"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain. Classic thinking teaches us of the four doors of the mind, which everyone moves through according to their need.
First is the door of sleep. Sleep offers us a retreat from the world and all its pain. Sleep marks passing time, giving us distance from the things that have hurt us. When a person is wounded they will often fall unconscious. Similarly, someone who hears traumatic news will often swoon or faint. This is the mind's way of protecting itself from pain by stepping through the first door.
Second is the door of forgetting. Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no healing to be done. The saying 'time heals all wounds' is false. Time heals most wounds. The rest are hidden behind this door.
Third is the door of madness. There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.
Last is the door of death. The final resort. Nothing can hurt us after we are dead, or so we have been told.

David Budbill

Tomorrow we are bones and ash,
the roots of weeds poking through our skulls.
Today, simple clothes,
empty mind, full stomach,
alive, aware, right here, right now.
Drunk on music, who needs wine?
Come on, Sweetheart, let's go dancing
while we've still got feet.

"The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac" by Mary Oliver

[...]
I know, you never intended to be in this world.
But you're in it all the same.

So why not get started immediately.

I mean, belonging to it.
There is so much to admire, to weep over.

And to write music or poems about.

Bless the feet that take you to and fro.
Bless the eyes and the listening ears.
Bless the tongue, the marvel of taste.
Bless touching.
[...]

Nicole Addison

If you love something, don't rush it.
Allow yourself to feel it.
Embrace it.
Let its essence touch your heart, and
light up your world in the most wondrous of ways.
To love is a beautiful feeling,
so allow for this experience to unfold for you.

Sylvia Plath

I want to taste and glory in each day,
and never be afraid to experience pain;
and never shut myself up in a numb core of nonfeeling,
or stop questioning and criticizing life and take the easy way out.
To learn and think: to think and live; to live and learn:
this always, with new insight, new understanding, and new love.

Stephen Levine

Our suffering is caused by
holding on to how things
might have been,
should have been,
could have been.

Emily Mcdowell

"Finding yourself"

is not really how it works.

You aren't a ten dollar bill 

in last winter's coat pocket. 

You are also not lost. 

Your true self is right there, buried 

under cultural conditioning, other 

people's opinions, and inaccurate 

conclusions you drew as a kid that 

became your beliefs about who you are.

"Finding yourself" is actually 

returning to yourself.

An unlearning, an excavation, 

a remembering of who you were 

before the world got its hands on you.

(https://emilymcdowell.com/)

"Lust for Life" by Sylvester McNutt III

Everyone doesn't need access to
you. Some people are draining and
they don't even know it. You're
allowed to say no, you're allowed to
not answer your calls, you're allowed to
break plans, and if you need to save
yourself do it. 

"Where She Went" by Gayle Forman

But still, I find the need to remind myself of the temporariness of a day,
to reassure myself that I got through yesterday,
I’ll get through today.

We call ships 'she.' We call our war machines 'women.' We compare women to black widows and vipers. And you're going to tell me it’s not 'lady-like' to scream, to take up space, to fight and demand respect and do whatever the hell I want. You've looked at nuclear bombs and been so in awe that you could only name them after women. Don't try to down-play my power.

(found on tumblr)

The best way to get things done is simply to begin.

Sue Zhao

Sometimes when you were hurting, all you wanted was for someone to come and hold you until you stopped shaking. And all too often, no one would come.
And so, you learned to hold yourself.
And so, you learned to find sanctuary within your own mind.
And so, like this, you learned to survive.

"Alive" by Arati Warrier

One day, I plan to love so loudly,
my body abandons every demon
harvesting me.

Sun Tzu

However desperate the situation and circumstances, don't despair.
When there is everything to fear, be unafraid.
When surrounded by dangers, fear none of them.
When without resources, depend on resourcefulness.
When surprised, take the enemy by surprise.

Just Between Lovers, 2017

I really like this moment.
An uneventful moment
when today
becomes tomorrow.

Madalyn Beck

She craves fewer things,
less distractions,
and more adventure.
She knows that life isn't made
of what you have,
but of what you've endured.

Nicole Addison

A tree does not announce as it grows. It just does so quietly. Gradually. With serenity. No one else must know, as long as the tree itself knows that it's getting there.

Charles Bukowski

It wasn't my day.
         My week.
       My month.
      My year.
     My life.

God damn it.

Courtney Peppernill

You can't skip chapters, that's not how life works. You have to
read every line, meet every character. You won't enjoy all of it.
Hell, some chapters will make you cry for weeks. You will read
things you don't want to read, you will have moments when
you don't the pages to end. But you have to keep going.
Stories keep the world evolving. Live yours, don't miss out.

