Discover Top Posts Tagged with #finding your place

I want to write you a poem every day until my hand breaks

and assure you that you’ll find your place

-- Lucas Regazzi

#heart #poem #finding yourself #finding your way #finding your place #lucas regazzi #quote #street photography #bistrita #romania

Clearing the Clouds from Your Mind

Marcus Aurelius, and a dream account: 'Clearing the Clouds from Your Mind'

[Image: “Combing Through the Cumulonimbus,” by John E. Simpson. (Photo shared here under a Creative Commons License; for more information, see this page at RAMH.)] From whiskey river: 24 Remember how long you have been putting these things off, and how often you have received an opportunity from the gods and have not made use of it. By now you ought to realize what cosmos you are a part of, and what divine administrator you owe your existence to, and that an end to your time here has been marked out, and if you do not use this time for clearing the clouds from your mind, it will be gone and so will you.

(Marcus Aurelius, translated by Jacob Needleman and John Piazza [source])

I’m going to do something a little different — okay, a lot different — with this week’s whiskey river Fridays post...

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#dreams #dreamtime #Marcus Aurelius #Jacob Needleman #John Piazza #finding your place #clouds

~ books read in 2022 ~

#16: Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch

FERNWEH (noun): A German word that means “farsickness,” best understood as the opposite of homesickness.

ASTROPHILE (noun): An individual who is excessively fond of (possibly obsessed with) the study of stars and other celestial phenomena occurring outside of the earth’s atmosphere.

#2022 reading list #book aesthetic #book moodboard #spells for lost things #jenna evans welch #books #ya books #teen romance #family #salem #witches #witchy vibes #magic #finding your place

It Gets Better

This post is for anyone, but high schoolers and college peers especially.

Now, I know this past year has been extremely difficult. My plans also got thrown to the wayside which was completely heartbreaking. The only goal right now is survival-- keeping our head’s afloat until the new administration is in office and, hopefully, offers more aid regarding vaccinations, student loans, and stimulus. I can’t imagine going through what I did in high school right now, and I’m sure many kids are. I see you and I’m sorry. The best advice I can offer is to find a support system who cares and loves you, and possibly a therapist (therapy is great). Most people right now don’t know what high school and college students are going through.

Without going into too much detail, my social experience growing up was terrible. So much so that I finished high school online and went to college 1200 miles away at 16. And, as grateful as I am for those experiences, I was miserable the whole time. My plate was always overloaded, I constantly felt like I had to prove myself, and my whole identity and purpose was based on other people’s perception of me. Couple that with mental illness and it wasn’t a great time for anyone involved. I decided not to stay at my previous school and instead move back home and take a gap year to find a school that fit my needs better. This is one of the best decisions I’ve made for myself.

Especially in America, we rag on gap years because college is always seen as the goal in our education system. But taking a year off allowed me to work on my mental health, hang out with my real friends, develop skills I needed to reenter college, and just take a load off. I worked pretty much full time during my time away from school, and this also helped me solidify what I wanted to do (and also that I needed to get out of my hometown).

My gap year turned into a gap year and a half because of COVID. And I am in a very privileged position regarding the pandemic. As hard as it was to have my plans derailed, it gave me the option to look at why I chose the school I did, more financial options, and just reconsider everything so I was making the right choice in the short and long term. I ended up withdrawing from one school and committing to another, which is where I am now. But what is the most important thing I learned during my year off?

I have to do things for myself, not because I think it’s how others expect me to act based on what I think they think about me.

In other words, I learned I cared way too much about what others thought, and it was a big reason I was so miserable all the time and making decisions that negatively affected my health. As much as I said I was over the people who caused my trauma, it affected my ability to regulate what was important to me.

I chose the school I’m at now for a multitude of reasons. It has a great program, it’s close to the city, I’m here for ridiculously cheap out-of-pocket. But mainly I’m here because I want to be. Because I trust I can learn and grow here in a way I couldn’t anywhere else. Because I was able to let go of my baggage, pluck up some courage, and do the damn thing no matter what anyone else thought. And I’ve only been here about a week, but I have so much confidence and so many good feelings about my time here at my new school. I’m buzzing with excitement not only because I’m back in school, but because I feel ready to take advantage of opportunities that serve me and let go of the ones that don’t, even if they’ll pad my resume. I firmly believe that everything happens in due time, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t do the things I did when I was younger. I finally feel like I’m where I belong, surrounded by people who I can learn from and who want the best for me. And I never thought it would be where I am, but it is. But my younger self lived and yearned specifically for the freedom and peace that college would bring me, and I finally found it.

To make a long story short: it gets better. I know how hard it is, trust me. I know it feels like it won’t. I know you feel like you’re going to be surrounded by this gray film forever, your goals constantly just out of reach. And I know it’s hard to imagine who you’re going to be by the time you move into your freshman dorm or when you move out for that summer. But the only thing you can do is keep moving forward on your path. Even if people discourage you, even if your goals seem lofty, even if half the time you can’t believe you’ll make it. Stay in line. Allow yourself to be hurt by but also to grow from whatever bad things happen. Try to heal. Find people who support and love you, and realize they’re the only ones who matter when it comes to why you make certain decisions (but they never matter more than your instinct and heart.) You don’t have to prove yourself. You don’t have to post everything online for the world to see how good you’re doing. (And, I promise, no one is ever judging you as much as you think they are. People don’t care all that much unless you’re someone important to them.) Take a deep breath. Trust you’ll end up where you need to be, even if you’re not sure where that is right now. You got this.

#college #high school #advice #peer pressure #mentoring #i promise #it gets better #you matter #your goals matter #growth #moving on #growing up #moving to college #finding your place #mental illness #mental health #online school

Finding balance. I’m still trying to understand what that means. Still trying to figure out a way to soften my edges without losing my sharp. Still trying to slow the hell down without losing my ferocity and the way that energy has built me into the woman I am today.

Marisa Donnelly

#finding balance #balance #finding your place #marisa donnelly #quotes #balance quotes #words by marisa donnelly