappiness any worse by accepting it; it even helps you fight for them"

society, disability, invisible problems, chronic illness

"kinda weird how most people generally recognize that the "too sick to go to school, too sick to watch tv/play games" mindset our parents had was bullshit but still impose the exact same rules on disabled adults and scrutinize them for enjoying low-energy hobbies while being too fatigued or in pain to work a full time job (or any job at all)"

socialization, anxiety

"{1} "no one's ever mad at me unless they tell me so" is the best assumption i've ever made

{2} i try to follow this but its haaaard. also sometimes ppl arent honest. i sure dont go up to someone im mad at and tell them i am djdjdjdjdj

{1} sorry for tagwatching but you still have to act like they arent mad at you imo! bc its the mad person duty to make it known if they want anything changed. it is never anyone's duty to be a mind reader.

{3} if i am mad at someone and am remaining quiet about it, it is because i do not want them to know that im mad.

please respect my boundaries and assume that i am not mad.

if you're worried that i am mad, consider the possibility that i am mad for reasons i know are stupid and do not want to make it your problem"

self compassion, anxiety

"things are meant to be used. paint is meant to stain. perfumes are meant to be sprayed. candles are meant to be burned. clothes are meant to be worn. stop waiting for a good day to use things; use things to have good days"

society, socialization, discrimination, guilt

"saying "you are a burden on society" is just such a weird framing of priorities

its like saying r"wow, think how much better gas mileage your car would get if you werent sitting in it" or "think how dry that umbrella would be if you werent holding it between you and the rainstorm"

the things we create? they're for us. they're here for us. they are meant to carry us. they are meant to protect us. we are meant to hold them up to keep us dry.

why do we even have a society if not to take care of each other?"

self compassion

"hate to break this to you but if you call yourself self aware but you are only aware of your faults and never acknowledge your strengths you are not self aware. you have repackaged your self hatred.

society, socialization

"i think people have forgotten that education is supposed to be a tool to help you on your way to greatness, not the definition of how great you are"

activism, feminism

"your sister is loading the dishwashes while you tweet about communism from your bedroom. mutual aid begins at home, losers

sure he's well versed in leftist theory but does he do the dishes

this is such a succinct critique of male leftists who think of it as theory only & wont even get off their ass to clear the table"

self compassion, healing, growth

"if being hard on yourself worked it would have worked by now"

disability, invisible problems, mental health, chronic illness

"i dont know who needs to hear this

but i sure did:

you can and absolutely should modify the chore/self care task if it makes life easier. sit on the floor while doing laundry. clean dishes while in a chair. sit in the shower.

save your spoons. accommodate your fatigue rather than fighting it."

society, parenting, invisible problems

"so many people seem completely unaware of what a genuine apology is.

and thats because children are forced to say sorry on command.

before they ever had a chance to process what they did, why they did it, what effect it had on others, or what they should have done instead, they're expected to say that they're sorry. and they're expected to "say it like you mean it" with no indication of what that even means and with no time to figure out how to phrase it correctly.

sometimes, even when the child's actions are justified by any logical reasoning, they're expected to apologize because an authority figure demands it.

the goal of saying sorry ends up being solely to avoid punishment. and they phrase the apology in whatever way the authority figure will accept.

the result is an entire society filled with people who give completely useless apologies that appear like they're only trying to avoid punishment."

language, labels, socialization, abuse

"hey i've seen this making rounds a bit but the phrase "trauma bonding" isnt about people bonding over their traumas. its a specific psychology term where an abuser purposefully hurts you and then strategically comforts you after hurting you as a way to make you bond with them"

mental health

"btw that rule about not trusting how you feel after 4pm in the winter or 9pm in the summer (really we should just say after the sun goes down but whatever) is only about negative feelings. if you are chilling with your best friend drinking hot chocolate and have never felt more loved and safe, that is 100% true and you can and should trust."

society, humor, invisible problems

"satire is meant to ridicule power. if you are laughing at people who are hurting, its not satire, its bullying"

{terry pratchett}

art, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, activism

[transcription in separate message]

"{1}
"the ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups.
all those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quntity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

his procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: 50 pounds of pots rated an "A", 40 pounds a "B", and so on.

those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A".

well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity

it seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group hadsat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay"

{2}
perfection is intimidating. i think most artists blocks come from the fear of creating something imperfect.

{3}
putting it even more simply: just make shit. eventually it'll be good shit. maybe most of it will just be shit! but you cant make good shit if you're not making a lot of shit.

GET EXCITED AND MAKE THINGS.

{4}
kind of important. i've spent way too much of my life thinking about the perfect things i could make without actually making the damned things."