[petaltexturedskies]

One day you’ll have whatever it is you’re now so confusedly seeking. That kind of calm that comes from knowing oneself and others. But you can’t rush the arrival of that state of mind. There are things you only learn when no one teaches them. And that’s how it is with life. There’s even more beauty in discovering it for yourself, in spite of the suffering.

Clarice Lispector, from “Gertrudes asks for advice” in The Complete Stories

[altcomics]

David Hockney

[cuunos]

peak dynamic in my opinion

[inkskinned]

oh, i am finally old enough to know why my parents took so long to grab their coats. why they would ask us to get ready to go only to sit down for another round of coffee. what would i tell myself, at 10 years old? it’s okay. sit down with them too. take in the extra hour with your friend and her family. when you get home, write down every moment in your diary. one day you will be older and you will be waving goodbye to your best friend, and you will turn the key to start your beat up little car engine, and you will look back over your shoulder. her hair will be blowing in the wind and she will be beautiful and you will be, for a moment, struck by all of it. what you will feel is so wide and nameless that it will engulf you. and you will think of being 14 and kicking her under the table in math every time you wanted to whisper something behind the teacher’s back. you will think about how long the days felt, and how you could hold her hand whenever you wished, but you didn’t. and you will think about all of the people you could have lingered with. and you will wish, more than you have ever felt a wish, that the universe just gave you that - more time to linger. more time to say - i love you. i know i need to leave, but i don’t want to leave you. and when i go, i am leaving a piece of my heart that lingers too. 

one more round of coffee. the days are so short, and you are so lovely.

[bakwaaas]

“The number of hours we have together is actually not so large. Please linger near the door uncomfortably instead of just leaving. Please forget your scarf in my life and come back later for it.” (mikko harvey)

[the-night-picture-collector]

/ Lovell Birge Harrison, Fifth Avenue at Twilight, 1910

[last-picture-show]

Fosco Maraini, Fisherman with Nets on the Sea of Japan, 1953

[dreamstars]

[urgetocreate]

Lauren Mercer-Small (Canadian, b.1989), Woodbine, 2025, Oil on canvas

[arthoesunshine]

i like to pretend i already died and asked god to send me back to earth so i can swim in lakes again and see mountains and get my heart broken and love my friends and cry so hard in the bathroom and go grocery shopping 1,000 more times. and that i promised i would never forget the miracle of being here

[pnwander]

[olliemnjones]

[finalgirlabigailhobbs]

“she should be at the club” well i should be in the green house party paintings by salman toor

[maviyenot]

[rishaddaroo]

[velartis]

Franz Kafka, 1912

[youremysunshine8]

The miller wanted to impress the world, so he said "my daughter can pass any multiple choice test!" And the child was shown into a room with only a number 2 pencil and a Scantron, and told to pass the test or else she would surely die.

"But I do not have the time to study so much!" The girl cried, and then a little creature appeared behind her.

"I can make sure you pass the test, but what would you give me?" Said the creature.

"My healthy sleep schedule," said the girl. He accepted the bargain, and she passed the test.

But then she was put into honors classes, and again found herself locked in a room with only a pencil and a Scantron.

"What would you give me if I help you pass?" Said the man, appearing behind her again.

"I would give my active social life," said the child, and the bargain was again struck.

Then the girl was put into another room, with more tests than she knew what to do with. When the creature appeared again, she said she had nothing left to give.

"Of course you do," said the creature, "simply give up your identity and self esteem, and you shall pass the tests!"

The girl gave it up, and she graduated with high honors. But she was not happy, and neither was her cruel father, for his prized child was no longer in school and so he could no longer brag about her.

Finally, she went to therapy and the therapist helped her name the creature: he was guilt and shame, familial expectations, a system designed to crush children to pick out the "gifted," the melancholy of lost opportunities and the anxiety of the future. Knowing the creature's name, the girl was at last able to reclaim her sleep, then her friends, and finally her sense of self.

"What you really need," said the therapist, "is a hobby."

"I've been thinking of getting into spinning actually," said the girl.

[fromhersoul]