They call you a villain
because they're scared
of people
who save themselves,
and darling you wear
your scars higher
than any of their capes.

Leah Stone

you wanted me to fit
in a pretty little box
with a bow on top.
but I wanted to
frolic in fire
and fuck the stars.

Wer glaubt, dass
Schweigen Probleme löst,
der hält sich auch
die Augen zu, um
unsichtbar zu sein.

L. E. Bowman

I am learning how to share.
How to get lost
without losing myself.
How to give
without giving myself away.

Georgy

I can hold my own hand, so I'll need a little more than that;
I need respect, loyalty, honesty, support, and truthful love.

Zu manchen Menschen
muss man nichts (mehr) sagen.
Die kann man einfach
so stehen lassen.

"please, let him be happy" by j.p.

Please, let him be soft.

I know you made him
     with gunmetal bones
     and wolf’s teeth.
I know you made him to be
     a warrior
     a soldier
     a hero.

But even gunmetal can warp
and even wolf’s teeth can dull
and I do not want to see him break
the way old and worn and overused things do.

I do not want to see him go up in flames
     the way all heroes end up martyrs.

I know that you will tell me
that the world needs him.
The world needs his heart
     and his faith
     and his courage
     and his strength
     and his bones and his teeth and his blood and his voice and his–
The world needs anything he will give them.

Damn the world,
     and damn you too.
Damn anyone that ever asked anything of him,
     damn anyone that ever took anything from him,
           damn anyone that ever prayed to his name.
You know that he will give them everything
     until there is nothing left of him
         but the imprint of dust
              where his feet once trod.
You know that he will bear the world like Atlas
    until his shoulders collapse
         and his knees buckle
              and he is crushed by all he used to carry.

Dear God,
you have already made an Atlas.
You have already made an Achilles and an Icarus and a Hercules.
You have already made a sacrificial lamb of your Son.
You have already made so many heroes,
and you can make another again.
You can have your pick of heroes.

So please, I beg you–
he is all that I have,
and you have so many heroes
and the world has so many more.
Let him be soft,
and let him be mine.


(found on tumblr)

John Mayer

If you're pretty, you're pretty; but
the only way to be beautiful is to
be loving. Otherwise, it's just
"congratulations about your face."

elle.poetry

Who I am
and who I'm not
is mine and mine alone.
Your breath
does not fill these lungs.
Your blood
does not swim in these veins.
So
your opinion
does not choose this path.

"Luftbahn" von Deichkind

"Dollar Bill" by Avery Wilson

I caught myself running away from who I really was
For you
[...]
'Cause the way things start ain't never how they end
But it’s too late for that 'cause I gave you all I had
One thing that I know
Is that love ain't for show
And you gotta make it work 'til it don't
But if you won't
Then I'd rather be single as a dollar bill, alone

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ABy3TfsTyg)

Pissnelken blühen ganzjährig.

Stephanie Bennett-Henry

I never wanted to look at the sky,
I wanted to pull the whole goddamn universe
down to its knees and make it
prove itself to me.

"Strange Stories Of The Afterlife" by Im Cheol Woo

My poor children. Sadness is your strength.
Suffering, resentment and regrets
are your strengths.
With those strengths, somehow survive
the ugly and scary life.

stacie.martin

The truth is
some days I sink,
more than I swim.

"You Dont Have To Be In A Relationship To Feel Whole Again" by Raquel Alderete

Can I tell you a secret?

You don't have to be in a relationship.

I mean it. I know they force it down your throat until you choke on it. Girls aren't pretty unless they're wanted. Boys aren't men unless they're having sex with someone. People aren't lovable until they're dating each other.

Can I tell you another secret?

A relationship won't always make you happy.

As wonderful as romance is — it isn't the only love that exists. It is not the answer to everything. I constantly hear the words “nobody loves me” escape from the mouths of people who are single. It always hurts me because if you ask them: “Where are your parents, your teachers, your classmates, your pets; they love you, do they not?”— they say, yes, okay, but it doesn't count. Why doesn't it count? Of course it counts. Love doesn't diminish just because someone doesn't want to have sex with you. In fact, it makes that love more real. It makes it into something that surges beyond physical attraction and surface level companionship. It makes it unique.

Listen, I get it. It is pretty to be in love. It's magical, I'm sure. However, it's also wonderful to stop for ice cream in your prom dress with six other girls. It's also wonderful to go visit the world with nothing but a bunch of buddies who are really excited about learning.

Stop trying to find “the one” as a means of filling the gaps within your heart. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe “the one” is just you — loving yourself, having fun, and being happy beyond measure? Maybe instead of looking for our other halves, we should be piecing ourselves together.

Maybe I wasn't born unfinished. Maybe I am the one who makes myself better.