#self reliant

[theenlightenedoutlaw]

[loveyourlovelysoul]

Let's start out by keeping in mind that everyone, e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e, even the most independent person on earth, here and there in their life needs help. And let's include ourself. And let's not make the fact that others cannot see this, mean that we're not valid enough to receive or that we're wrong for needing help. Let's not make our independence or that of someone else mean that we/they can do anything alone cause it's never about it. Hyper-independence is more often than not just self protection. Let's try to ask ourselves and others if we/they need help more often. And let's allow ourself to receive, too (or be clear in our communication).

[mjrydsfast231]

My dad. Walked away forever, August 26th 2025, a week shy of birthday 85. He had a near perfect life that he worked very hard for. I miss him more than i thought I would.

[matildaqsilver]

[dk-thrive]

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

Sometimes, you can feel as though no one wants you to think for yourself. All day, every day, through our devices, news-media diets, and social-media accounts, we are inundated with others’ opinions on all matters. Politicians, corporations, media figures, strangers, and friends tell us what to do and think. To be a good and right-thinking person, you must vote for this, believe in that, buy this, hate that…

Have you ever fantasized about somehow rejecting all of that—blocking out the noise and focusing on your own thoughts and judgments? …

The challenge is how to achieve it. Luckily for us, a famous American philosopher focused on exactly that question and left us the guide to self-reliance he wrote in 1841. Read it, and you might just find the self-determining freedom you crave…

To make all of these precepts as practical as possible, here are the eight succinct Emersonian rules for self-reliance that I try to remember. You, too, may find them helpful to monitor your behavior and conscience, and to check how self-reliant you’re managing to be.

Be a private person; never share details of your life with total strangers.

Don’t conform to any conventional wisdom; question everything.

Make independence your goal; walk alone when necessary.

Don’t take the easiest path; choose to do hard things.

Get the cultural garbage out of your life; focus only on what edifies you.

Change your mind as you see fit; make no apologies for doing so.

Commit to complete honesty; this includes honesty with yourself.

Do not count on external forces for your happiness; look within.

Living by this code is not an easy path, which is why few people really follow it. But in a messy world where the majority of people are just going along and getting along, you will find it well worth trying to do so. As if to acknowledge the difficulty and loneliness that can be involved with choosing self-reliance, Emerson concludes his essay with one more pensée to give you strength on your solitary journey: “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” Amen.

— Arthur C. Brooks, from “An Emersonian Guide to Taking Control of Your Life.” (The Atlantic, June 20, 2024)

[venusempathempresspriestess]

Self Independent Energy ~

Self Reliant Energy ~

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Wilder wrote to him in the hope of meeting a woman who felt like her. Her letter, among his papers without a note as to whether he replied, is a rare example of the solitary voice of a single woman struggling with her feelings for other women:

I voiced my need in a little pacifist & socialist paper asking if any lonely woman rebel would care to correspond with another.

I had about 16 answers. The first was from a girl or woman – with whom I am at the present time in love – she is rather younger than myself & has all the characteristics which I most admire in women. She is delightfully self-reliant, capable & humorous. It was she who introduced me to your book, and somehow made me realise that I was more closely related to the intermediate sex, than I had hitherto imagined & she also I think (though I haven't questioned her on the subject) is certainly not a normal female – she is much too nice! When I think of her, I have physical desire, and should love above all things to be able to live with her & be as intimate as it is possible to be & I don't feel that this desire is at all immoral or degrading. It is not merely or chiefly physical desire – I cannot bear the idea of losing her friendship, even if the physical desire is never gratified & I don't for a moment expect it will be. I should be intensely grateful if I could just hold her hand and tell her how much I love her. This may look awfully stupid on paper, but it is very real to me. I feel there is nothing I wouldn't do for her that I could do.

. . . I long more than I can say to love a woman completely and absolutely and to have it returned. The world would say that a physical relationship between two of the same sex is an unspeakable crime.

But after a few weeks consideration I have come to the conclusion that this relationship can never be as degrading as the normal sex relationship can be and usually is. I know it is a big thing to say that the normal sex relationship of men and women is more degrading than the other but it will be true wherever & so long as women are in economic slavery to men & I think you will agree.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory