#life realizations

[raining-tulips]

I think because we can pay someone to do anything for us now, we have become detached from the value of that work, and that’s partly why we complain everything is too expensive.

I’m visiting my grandparents, and my car needed to be cleaned, but everywhere here to get a nice inside and out clean is $100+. Ridiculous, to me. My grandpa and I spent today cleaning the car myself. He has made me do the whole sha-bang, deep clean & detailing.

I feel more connected and grateful for more car, more inclined to take care of it. I feel more connected to my grandpa, who definitely didn’t need to help at all or teach me what all the things do.

And, I feel more like the $100 would be worth it to have someone else, a team of people, do it for me. That was a lot of work and I’ve never had to do it before!

When I learned to knit and hated it, I learned I understood why knit sweaters on Etsy were hundreds of dollars and a now happy to save up and pay. When I learned to sew and also disliked it, I understood why clothes should be more expensive. Every time I try and DIY anything, I understand better why things! Are! Expensive! (Obviously when done by small business or ethical companies, Amazon and Target I hate you)

Anyway…those are just some thoughts.

[heraldofpassion]

Leaving a Mark on the World

With the New Year beginning, I was hit with some quite sudden realizations: I have no idea who I am.

My whole life I’ve been surrounded by people. Good people, and I’ll always be grateful for their presence. But having some many souls looking at you, trying to guide you, can feel quite suffocating at time.

I always turn my attention to people first. I’m not saying I’m an altruistic paragon, sadly quite the contrary, but I always care about others. What they feel, how they are, and how they feel about me. But through all these years of thinking about others, I never really stopped to think about who I am: what’s my drive? How do I want to define myself?

I realize that I want to leave a mark on the world, as good and helpful of a mark as possible of course, but my soul screams to be seen, to say “Here I am. I exist, and I’ll take the space I deserve.” Sometimes, I feel like a specter, an invisible form of my own design. Maybe it’s finally time I step out of the shadows and come alive.

Normally, I’d say sorry for this rant and venting, but I won’t. I needed to scream this into the world so I would be heard. To those that listen, thank you.

Take care folks

[lifeofaie]

a little reminder

i want to challenge myself nga this will be the last time i'll think of messaging him. stop nata dzae, we have to practice what we preach. we're still on the road to recovery. we're still on the road towards self-discovery. naka-realize nata sa atong actions before and the motivations behind it, enough na siguro to para maka-move forward nata. sakit but that's just life. pain will always be a part sa human emotions. but it will be less painful from here on. "you do you, boo" always. ayaw kaau og over-romanticize sa mga butang kay olats ra ka ana in the end.

lisud ig sugod but along the way, makakuha rata sa right footing. sakit sakit sakit sakit sakit sakit but eventually it will heal heal heal heal. acknowledge your emotions as it come but slowly let it go. you are not your emotions. it's just one facet sa imung being. it makes you human too. but clinging on it kay bati nasad. so stabilize yourself, hold the vision, and trust the process. aim for the bigger picture.

[inkskinned]

it's extremely critical that you see the photo of the perp walk for luigi mangione as being propaganda. i've seen so many people wave it off and instead fawn over his looks. and trust me, i know it ended up being kind of pathetic and weird - but please don't brush it off as a "modelling opportunity" for him. it's a fucking terrifying message the police are sending.

i want to make a few comparisons here, in case you're not from the US or familiar with why the perp walk thing is something to pay attention to. just to set the groundwork for why this is a purposeful, unusual, and cruel act by the nyc police - for why this is not a common occurrence and for why that matters.

the prosecution alleges the show of force is due to the charge of "terrorism." for comparison, in june 2015, tsarnaev was found guilty for the boston marathon bombing, which killed 3 people and injured hundreds. his actions are considered to be an act of domestic terrorism. i have spent the last hour looking through google for pictures of similar to mangione's perp walk - and so far, i have found zero. i also just do not personally remember a moment like that, despite living in boston at the time.

they allege that luigi is a stone-cold killer who carried out a longterm plan, making him particularly dangerous. again for comparison: in nyc, recently cory martin was found guilty of the killing of brandy odom. the murder was planned and premeditated to steal insurance money. and yet no staged perp walk. why didn't her life matter enough for a "show of force"?

but mangione gets paraded by a veritable army of police officers as if he is a rabid animal. for a single citizen who allegedly killed one other single citizen, the "largest perp walk ever" occurs.

so what is the "strong message" that the mayor and the police were trying to send here? the mayor speaks as if mangione is already convicted of terrorism. there is a very thin number of people who feel threatened by the CEO's death. none of us felt like mangione needs to be under massive armed guard.

the message is that you shouldn't resist. they are trying to "make an example" of him - that if you behave badly and kill a single rich person, you'll be treated as if you killed hundreds of people. you will be treated worse than a man who was found guilty of terrorism. you will be considered guilty without trial. the message is that the rich are a protected class, and you cannot touch them without massive punishment. they are trying to prevent a revolution by showing dominance and force against you.

the message is that the police are a puppet of the wealthy and that the law is not equally applied across class disparity. it is "some are more equal than others." it is "one life is more precious than another."

the show of force wasn't for luigi. it was for us. it was a warning. they are trying to remind us who is really in control.

