tala || araw

[talaaraw]

Aug16′20 || gasoline

My last clear image of you was on the porch, kissing her very pregnant belly. It was a very loving and tender gesture, the kind that could have only come from you.

You were both silhouettes (I was looking out from inside the house), but I could see her face above your hunkered figure as clear as I could feel my rage: her eyes blank, her face defeated, her porcelain white shoulders so tense, they formed a chasm through her soft, jet black hair.

I was 23 years old by then, fully aware of what that disposition meant, because I’ve seen it before, on my own mother, and I’ve felt it, in my own body. It was the image of a woman who has been conditioned to be grateful for the love she’s being given.

That day on the porch, even with the light washing away all the details, I could tell that you were hurting her.

Yet there she stood, unflinching, the baby in her belly making the space between you two, and there you were, rocking her body towards and away from your mouth with every kiss, each one more forceful than the last. And there I still was, just standing there, stupid, watching the blank expression on her face as if it were my own, conceding to a love that I — that she does not want. 

So I left.

You see, this is the only way you leave manipulative people: do not give them a chance to refute. Do not tell them that they are hurting you. Do not give them the chance to turn the tables and say how ungrateful you are. How everything is your fault.

I finally have a term for it: they call it ‘gaslighting.’ It is a sick form of love, the very thing you taught me about jealousy.

Guess what, your love is sick. It reeks of gasoline.

And because I could not convince her, I left.

[talaaraw]

When you feel the urge to give up, look up, and rest in the assurance that someone's up there watching over you. 👆🏾#NeverDiveAlone #girlswhofreedive Photo by @miolopz . . . . . #freedive #buddy #cressi #saltlife #waterborn (at Apo Reef Adventure)

[talaaraw]

Hi my name is Tara. Come with me and my friends to #Zamboanga Sibugay to teach the locals how to #freedive for #marineconservation? Let's certify them as #AIDA International freedivers. We also accept donations. Link in bio 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽

[talaaraw]

Social Media

reviewing what people liked and didn’t like to see which parts of you you should project and which parts you should hide

[talaaraw]

“I’m beginning to realize that real happiness isn’t something large and looming on the horizon ahead, but something small, numerous, and already here. The smile of someone you love, a decent breakfast, a warm sunset, your little everyday joys all lined up in a row.” -Beau Taplin Whoever said the details fade when you're in love clearly never loved before

[wnq-writers]

Be the kind of man or woman that people read books about.

mardybryant (via wordsnquotes)

[purplebuddhaproject]

Wherever you are, be there totally. - Eckhart Tolle

(via purplebuddhaproject)

[talaaraw]

[terramantra]

Not a single creature on earth has more or less right to be here.

Anthony Douglas Williams  (via terramantra)

[wnq-anonymous]

Every successful person has overcome hard times. Don’t be ashamed of your struggle, work past it.

Anonymous  (via wnq-anonymous)

[talaaraw]

Hypocrisy is the gap between your aspirations and your actions. Greens have high aspirations – they want to live more ethically – and they will always fall short. But the alternative to hypocrisy isn’t moral purity (no one manages that), but cynicism. Give me hypocrisy any day.

George Monbiot

[mouzeron]

[morganmaassen]

sunset paintings in Baja…

[theanimalblog]

[kolekshun]

Fire reflected on birds in smoke, at Moerdijk, the Netherlands

[thelovelyseas]

Wonderful world by Andrea Izzotti

[philippinespics]

Ian Berry photography

Philippines 1998

[talaaraw]

Manila

[philippinespics]

Nomadic way of life at sea, Badjao people, Philippines

[talaaraw]

:( there’s no source - but these photos are beautiful.