bringing self back to self.

perfectquote

“Even now, as broken as you may feel, you are still so strong. There’s something to be said for how you hold yourself together, and keep moving … Don’t stop … Keep going.”

— Maxwell Diawuoh

letsbelonelytogetherr

— Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground

perfectfeelings

“You don’t ﬁnd your worth in someone. You ﬁnd your worth within yourself and then ﬁnd someone who’s worthy of you. Remember that.”

— Unknown

reverie-quotes

And I don't know what my duty is to that knowledge, except to hold it.

— Charlotte Woods, Stone Yard Devotional

perfectquote

“Don’t wait for things to get easier, simpler, better. Life will always be complicated. Learn to be happy right now. Otherwise, you’ll run out of time.”

— Unknown

flowerytale

J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King

“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.”

— Steve Maraboli

stay-close

“How do you know someone is for you? They bring peace you haven’t found anywhere else. They support your effort. They water your growth.”

— Unknown

“I am both happy and sad at the same time, and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.”

— Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

forevervanity

“Be alone. Eat alone, take yourself on dates, sleep alone. In the midst of this you will learn about yourself. You will grow, you will learn what inspires you. You will cultivate your own dreams, your own beliefs, your own stunning clarity. And when you do meet the right person who makes your cells dance, you will be sure of it because you are sure of yourself.”

— Bianca Sparacino

#july

schuylerpeck

Retroactive jealousy is tearing us apart. I can’t help it. Can you write about that?

how could I not imagine the love you knew before; if in the lulls between our laughter, there’s an ache that rings it's not the same.

of course, I do know you love me. every river within a 60-mile radius knew us by name last summer. we dangled our feet in the waves, dizzied ourselves chasing fireflies; chattered at the moon until she stuffed cotton in her ears. you have a terrible habit of cracking me up before leaning in closer—I think you’ve kissed my teeth more often than met my lips.

but the nights I sleep over, I can’t help but picture your sheets curled between her fists; a last moan caught in the pillowcases. if in the quiet days, you get lost in memories. if you walked away or she did. how often you find yourself in the surf of that grief. I wish I could stop tracing her outline in our every conversation; stop measuring the pause before you say my name. worrying that when we walk through the garden and our sleeves are stained with jasmine, maybe all you smell is her perfume.

#december