[trashcatgallade]

tbh i never really considered seals. until i finally saw one irl and was like omg. the creature

this is my artistic representation of what they looked like on the beach from where i was standing in the distance

it was the most magical day of my life

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

historical drama/sitcom where two gay best friends (woman and man) get lavender married--and proceed to spend the Fancy European Honeymoon their parents paid for acting as each other's wingman

[isjasz]

[Ready for a new game?]

day 11 definitelynottober - heart in your fist & week 1 weeklyhermittober - beginnings

===

IM SO READY LETSGO SO EXCITED FOR THE NEW LIFE SERIES💥💥💥💥💥💥

[uncanny-tranny]

I think so many people are so deeply alienated from themselves that they have no clue how to exercise their free will and autonomy. For some, this alienation runs so deep that they are afraid of their own autonomy and humanity. It is completely understandable why one would have those feelings, but it can be worrisome.

I want to help others who feel this way, so here are small things I have done to exercise my free will:

Add "guilty pleasure" songs to playlists and actually listen to them (I have a ton of late 1990s-early 2000s music I listen to now proudly that I never listened to in the past out of shame)

Getting the décor item, bath set, bed spread, ect. in the patterns you like, even if it's "childish" (I got a dinosaur-themed wastebasket from the kids' décor section and I adore it)

Taking a new route to get to a place you go to often

Eat dessert first

Celebrate well, and often

Collect things that are "odd" or don't seem like an "acceptable" thing to collect (somebody on my "for you" page collects dandelion crayola crayons and it was so cool!!!!!!)

Incorporate one new piece in an outfit you wear frequently (e.g., a new chain, a necklace, ribbons, bracelets, ect.). Challenge yourself to add onto the outfits if you feel up for it.

Sing along to songs without worrying that you sound "good" or your intonation is completely accurate

Read a book from a genre you weren't allowed to read as a kid (comics, thrillers, mysteries, anything!)

Walk without having a specific destination or goal

Pick up a new craft without expecting yourself to master it or to ever be "good" enough. Get your hands messy.

I don't want to shame anybody for not feeling as though they have free will or that they are exempt from exercising it. However, I wanted to give ideas so that you might read this list and find your own ways to express your intrinsic autonomy and will. You deserve to be a person, to feel alive, not just living. That is what our lives are for.

[enesl]

Be with someone who makes you happy.

[soyons-amoureux]

My life feels like it's moving in slow motion.

[chloesimaginationthings]

I love Michael Afton's story in FNAF..

[baskeigh-ball]

Raph’s adjustment period to living with the Hamatos was stressful for everyone involved

Not pictured: Mikey having a heart attack and Donnie frantically trying to remember every location that’s best for hiding a body. Yes, he’s done the math.

[pomorama]

I find it incredibly funny from a meta/author perspective, that Ancient Greece decided to name their protagonist that angers many people “Anger Bringer” but, even funnier, is the in universe understating that anyone who meets Odysseus must have had the thought “oh dear, how unfortunate to be named hateful/hated�� and then they have exactly One conversation with him and go “Ah I see now”

For reference, Odysseus’ name sounds very much like the Greek word odussomai, which can roughly mean “I am angry at” or “I am the cause of anger” (or simply “to hate” or “to dismiss”), a fact that is used for ironic effect frequently in the Odyssey.

It’s also specifically stated in Book 19 that Odysseus’ grandfather, a master thief and one who has also pissed off a lot of people, specifically named him this because “I am disliked by many, all across the world, and I dislike them back. So name the child Odysseus.” 19.428

Bro looked at his grandson and thought “Ahaha, this one’s going to be a troublemaker like me. Better get him started early.”

It’s like a terrible allegory for cause and effect or something.

[butterr-bee]

I'm sure some of these have already been done before but I got too excited for the next season and made a bunch and still have many more ideas

[hoodedjelly]

Still Feel by Half Alive

(there is a second of flashing at the start was unsure if i should tag it or not, but this is the warning)

[youtube video link]

[apollos-boyfriend]

so my younger cousin is flying in to visit from brazil on sunday, and will be staying here for like, the entirety of july. which, don't get me wrong, is super cool! i love the kid! but it felt like a super weird move, considering his parents are the SUPER strict and borderline helicopter parents. even the smallest prank/roughousing with him/his little sister would lead to a strict talking to from his parents, he couldn't ever do anything without their clear permission, that sort of stuff. so letting him fly at alone at 16 to a whole different country and stay there for a whole month seemed WILDLY out of character. additionally, it just felt like a super last-minute trip. it's not like we have any plans to do when he gets here, and the flight itself and stuff only got booked like, midway through june.

and i was talking to my mom about it, kind of trying to nudge some answers out of her, and after a while she went, "yeah, i think they're sending him over here to get away for his boyfriend. see if the distance breaks them off." which, first of all, surprised me because last i checked, they didn't KNOW he had a boyfriend. literally everyone in the family did EXCEPT for them because while that entire side of the family being semi-conservative, his parents (mostly his dad) are EXTREMELY old-fashioned. so clearly something already went wrong. and considering the only reason the rest of the family knew is because one person found out and it spread like wildfire, i have a sneaking suspicion he wasn't the one to tell them, either.

and second of all. they're sending him HERE. to try to make him forget his homosexuality. i couldn't do anything but just wordlessly gesture to the multiple pride flags scattered around my room, then to myself, because really? he has like two other cousins in the us and they're sending him to me? honey i am about to introduce this kid to queer scenes you have never even heard of. he'll be returning home with labels only shrimp can perceive