“Most survivors insist they’re not courageous: ‘If I were courageous I would have stopped the abuse. If I were courageous, I wouldn’t be scared . . . Most of us have it mixed up. You don’t start with courage and then face fear. You become courageous because you face your fear.” –Laura Davis
“Vulnerability is actually a strength and not a weakness–that’s why more and more mental health is such an important thing to talk about. It’s the same as being physically sick. And when you keep all those things inside, when you bottle them up, it makes you ill.” –Cara Delevingne
“Dear Person With Mental illness,
You are not a monster. You are a valuable, unique, wonderful human being who deserves everything grand that this life has to offer. Come out of the shadows and stand proudly in who you are. You are not damaged. You are whole, regardless of having a mental illness. I like you the way you are. I wouldn’t change you. I see you differently than you see yourself. I am not afraid of you or your illness . . . I am amazed by you. I am amazed by your courage, willpower, gifts, and talents. I accept you, and your worlds of light and darkness.” –Rachel Griffin
The Crime of the Month is greed, the kind of greed perpetrated by Westwind Enterprises, a private-equity firm. Located in San Jose, California, Westwind Enterprises is a predatory private-equity firm that buys […]
“You look at me and cry; everything hurts. I hold you and whisper: but everything can heal.” –Rupi Kaur
“Before I was formally introduced to my anxiety, I called it by a bunch of other names–nervousness, weakness, timidity. Employers called it laziness, distractedness, and ‘not being a team player.’ My ex called it clinginess. My mother called it oversensitivity and immaturity. But we were all wrong, and learning that we were all wrong, that there was an actual medical thing going on, overwhelmed me because it meant that it wasn’t a tornado of character flaws that landed me where I was. The problem was not that Ii simply chose not to be ‘normal,’ that I allowed my fears, baseless as they may have been, to conquer and dictate so much of my life. The problem was my brain. It was a chemical imbalance, something physical, not imagined.” –Tracy Clayton
One of the critiques of the environmental movement has been that it’s too much gloom and doom. The facts and statistics can be so depressing that people just turn off. It’s understandable […]
My ride was not unique. It wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t fun. It was basically like me–comfortable, stable, and safe. No surprises. Reliable. Always there, waiting to be needed.
Here’s to the kids who live
who live and dare us
stand aside
may they embarrass us
show us who we are . . . .
Here’s to the kids who live in us
to the kids who live and demand
we act
in the doing
here and now
awestruck and unafraid.
–Aja Monet
I release you,
my beautiful and terrible fear.
I release you.
You were
my beloved and hated twin,
but now
II don’t know you as myself. . . .
I take myself back, fear.
You are not
my shadow any longer.
–Joy Haro
The Gloria Sirens 