do that thing you said you were going to do. It’s really now or never, with pretty much everything.

the mind goes beyond the Darwinian calculus of survivability and functionality

It’s a zine, it’s a palace, it’s a mantra

But with him? You look like you sleep.

Stress = a mismatch between the demands placed on the body by its environment and the energy it can produce to meet them.

If no one sees us the way we see ourselves, then who are we really?

We become our reputation, the whisper of our name in someone else’s mouth, the assumptions people make when they hear our voice or read our words.

no matter how much we try to present ourselves a certain way, we will always be subject to the lens through which others view the world.

No matter how painstakingly we construct our self-image, it is only ever as powerful as the interpretations of those who observe it.

We didn’t notice when we stopped living and began watching others. We’ve become spectators of everyone and participants in nothing of our own.

keep choosing softness over suspicion, even when your fear begs you to armor up

stop dragging the past like a filter over every new beginning.

i’ve tried to think my way out of feeling. i’ve given my heartaches names and reasons and timelines, hoping that if i just understood them enough, they would finally leave me alone.

and so you start performing. performing calmness so no one calls you dramatic. performing confidence so no one sees how shaky you feel inside. performing detachment so no one can leave you first.