[anandamiide]

26 | doctor | she/her | INTJ

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Current reads :

- East of Eden by John Steinbeck

- The Elena Ferrante Neapolitan books

Listening to :

- Queens of The Stone Age

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My lovely header is by @bronzewasp.

[fecir]

[crumbargento]

Age is … - Stephen Dwoskin - 2012

[petaltexturedskies]

The world is violent and mercurial — it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love — love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.

Tennessee Williams

[icaseybaybee]

[gouged-doll]

erich fromm, the art of loving

[metamorphesque]

van gogh green | monet violet | salman toor green | van gogh yellow

[pradawifey-deactivated20240529]

[kocalls]

[anandamiide]

Drawing from Joan Didion's famous essay on self-respect (amongst other recent readings) here's what I'm going to remind myself in the second half of 2026.

- Do not pin your esteem or identity to external validation. The last illusion you have to free yourself from is the desire to be liked, to paraphrase Margaret Atwood.

- Deceiving yourself is the easiest path to stagnation. The fact that it draws blinds over your eyes and leaves you cloaked in a cruel, twisted comfort zone is enough of a reason to be honest with yourself.

- Radical self honesty is painful if you have been focused on mere appearances and approval from others. At the end of the day, you only have yourself to contend with.

- People with self-respect have the courage to make mistakes and not run for cover ; they have a certain kind of discipline, a habit of mind that can never be faked but can be developed, trained, coaxed forth.

- How do you respect yourself?

Make promises to yourself and keep them.

Know yourself well. Understand what your values and motivations are, what principles you believe in and why, what you like and dislike.

Analyse yourself with a kind but firm eye : this is not to exorcise yourself of imaginary demons (a process that will cause self-inflicted hatred), but to whittle off that which you are not required to carry.

Act in accordance with the values you have. Every action of yours should be aligned to your highest self ; that is, embody the best version of yourself in every waking moment.

Remove the feelings of shame and guilt. If they do crop up, see where they come from and be compassionate. They probably came from a version of yourself that could not or did not act in alignment with the version you wished to be. We cannot change the past, but in every consecutive moment lies the seed of change.

[sentimentalbeing2001]

New matcha cup from the Japanese garden 🎎

[rqdominique]

[cloudvictory]

Pointe Shoes: Tamara Rojo.

www.forvasily.cloudandvictory.com

[perriaeyjeve]

[mortalityplays]

I highly recommend developing a tolerance for polite low level conflict, not just because it will serve you well when employers or whoever try to impose bullshit on you with the expectation you'll fold rather than expend energy arguing, but because it will make you a genuine asset to your friends and allies whenever they're in positions where they're less able to fight for themselves.

the first and most important step is learning to stay calm when someone with authority tries to pressure you. take a breath, think about what you actually believe, and respond in your own time. if they try to brush past or talk over you, you can say "excuse me, can I think about that for a moment. I'd like to give you a proper answer." self esteem. you're both just upright monkeys.

[lamignonette]

[rianphin]

hotel chelsea prada mode