dear reader

“The practice of love offers no place of safety. We risk loss, hurt, pain. We risk being acted upon by forces outside our control.” ― Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions

a collection about love, crushes and limerance.

as i actively try to rid myself of the feeling of falling for another, i bleed all unwanted love and attention in pages, songs, art and now, a collection of it all. a place where it can be remembered for what it is: a passing feeling.

prelude.

“I like people too much or not at all. I've got to go down deep, to fall into people, to really know them.” ― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

essays i've been reading to try and feel comfort about having a crush:

1. Crush Fatique | In the city as online, infatuation is an organizing principle.

2. Crushed | Crushing lays bare the potential of boundless desire, enabling us to embrace brutal vulnerabilities that are often subordinated to everyday expediency

3. Is It a Crush or Have You Fallen Into Limerence? | How an intense longing for a romantic connection can lead to a serious addiction.

interlude.

“He fit so perfectly in the love story I'd imagined for myself that I mistook him for the love of my life.” — Emily Henry, Beach Read

“Lovers” by William John Hennessy

romance books that have made me go insane in the last six months:

1. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

2. Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

3. Funny Story by Emily Henry

4. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

postlude.

"L'execució de Lady Jane Gray a la Torre de Londres el 1553" by Paul Delaroche (1834)

things i love: vanilla scents, sunlight, hyper specific playlists, i hate it here by taylor swift, traditional parties, pink.