I still remember when I was a young teen and he was playing a Nirvana song and he stopped it at this one line: “I miss the comfort of being sad”

He told me that when you start to get better, there’s a part of you that misses being sad and that if you start feeling that way you have to be extra extra aware and careful because if you indulge the feeling you’ll go down a self-destructive spiral

And even though that was years and years ago, I think about it all the time. Especially when I’m reading discourse on the idea of getting so attached to mental illness as an identity that you don’t want to improve things because you feel safe in it and don’t know who you are without it

Une des choses que j'aime le plus en français, c'est les expressions qui nous paraissent normale à nous qui sommes habitués mais qui ne veulent absolument rien dire si on les traduit dans n'importe quelle autre langue.

One of the things I like the most in French are the totally weird expression which seems normal for us but don’t mean anything in any other language

( and YES I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten weird looks from English friends because: no, “ It’s like peeing in a violin” isn’t something that make sense in English)

So yeah in honour of this day, here are some of my favourite ( with approximate traditions )

- être copain comme cochon / friends like pig -> being best friends

- “ t'es con comme un balais” / “you’re as dumb as a broom” -> you’re a fucking idiot

- “vas te faire cuire un œuf!” / “ go and Cook yourself an egg” - > fuck off

- “ Elle pète plus haut que son cul” / “ she farts above her ass” -> she’s full of herself

- “ on s'en fout comme de l'en 40” / “ It’s as relevant as the 40’s ” -> I don’t give a shit about that

- “ je vais péter les plomb!” / “ I’m gonna break a fuse” -> go crazy

- avoir le cul bordé de nouilles / to have one’s ass filled with noodle -> be lucky

- “ça casse pas trois pattes à un canard” / it doesn’t break three legs to a duck -> it isn’t that extraordinary

And my favorite:

- “ouais c'est ça et mon cul c'est du poulet!” / “yeah right and my ass is made of chicken” -> I know you’re lying