aka-glassclosetcastiel - Tumblr blog

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

Hey @TheCWSPN—we want Wayward Sisters! We will watch & recommend to friends. Inclusion is important! #SaveWaywardSisters thndr.me/Ex0BrQ http://thndr.me/Ex0BrQ

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

To Myself at 17: Ten Years Later

Dear Riley,

Happy birthday! I know you won’t read this until later—right now you’re having an amazingly fun party with all of your friends. At this very moment, you guys are probably painting rainbows and stuff all over your Thunderbird (man, I miss that car).

You’re about to start your senior year of high school; can you believe it? I know, it’s both exciting and terrifying. Trust me, kid. Things are gonna work out. But first, there are a few things I need you to know.

I don’t have four words for you.

Here’s the thing. You’re not going to be a forensic pathologist or a medical examiner. Those panic attacks you started having last year—they’re only going to get worse. You’re gonna want to keep at that impossible schedule of advanced-level classes and too many extra-curriculars, but you are going to burn yourself out. And when you do, Dad’s gonna tell you to drop those classes and just be a kid while you still have the chance. And you’re gonna resist him. How am I going to get into an Ivy-league school? How will I get scholarships? you’ll think. But, listen. He’s right. If you’re this stressed out now at seventeen years old, just think how bad-off you’ll be going through eight years of medical school. It doesn’t make you weak or stupid or an under-achiever to reevaluate your needs and tailor your life to suit them. The thing is, you’re gonna get into a great college anyway. And you’re gonna be an artist.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

My point is, never sacrifice your well-being for anyone’s expectations—even your own. You can’t be the best at everything. I know it’s hard trying to keep up with Brian, who got a perfect score on his SATs, and Rob, who’s working in the Supreme Court, and Evan, who’s going to qualify for the junior Olympics next year. Don’t judge yourself against your cousins. Everyone is just doing the best they can, and no one expects you to follow in their footsteps. You have to forge your own path. And you will.

You’re going to have your first serious relationship this year, with one of your best friends. I’m sure you can guess which one. You're gonna go about it in a pretty crappy way, considering you know that your two other friends have crushes on him. And you don’t have a crush on him. I know, it sounds kind of awful. But your judgement will be so clouded by what? A boy likes me? that you won’t give it a second thought at the time. Just forgive one of your mutual friends for what he’s going to do to try to break the two of you up. He’ll be acting out of hurt and anger, and honestly you and your boyfriend will kind of deserve it. Ten years later, you and that friend will still be close. Your ex-boyfriend will be about to marry someone else who can’t stand you, and because of that, he won’t talk to you anymore. So it goes.

You'll date for a year and a half. You think you feel different now? Just wait until you’re in the midst of this relationship. You’ll think there’s something wrong with you. Trust me, you’re fine. I won’t tell you why yet—you’ll need to figure that one out on your own. Give it a few years. Just, in the mean time, don’t feel pressured into doing anything with him that you’re not comfortable with. I know from experience that you won’t.

When the two of you break up, you’ll feel like your world is ending. It’s not. Ten years from now—hell, two, even—you’ll be able to look back on the situation objectively and realize that it was for the best. You’ll both move on but stay friends for a long time. And five years down the road, you’re gonna meet the love of your life.

I won’t go into that—I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. But you’ll know it when you feel it.

It’s not gonna be all sunshine and rainbows. Sure, they tell you that it’s hard growing up in a someday-you’ll-have-a-mortgage way. But what they don’t tell you is that it’ll be hard in a million different ways that you never expected. Those friends that are at your house right now? They’re all gonna grow up, too. And when they do, they’ll go off to different schools, move away with significant others, leave the state or the country for work or on exchange programs. Some of them won’t come back. Some of them will, but they won’t come back the same. In ten years, you won’t speak to most of them. You’ll only be friends with a few of them. Hang on to those guys.

Okay, I lied. Maybe I will tell you a bit about your future relationship.

You need to be open. Be open to new experiences, even if it’s more comfortable staying right where you are, exactly as you’ve always been. Be open to compliments and praise when you know they’re genuine. Be open to the love that you’re not sure you deserve. Take things as slowly as you need to. The right person will be understanding of your unique needs. Trust me on this one. Remember how I said you’ll know it when you feel it? You’ll know it when you see it, too.

Don’t compromise happiness in your relationship for anything superficial. You’re gonna learn this lesson the hard way from Mom and Dad in a year or two. Any hardships the two of you have will be easier to overcome if you stick together. Make the decision early that your happiness and the happiness of your future family comes before all else. If you need to live in a tiny house so that you don’t have to worry about money, live in a tiny house. You guys will love it anyway, just because it’ll be yours.

