#settling for less

[heymariesue]

The universe will never give you peace in something you were never meant to settle in.

-Unknown

[venuskind]

[aconfusedbunchofatoms]

sometimes when you get used to staying in your shell instead of branching out and trying something new or talking to someone, you start to convince yourself the it’s for the better, that is was meant to be this way, and i think i’m getting a bit too comfortable with quelling my desires and settling for less.

[odinsblog]

Once upon a time, I was an artist who paid my bills by selling artwork on the sidewalk. It was for less than 18 months, but I did it. Starving artist? Yeah, I was all about that life.

Most of my art was just pictures I saw in magazines and put my own spin on them, usually in in,k or charcoal, or if I was feeling really adventurous, in Cra Pas.

Sometimes, the pieces I drew took me hours and hours to do. 15 hours or 20 or 30 hours. But I loved drawing, so the time was well spent for me.

Now, when I first sold my art on the street, there was no “artist’s guide on how much new artists should charge for their blood sweat and tears,” so I wasn’t really sure how much to charge, or how much I could get away with charging.

But eventually the streets taught me a lesson, and I did learn a very important lesson.

One day I put up a black and white drawing. It was a headshot of a woman. I decided that it took me 15 hours to complete it, plus the cost of paper, charcoal and a frame. My asking price was $150.

Now you gotta remember, I had never done this before. I ended up selling art on the streets of downtown Boston because I made a hasty, not very well thought out move to “live my dream” after college. I got a place to stay, but lied to my landlord about being employed. I needed money (a lot of it) and I needed it fast, and I was beyond desperate.

So my first piece I sold ........

All kinds of people were giving me advice on how to price my artwork. Some people were telling me to give it away, so that if word spread on what a great artist I was, it would help me set up “a name” for myself. Others were telling me that if I was asking $150 and someone offered me $10, then I should just take that and be happy: “at least you aren’t giving it away for free,” they reasoned.

So just to recap: my choices were to seek $150, a fair price for my art, or give it away, or accept a fraction of what I knew my work was worth.

Well, that first day was EXTREMELY skressful for me. I’m getting palpitations just thinking about it. But in the end, I decided to hold firm at $150. Even though I was fully expecting failure, I committed to myself that either I was going to make $150 on that first piece, or I was going to go home broke. In other words, I decided to vote on myself and believe in my talents.

Cut to chase: my very first piece sold in less than 30 minutes. And the person who bought it thought my sign said $1,500 and was prepared to pay that for it, until they repeatedly asked me what my sign said.

I quickly jacked up my prices, although I never did work up the cajones to ask for more than $1,000 per piece. Rent and utilities were never a problem for me after that.

It’s a bit of a plot twist, but the moral of my story is this: ASK FOR MORE. DEMAND BETTER.

The worst someone can say is no, but you might be surprised.

Whenever I hear centrist Dems saying that voters should be happy with literally anyone because, “Any Democratic candidate is better than Trump,” it reminds me of the people who told me, “getting $10 or $15 is better than giving it away for free.”

They were wrong. My artwork was worth more than that. Contrary to what they were saying, I didn’t need to settle for less.

“Better than Trump” is such a low bar. Especially right now, even before the primaries have even begun.

Think of ALL the people you know, or have ever met in your life before. They’re literally ALL “better than Trump”. All of them. Does that mean they deserve your commitment? Are they presidential material?

“Better than Trump” is such a low bar. I’M better than Trump, and I can promise you, I wouldn’t make a good president. The Democratic leadership has convinced centrists that the *only* bar to clear is “better than Trump,” and not a candidate’s political policies.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND: Not all Democrats are progressive.

The primaries haven’t even started yet.

RIGHT NOW is *precisely* when we should be asking for more from our would-be political leaders. We need the courage to demand better.

If we settle for less now, less is exactly what we will get. Demand honest-to-God progressive Democrats in the primaries. Progressives with a rock solid record of progressivism.

[momentsbeforemass]

Half-hearted creatures

Today’s Gospel is vaguely familiar. And odd. At least to us.

Jesus reads “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” passage from Isaiah. Then says, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The reaction of the people Jesus is saying this to? They are excited.

Because they get it. They know exactly what’s Jesus is talking about.

Our reaction? Not much of anything.

We don’t really think about it. So we move on to the next thing.

The next distraction. The petty busyness of life. Absent-mindedly scrolling from one thing to another, then another.

Whatever.

Which, if we actually stop to think about what Jesus is saying, is absolutely mind-boggling.

That we who are offered so much would ignore it for the sake of so little. C.S. Lewis explains,

“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea.

We are far too easily pleased.”

Today’s Readings

[hi-naanna]

Settling for Crumbs

December 18, 2025 | 22:44

I shared something a while ago and never heard a response. I remember being told it was "draining" when a topic wasn’t relatable or felt like nonsense to him. Since then, I’ve barely shared my thoughts. I feel like I’m just being annoying, so I stay quiet to keep the peace. But while it’s calm on the outside, my mind is so loud and I feel like I can’t tell him anything anymore.

When it’s about him, he keeps talking even when I’m out of words. I still try to find nice things to say because it feels rude to just leave his thoughts hanging. I ask myself why it’s like this? Why I’m the only one adjusting?

It’s frustrating to feel like I’m being kept in a loop because he finds warmth in me, even if he never planned to want me. There is a difference between being wanted and being kept around. Lately, I’ve realized I’ve been settling for the version of love that is just enough to keep me from leaving, but never enough to make me want to stay. Just enough attention to keep me around, but never enough to make me feel valued. The bare minimum is a cold place to live.

[outmyway]

Living this life is like watching world losing its mind and trying to keep people from walking on my grass.

[hyunejin]

what most people dont understand, is that i was promised a kingdom and i fell short of it