Sea

[owlmylove]

no one tells you how much of life takes practice. not just writing, painting, running, singing, etc, but practicing how to make friends. how to make the right ones. getting practiced at how to be a good friend, a good sibling, a good person. practice identifying when people haven’t earned that. learning to recognize your right to rage and, eventually, how to offer mercy. so much of life is muscle memory, and i’ve begun to realize there are so many more parts of ourselves to flex and stretch and strengthen than those we’re taught in anatomy lessons

[owlmylove]

no one tells you how much of life takes practice. not just writing, painting, running, singing, etc, but practicing how to make friends. how to make the right ones. getting practiced at how to be a good friend, a good sibling, a good person. practice identifying when people haven’t earned that. learning to recognize your right to rage and, eventually, how to offer mercy. so much of life is muscle memory, and i’ve begun to realize there are so many more parts of ourselves to flex and stretch and strengthen than those we’re taught in anatomy lessons

[twixnmix]

Malcolm X and Maya Angelou in Ghana, 1964.

Malcolm X on his last visit to Accra had announced a desire to create a foundation he called the Organization of Afro-American Unity. His proposal included taking the plight of the African-Americans to the United Nations and asking the world council to intercede on the part of beleaguered blacks. The idea was so stimulating to the community of African-American residents that I persuaded myself I should return to the States to help establish the organization. 

We all read Malcolm’s last letter to me. Dear Maya, I was shocked and surprised when your letter arrived but I was also pleased because I only had to wait two months for this one whereas previously I had to wait almost a year. You see I haven’t lost my wit. (smile) Your analysis of our people’s tendency to talk over the head of the masses in a language that is too far above and beyond them is certainly true. You can communicate because you have plenty of (soul) and you always keep your feet firmly rooted on the ground. I am enclosing some articles that will give you somewhat of an idea of my daily experiences here and you will then be better able to understand why it sometimes takes me a long time to write. I was most pleased to learn that you might be hitting in this direction this year. You are a beautiful writer and a beautiful woman. You know that I will always do my utmost to be helpful to you in any way possible so don’t hesitate. Signed Your brother Malcolm 

(Excerpt from Maya Angelou’s memoir A Song Flung Up To Heaven)

[sabonhomeblog]

Madonna della Corona, Italy; by Manuel Dietrich

[violentwavesofemotion-deactivat]

Nuala Archer, from Whale on the Line: Poems; “Rocking,” (For Mary L.)

[deeplovephotography]

[iconicgirls]

[googledrivemovie]

Spirited Away Backgrounds

[the-book-diaries]

Alone had always felt like an actual place to me, as if it weren’t a state of being, but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I really was.

Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (via the-book-diaries)

[violentwavesofemotion-deactivat]

Think. You can. You must, moreover, not continually run away while asleep - forget details - ignore problems - shut walls up between you and the world…You must not seek escape like this. You must think.

Sylvia Plath, from The Unabridged Journals (via violentwavesofemotion)

[weltenwellen]

                 can you imagine trying            to be happy                               then the cold seeps in and that grey is     everywhere.

— Quinn Lui, from “Things You Said In The Seasonal Cycle When We Were Both In Love”

[dame-de-pique]

Nature morte aux fleurs, vers 1910-20

[provst-deactivated20190401]

I want as much self-knowledge as I can get—let me not be deceived—but self-knowledge isn’t the goal I seek. Strength, strength is what I want. Strength not to endure, I have done that and it has made me weak—but strength to act—

Susan Sontag, Reborn: Journals and Notebooks 1947—1963 (via provst)

[thatsyourgold]

I always talk about love but I’ve seen a life where I can live without it, where I can eat with my hands, make the whole bed, leave the light on for myself.

Caitlyn Siehl, Loveless (via thatsyourgold)

[luthienne]

may I never lose that terror that keeps me brave

Audre Lorde, The Black Unicorn: Poems, “Solstice” (via noorshirazie)

[larmoyante]

The best sentences orient us, like stars in the sky, like landmarks on a trail. They remain the test, whether or not to read something. The most compelling narrative, expressed in sentences with which I have no chemical reaction, or an adverse one, leaves me cold. In fiction, plenty do the job of conveying information, rousing suspense, painting characters, enabling them to speak. But only certain sentences breathe and shift about, like live matter in soil. The first sentence of a book is a handshake, perhaps an embrace. Style and personality are irrelevant. They can be formal or casual. They can be tall or short or fat or thin. They can obey the rules or break them. But they need to contain a charge. A live current, which shocks and illuminates.

Jhumpa Lahiri, My Life’s Sentences (via larmoyante)

[akageesus]

Tessa Thompson + Westworld