#shellduck

[literaturha]

Rowan Corkill, Shellduck

[littledomstuff]

Early morning on the banks of the river Wear at low tide: #sketch #sketchoftheday #penandink #inkdrawing #inksketch #riverwear #coxgreen #riverbank #trees #shellduck https://www.instagram.com/p/BwU4CPfnF7H/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1fnujei2y0ys2

[alunah-lalunah]

Why non-reproduction is costly?

Having children is costly in the obvious, material, individual sense. Time, money, exhaustion, damaged bodies, damaged lives, neglected children. Yes, modern conditions make reproduction increasingly reckless. But that is not the cost I meant. When I say non-reproduction is costly, I do not mean it costs diapers, sleep, or school fees. I mean it costs something much harder to give up, namely, symbolic continuity.

For most humans, children are not primarily about care or love. They are about: – continuation of the self – insurance against death – meaning outsourced into the future – social legitimacy (“a normal life”) – participation in the species’ narrative

Non-reproduction cuts all of that off.

You don’t just lose children. You lose: – the illusion that something of you will go on – the social script that organizes adulthood – the moral shield of “I did my part” – the hope that suffering will be redeemed downstream

That is the cost. Biologically, the species doesn’t care. Economically, societies panic, still irrelevant. Psychologically and existentially, most people cannot bear the void this opens. That’s why cultures moralize reproduction so aggressively. If it were merely “easier not to have kids,” there wouldn’t be this level of coercion, shame, and mythology around it.

Under current conditions, reproduction is often more destructive than refusal. Children raised without time, care, stability, or attention are not a triumph of life; they are collateral damage of instinct plus ideology. Autism rates, stress disorders, chronic illness are not mysteries. They are system outputs.

No, non-reproduction is not selfish. That accusation is a propaganda reflex of a species terrified of its own contingency. Non-reproduction, however, is not noble rebellion. It is withdrawal from a story you no longer believe. It does neither make you better, nor fix the Earth, nor defeat life. It simply refuses to pretend that continuation is sacred. Some people do this reflectively. Most never could. That’s the cost. What is hardest to give up is not life itself, but the fantasy that life needs us to justify it.

[craighughesupholstery]

Daddy was filming today with @theenglishpolisher me and dick duck managed to get in the picture. We liked @theenglishpolisher I think we made him want to get ducks. #goodduck #callduck #shellduck #shellducks (at Craig Hughes Upholstery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJwospqH5mL/?igshid=mpmadge8v4gl

[craighughesupholstery]

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This is me having a bath today #shellduck #duckinthebath #duck (at Craig Hughes Upholstery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGN3S3YHY-C/?igshid=2053zgb44ccs

[craighughesupholstery]

I have a purple foot mummy said it's to make it better. I ran off into the field I'm not allowed in and got stuck in the brambles and daddy had to come and help me but I panicked and ripped a hole in my Webb. Mummy said I'm going to be called Dick Duck if I keep it up! 🦆 X #naughtyduck #shellduck (at Craig Hughes Upholstery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFXzSS9HM4F/?igshid=12pk8t2p50ftn

[craighughesupholstery]

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Me and dick duck were meant to be helping daddy cut the grass instead I got in the way and dick duck was getting worms. #shellduck #callduck #garden #gardening #outside (at Craig Hughes Upholstery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFU8XtMHxNc/?igshid=cxcuxlotfyoe

[craighughesupholstery]

Skippy update: Hello everyone mummy has been busy and not been posting pictures ( naughty Mummy) but here I am safe and well! love ❣️ to you all 💖😘 🦆 XX #shellduck #duck #duckinthebath #everyone (at Craig Hughes Upholstery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFIH1vtHyPw/?igshid=19oi6y1y5fmnp