wolf down the words

poetry, prose, art, fanboying, feminism, lgbtqia+, and then some.

[shakespearesdaughters]

[wolfdownthewords]

During working hours, I find myself looking out the window, waiting. As if the next person or car that emerges from round the corner will be life-changing, carry me away.

Of course, I know that what I am really waiting for is myself. For this restlessness to bubble and boil over, to reach the critical mass of courage and frustration that means I can walk out and never look back.

So I don't have to keep rewriting reasons to stay.

[cookiedoughmeagain]

Surprisingly, this is not a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference, but an actual fact. From Burnout: Solve Your Stress Cycle, by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

[youreastargirl]

What does it declare???

[cookiedoughmeagain]

“It will grab you by the face, shove you to the ground, put its foot on your chest, and declare itself the victor.”

The really interesting thing (imo) about this chapter of the book, is how it defines rest. It’s not talking just about sleeping, but also things like social connection and physical movement. So the 42% of your day that is rest might involve:

Meaningful conversation with someone you have a connection with

Exercising

Paying attention to your food, whether that’s shopping for it, cooking it or eating it

Socialising

Daydreaming

Each of us will need a different balance of these things, and each of these individual things will be different from person to person. The socialising and the meaningful connections might be IRL or it might be online - one of the examples in the book of something that counts as rest is “live-tweet Games of Thrones with a thousand fellow fans”.

It’s a really interesting book - definitely worth reading :)

(And Douglas Adams was obviously right all along - 42 is the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything;)

[wolfdownthewords]

watching | something twitches | under the skin | a remembering | shadows against the sun

[creekfiend]

a funny thing about having conversations with people within institutions (academic in this case but also others) about gatekeeping, is that you end up having a conversation over and over in which you're like, "hey this alligator spike pit moat you have erected around your institution is keeping a lot of people out," and they're like, "well *I* navigated the alligator spike pit moat just fine," and you're like, "right. by dint of us having this conversation, you within the institution and me without, it is understood that you navigated the alligator spike pit moat. due to that being an inherent requirement of entering the institution," and they're like, "I don't think you understand the prestigious history of our alligator spike pit moat," and you're like, "is there a reason why there needs to be an alligator spike pit moat encircling the concept of higher education?" and they're like, "look, the alligator spike pit moat isn't for everyone. some people just aren't cut out for the alligator spike pit moat :)" and you're like, "right, yeah, like disabled people and people coming from poverty or unstable home environments or underserved communities or people dealing with difficult to navigate life events like pregnancy or abuse or prison or addiction or the death of a loved one, for example" and they're like, "how dare you imply that we are keeping those people out on purpose. it's their own problem if they can't wrestle the alligators and avoid the spikes while also disabled and/or poor and/or pregnant etc" and you're like, "well that seems evil," and they're like, "it sounds like maybe you're just bitter about the alligator spike pit moat because of your totally random individual experience with ONE bad alligator spike pit moat. have you considered therapy?" and you're like, "did you know that there's some patterns here in terms of how y'all are handling this stuff?" and they're like, "actually yes. we even have a department of alligator spike pit studies :)" and you're like, "that's great, how do I get access to and participate in those conversations?" and they're like, "well firstly you must cross the alligator spike pit moat"

[creekfiend]

if you can document that you have a medical condition that might make it challenging for you to navigate the alligator spike pit moat, they'll give you an extra 20 minutes to complete your navigation of the alligator spike pit moat

[creekfiend]

IMPORTANT: any injuries incurred as a result of navigating the alligator spike pit moat will be the sole responsibility of the injured parties. once you leave, the people who made you navigate the alligator spike pit moat and the institution that installed the alligator spike pit moat will never contact you again. except sometimes to ask you for more money.

[creekfiend]

iiiiii love this framing, you're so right

[redstonedust]

its actually easy to de-enshittify your digital experience all you need to do is install this browser extension and this browser extension and this browser extension and input this custom script into the advanced box and go into your system settings and reconfigure all these options you didnt know existed and change your entire workflow and switch to this alternative operating system and this alternative web browser and this alternative chat client and this alternative word processor and this alternative- sorry that one turned out to be malware delete that one okay now double check your task manager for unwanted background processes and element block these ads and invest in a good VPN and append all your searches with AI blocking keywords and wait a few years until everything you just did becomes shitty too so you can do it all over again okay kitten. its literally that easy.

[scribeherself]

people will say “they’re only friends” and then show me two people who would crawl through broken glass to hear the other laugh once. two people who have memorized each other’s coffee orders, fears, childhood stories, and emergency contacts. two people who would haunt each other’s houses as ghosts. be serious.

[scribeherself]

Just an FYI—the original intention of this post was to challenge the way people say only friends, as though friendship is somehow lesser than other forms of love. As if being deeply known, cherished, and chosen by another person could ever be a small thing. Normalize profound platonic love. Some of the most fulfilling, transformative, and enduring relationships we will ever have are friendships. 🫶🏼

[dduane]

”‘Just’ friendship? A poor modifier for so high and honorable a state.”

[wolfdownthewords]

we leave deserts

in our wake

where once there were forests

[wolfdownthewords]

I spoke prayers to you every night.

You were my goddess till I blasphemed.

It's terrible to make gods of people.

[no-borders-no-nations]

[wolfdownthewords]

someone stop me

this automated routine is not

who I want to be

[wolfdownthewords]

morning light feeds this forgetting,

this stillness,

and paints everything new.

[razpberrypie]

[wolfdownthewords]

i owe you an awakening

from the dream

but you linger here still

[wolfdownthewords]

the ravenous abyss

devours

me again. a little more

each day:

knock, knock, knock

- the hunger calls again

[wolfdownthewords]

there: another

ghost made holy

by absence

[catadromously]

the kids aren’t cooked, you just need to hang out with them in the woods.

[catadromously]

I mean you meet these young people trapped in their classrooms or nuclear families in paved over neighborhoods, you are going to see them at the lowest points of forced routine, atomization, gutted autonomy, academic stress, you are going to see them at their worst. you’re going to see addictive behavior. bad social skills. lashing out. uncreativity. laziness and distraction. they do look totally cooked.

you need to take them into the woods

I do outdoor education work, and within minutes of any elementary to middle schooler getting free permission to mess around with their friends in a clearing, they’re curious and driven again. they’re asking each other questions and yeeting pinecones at trees (science) and using their bodies. sometimes for evil. as is developmentally right. they want to know the names of birds! they want to teach someone pokemon! they want to build stuff and kick stuff and tackle each other and you into the snow!

they’re basically fucking institutionalized for 90% of their lives but their spirits are alive. you need to take them into the woods you need to treat them like animals with powerful inner lives and they’ll show you they are.

and you, if you feel like you’re relating too much, remember that you can also take YOURSELF to the woods