You feel mature right now, but you don’t feel grown up. And that’s good. You’ve had to feel like an adult for most of your life because you’re too smart for your own good, and because of circumstances beyond your control. But you’re pretty sure that right now it’s okay to feel like you have no idea what you’re doing because you’re only seventeen, and because one day you’ll be a “grown-up.” And when that day comes, you think, you’ll know what you’re doing. But that’s another thing they never tell you—there is no magical transformation into adulthood. You won’t suddenly wake up one day knowing all of the answers. In ten years, you’ll still feel like a kid inside. You’ll still feel helpless and unsure. You’ll still feel the need to look to others for guidance and support. And that’s okay. Because what they don’t tell you is that nobody has all of the answers. That’s why human connection will be so important. Hang on to those few friends you’ll still have. Trust the advice of your family members and mentors. Don’t be afraid to reach out when you need help, or when you just need an ear or a shoulder.

There will be times when your world will come crashing down. You’ll lose people. People will die. Your family will break apart. I know it’s scary and sad, but you’re gonna make it through. You’ll find a community of people online who are weird and nerdy and a bit offbeat, just like you. And you’re gonna lean on them when you need it most. And because of that, you’re gonna turn around and give that love and support back to them. Tenfold. Just remember all of those times when you needed an ear or a shoulder. Listen when you can. Give what you can. Be kind to others in every capacity that you’re able. In ten years, your GPA, SAT scores and IQ won’t matter. The things you’ll be most proud of are the things that you’ve achieved through kindness.

When you graduate later this year, your parents will give you a framed copy of Polonius’ advice to Laertes from Hamlet. They’ll underline one phrase: This above all: to thine ownself be true. I’ve gotta hand it to Mom and Dad—there’s no better advice I could give you. You’re an incredibly smart, loving, and genuine kid. Be true to yourself. Go with your gut. Don’t change for anyone. And I know that you won’t. Heck—you’re learning it already. In a few months, you won’t graduate at the top of your class. You won’t get a full ride to Oxford. You won’t be voted most popular or most likely to succeed. But you will be voted most unique.

So maybe I do have four words for you.

Be yourself. Own it.

Love from Riley, on her 27th birthday—8/11/16

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

Concept: Donald Trump is turned into a flea, a harmless little flea. And then I put that flea in a box, and then I put that box inside of another box, and then I mail that box to myself, and when it arrives, AH HA HA HA, I SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!!! It’s brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT, I tell you! Genius, I say! 

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

there’s no such thing as a stupid reason not to kill yourself.

your school sells cookies on thursdays? your favorite band is coming out with a new album? you’re still saving up for that tattoo? there’s still five sodas in your fridge and it’d be a shame to let them go to waste? you want to see the season finale of that show you love? keep living.

your reasons don’t have to be big, if they mean anything to you then they’re good reasons.

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

ZODIAC CONSTELLATION CAKE

Really nice recipes. Every hour.

Show me what you cooked!

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

Cats Who Just Realized You Took Them To The Vet

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

Map of the World by Natural Skin Color

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

Me in elementary school: boys eww

Me in Middle School: I'm not really interested in dating. I'm too young for kissing anyway

Me in high school: I want to date but I can't shake this feeling that I can't give what's expected of me so I'm just gonna focus on my studies. I don't really understand all the hype anyway

*reads about asexuality*

Me: shit

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

#Florida

i’ve always scoffed at those “oh my god europe is tiny”-posts but we just took the wrong exit driving back to our cabin and we literally ended up in norway and decided to just stay for dinner so yeah

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

I believe in aliens but not like in the conspiracy theorist sense more like in the “the notion that in this infinitely-huge universe our planet is the only one with life on it is fucking absurd” sense

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

My fiance is literally the only person in my whole entire life from whom I've never felt the need to "escape," and it is an incredible feeling. (Note for extroverts: escaping is a coping mechanism used by introverts so that we may recharge our batteries in a safe, solitary location. It does not mean that we hate you. It does not mean that we don't enjoy your company. It just means that we're mentally or emotionally drained by human interaction and need some time to ourselves. Don't be offended.)

As an introvert, the best thing is finding someone who it isn’t draining to spend time with

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

I feel like spiral-up would really love these

Realistic Disney paintings by Heather Theurer.

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

My fiance found all of these awesome postcards of my hometown (St. Augustine, Florida) in an antique shop in Ohio, so we decided to go downtown and recreate them.

St. Augustine is the oldest city in the U.S., and all of these landmarks still stand, even though some of the postcards are over 100 years old. [Concept/photography/editing by The Shared Wits Project]

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

Being asexual is like being born without a sense of smell but everywhere you go people are spraying perfume in your face and when you ask them to stop and tell them it’s irritating and you can’t smell the perfume anyway they get huffy and respond with “Don’t lie to me; I can clearly see you have a nose. Everybody has a nose therefore everybody smells things and besides maybe you just haven’t found the right scent yet.” and then you want to scream

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

I live for the applesauce

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

gUYS GUYS guys HEY remember when i drew this and kim and briana had they said it was almost like i was there–i JUST realized i never posted the redrawn version–AND WHAT A GOOD TIME TO

i’m in love

[aka-glassclosetcastiel]

This might be the cutest thing I've ever seen

Let the kids be !