Loveletters to the Living

Cementrydweller in love with Humankind, Nature and Life itself

[xenosaurus]

I turn 30 next month so here’s what I learned in my 20s:

—don’t work for startups, they’re always one ‘innovative idea’ away adding ‘sell your kidneys on the black market’ to your job description.

—keeping a collection of basic OTC medicine on you will save your life one day. I recommend Advil, Imodium, and TUMS.

—those little single-use glasses cleaning wipes are 1000% worth the money

—overly self-depreciating jokes just make people uncomfortable, wean yourself off of them

—you can buy dehydrated mini marshmallows in bulk online and they’re a godsend for hot cocoa

—people don’t care if you have fidget toys on your desk they just want to play with them

—try to go to bed BEFORE the existential ennui kicks in

[thelittleblackfox]

Also drink water and eat a plant

[liz-squids]

This is all GREAT. I turned 40 last week, so permit me to add what I learned in my 30s:

keep on not working for startups

sometimes there comes a point where the thing (fandom, hobby, friendship, romantic relationship) you loved no longer brings you joy. And that's okay. Try to mourn the loss, take joy in the memories, and don't burn any bridges in case ten years go by and you find yourself back in that fandom/hobby/relationship again

it turns out that (ugh) moderate regular exercise is (spit) good for you. The sooner you make it part of your life, the easier it'll be

related: if you throw yourself into a new exercise regime too hard and too fast, without stopping to rest or consider whether a particular move is good for you ... well, shoulder injuries are painful and consults with orthopedic surgeons are expensive

knees are bastards too

don't even get me started on ankles

there may come a time when your digestive system is too fragile for ibuprofin. I'm sorry

one day you're gonna wake up and realise you no longer give any fucks about some things that used to bother you

on the other hand, you might be alarmed to realise what you still give a fuck about

never get down on the floor without an exit strategy for getting back up

[covington-shenanigans]

I turn 50 this year. what I have learned in my 40s:

"loving yourself" is less of a feeling and more of an action. you can start doing it any time and it will make your life better and better as you go on

this will happen incrementally - be patient

along those lines, if you haven't started making an active effort to quit shit-talking yourself, suck it up and do it

no, shut up. do it. "but it's haaaaard!" don't care. do it.

whether you like it or not, you are mortal and you need to go to the doctor for an annual checkup

stretch regularly - your future self will thank you

at some point you will encounter people much younger than you arguing passionately and incorrectly about history you personally remember and experienced

this will be infuriating and annoying

otoh, most other things just... will not matter to you as much

at some point you will shift from wanting to go out to being like "eh" and deciding to stay in. this is okay.

you will have absolutely no idea what The Youth are talking about and you will not care

but if you keep your mind open to new ideas you'll never be irrelevant

your company still doesn't love you - don't give them more than they pay you for

get a fucking hobby, especially a hobby that involves physically creating/handling something and/or moving your body in physical space. it will do you more good than you can imagine

[atlinmerrick]

Just turned 60 and let me say:

Find joy, every kind, it's always worth it

I'm talking that massive, never-ending Discord chat with your bestie? The one that makes you giggle through the day? It's not a "waste of time," it's what time was made for

If that's fanfic for your favorite characters who never even met on screen celebrate that!

If that's building a tiny fleet of snake villagers for your snake town and they just cover your mantel hell yes!

If that's collecting pillows and making a fort of them every weekend I'll be right over

Feeling and sharing joy is the whole point

[cricketcat9]

This is too tempting…, so, I’m 74, and: don’t fund startups

Please keep stretching and exercise enough NOT to need an elaborate strategy to get up from the floor. IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE

Say bye to your employer as early as you possibly can, unless you really love your job. You won’t be sorry.

Keep doing the annual checkups 🙏🏼

Enjoy that fucking hobby you’ve acquired in your 50, or find something new. Do try new things & adventures.

[worldheritagepostorganization]

World Heritage Post

[joannabarnum]

“Mountain Blue,” 11” x 15” original watercolor on paper. Painted live as a demo during Character in Context in Trinidad, CO earlier this month. Available

[reichen--art]

Lay down & become the forest

[bakwaaas]

Euripides (Tr. Anne Carson) / @wholeheartedsuggestions / Jenny Slate / Euripides again

[ex0skeletal-undead]

Character illustration by PamPamich

[lettersfromthecementry]

I want the skills of a master with the impatience of a child. I try once, maybe 5 times, then I give up. I have never learned patience. When I asked for help it meant giving up because the task was taken complete from me out of love, not just the step I struggled with, but everything and just a fulfilled yet empty thing handed back.

This has fatal consequences for practicing anything.

[sugarsprinklesoul]

There are three rules:

1. If you do not go after what you want, you will never have it.

2. If you do not ask, the answer will always be no.

3. If you do not step forward, you will remain in the same place.

[lettersfromthecementry]

If you love yourself, you do it uncondidtionally. This is not reached with bubble baths or a concious day of pampering. Those things are more akin of a romantic date, a grand gesture. So ask yourself, how do you love others in the small everyday life, unconditionally. Do you use that lovelangague for your own? I'm not waiting for another person to make myself whole.

[lettersfromthecementry]

language is humanitys gift, yet words are frickle things eluding us when we need them most, or backstabing us by being barey able to hold them back beind our teeth.

[lettersfromthecementry]

For the new year make a list with the closest people to you. Then write one thing behind their Name you want to do for them regularliy to make them smile. Pin it over your bed or in a place you see it every day. Those are the only new years resolutions you need.

[lettersfromthecementry]

No one is entitled to your Story, and not everyone can be trusted to hold it well. Remeber it. Protect it. You don't owe them all of you.

---

If you can't be free, be a mystery. ~ Rita Dove

[lettersfromthecementry]

Your rage is a portal. Don't deny it. Don't jump through it without looking where it leads.

Take the gear you neeed to tackle what you see through it. Then take a step each breath, confident and suported by everything you are.

[lettersfromthecementry]

You domesticated yourself like you did the wolf to the dog, to be more social. More Lovable. Kinder. You took it as your name, and maybe that is why you forget.

While a name is the most essentilal disitllation of who one is, its also the most ordinary word to hear for the one wearing it. You survived for the small blink of your existence, not with your intelligence for others wher more intelligent. Nor your speed and endurance, for others where more enduring and faster. But your care and willingess to stand together and help.

You are called parasite, death binger, genocidial monster. The one you choose for yourself is Humankind. While a Name is the most ordinary word to hear for the one wearing it, it's also the most essential distillation of who one is. Maybe we just don't call you it often enought to remind you.

--- (X)

[lettersfromthecementry]

I don't think anybody is listening, but the words leak out of my head. I have to spill them out, so the dam holding my fragile heart will not break.