watercolor

colours; water; artist; words; canvas //studyblr: omg-psych-blr//

[watercolorsuggestion]

[positivelypresent]

Let these things gooooo. This is a page from my book, Grow Through It: Inspiration for Weathering Life’s Seasons.

[shencomix]

(this story will continue tomorrow.)

[shencomix]

CONTINUED:

[shencomix]

CONTINUED MORE:

[shencomix]

CONTINUED:

That's the end! I hope you enjoyed this mini-series. :]

[toastyglow]

"practice gratitude" feels forced to me and "cultivate your own happiness" is too vague for me so I am zeroing in on "take pleasure in every small thing you can, because the big things just don't happen that often"

[pridefulsuggestion]

i am victory, i am laughter, i am olympus, and you—are nothing any longer.

[engulfes]

Growing up is actually all about realizing people don’t inherently dislike you and it’s a bit odd to assume they do

[existentialdruid]

This

[jelliebeanbitch]

there are more tweets in this thread

fucking SLAY

[inkskinned]

it's hard to explain because inevitably you sound like an asshole, but some people are allowed to lose their temper, lose their mind - you're not, though.

when your friend never texts you first and misses your birthday and never makes an effort; you don't mind. you know she's struggling, and you want her to get the help that she deserves. you give her every excuse and every chance.

it shouldn't matter to you so much that people are always coming through for her. you want her to be happy, you love it for her. you love that her community rises up to the occasion. why does it bother you that when she snaps at someone, says horrible mean things - but two hours later, everyone is comforting her while she's crying. you know she's stressed. why do you kind of hate that she is welcomed back to her job, that her parents are endlessly wiring her money.

and you're - fuck, are you envious?

but when you don't text back, someone sits you down and says i know you're struggling, but you're being a bad friend. when you're too numb to show up for work, your boss just shakes his head. i'm sorry. i can't approve more time off. we have the company to protect. when you finally snap back at your family for making that shitty comment again, you're forced to apologize for being too sensitive.

god forbid you need something. people aren't used to you being the one asking. you're the giver like the book you hated; your pages all open and rumpled. you always have the answer, always have the solution. you are reliable, trustworthy. people like you don't struggle with things. you're supposed to be lifted by tragedy. you are given a maximum of 24 hours to grieve, and then you need to just behave at the party.

you can't read the giving tree without feeling like crying, and even that feels like it's too much emotion. like, nobody looks at you and assumes you're the tree; they'd name five other people before even considering you in the running. you're just there, never-asking.

your friend gets to say mean shit, that's just her personality. when you make a snide comment, you're just being petty. people laugh when your friend stands you up for another event; they say she's just like that. you were 5 minutes late to a meeting with friends and they were mad about it for the rest of the evening. your friend sets everything on fire; everyone applauds her through the ashes. you so much as light a candle: and suddenly now you're an arsonist.

you don't want your friend to suffer, though. the thing is that you just wish that the empathy and kindness your friend gets - you wish you had that option, that everyone offered you grace and money and a gentle reception.

the other day you were fighting down the bad urge; the void call, the end note. you tried-anyway. you went to the family event, tried laughing at the right moments. nodded and smiled and all of it. one of your siblings threw a fit, but she's allowed to, so everyone just rolled their eyes about it. you took 3 whole minutes to stand outside when you got overwhelmed. you literally set a timer about it.

in the morning you woke up to a text from your parents: you were a complete disgrace last night. idk what your attitude problem is, but you really need to fix it.

[joeyclaire]

this is what tiktok is really for

[engulfes]

F. Douglas Brown

[melophobia2013]

[ID: Make Out Sonnet

The first time I saw two men kissing, I was six,

Living in 1970s L.A. My mom took care

Of an elderly woman who found herself in a fix

And moved into a complex of all men, bare

Chested men, with cutoff jeans and tinted glasses.

My mother's friend gave me chocolate that matched

Her skin - this must be heaven. These sons' asses

Peeked out beneath their shorts, but watched

Over her better than mom. Took donations for heat,

A sofa and a new wig - all changed her mood.

They even did her laundry. They did sweet

Better than honey. Did family better than blood.

And between duties, two men always off alone

So desire, like the dishes, could also get done.

end ID]

[stargirldotcom]

-despite everything, there is still love

@arthoesunshine/ @artsheila/ @daisies-on-a-cup/ @gayarsonist / @hjarta/ @yunawinter on twitter/ @bakwaaas/ @death-born-aphrodite/ anon on gentleearth/ @classicnymph on twitter

[rneadowsoprano-deactivated20211]

I’m crying like a baby

[i-need-glitter]

The love this father has for his daughter is incredible

I hope they keep that presser and it becomes a new family heirloom

These are the acts of love that get told about and showed through the generations

[the-haiku-bot]

I hope they keep that

presser and it becomes a

new family heirloom

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

[wiselwisel]

Las leyes de la física son inquebrantables.

[detrout]

[i-am-corbin-dallas]

This is legitimately the funniest thing ive ever seen

[wantering-blog]

Comfy Skull

Alexander McQueen Skull Knit Jumper

[brille-petite-etoile]

This is the most amazing sweater in existence.

[mollybroxton]

If you knit, or can sweet talk someone who does, a person on ravelry charted this pattern to knit it (in black) for her son: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cabled-skull-chart-for-pullover

[peripatetia]

*adds to ravelry library for future reference*

[image: cream cable-knit jumper; the cables on the front of the jumper make a picture of a skull]

[higgsboshark]

The thing about knitting is it’s much harder to fear the existential futility of all your actions while you’re doing it.

Like ok, sure, sometimes it’s hard to believe you’ve made any positive impact on the world. But it’s pretty easy to believe you’ve made a sock. Look at it. There it is. Put it on, now your foot’s warm.

Checkmate, nihilism.

[cheskamouse]

This is a powerful positive message..

[pluckyredhead]

I’m literally reading a book right now (Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski) that says this is scientifically sound.

There have been studies done on rats and dogs where they develop learned helplessness in the animals by giving them impossible tasks. Eventually the animals stop trying, even when the task stops being impossible. (I.e. put a rat in a maze with cheese it can’t get to until it develops learned helplessness, then put the cheese somewhere it can get to it and it won’t even try.) But once they show the animals they CAN do something - i.e. physically moving the rat to the cheese - the learned helplessness goes away.

No one can move you to your cheese for you, but the book says DOING something - which they define as “anything that isn’t nothing” can help. Make a food. Work in the garden. Clean a thing. Do a favor for a friend. Call your elected officials.

Knit a sock.

If you feel overwhelmed by existential despair, do something. It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be anything that isn’t nothing.

[adhd-informative]

This is really good advice for ADHD people because when executive dysfunction gets bad it’s easy to fall into this pattern of thinking. Do just one thing. It doesn’t have to be your homework, or a chore. It can be something small, it can be something you enjoy. But do just one thing to remind yourself that you can.

[hyperactivehedgehog]

This is what “humans want to be productive” really means

We want to make things. We want to do something and at the end of the process see that something has changed. We want physical proof that we did something. We want to be able to point at something and say “I made this”. We want to be creators

[i-say-ok]

ok!!! :]

[officiallyelizabethmarie]

Tea and a little Jane Austen to get this morning started.

[arearchive]

[memeuplift]