Ripple

In between days.

In between days.

C.S.Lewis

— Unka Glen (unkaglen.tumblr.com)

“If I’m away too long, he’ll come find me.  Even if I’m just upstairs watching my program on television, he’ll wander up to see what I’m doing.  And we’re always holding hands.  Even if we’re just sitting on the train or the bus, he’ll always find some way to touch me.  Just to let me know he’s right there.  That he got me.  He might not even notice that he’s doing it.  But I always do.”

Accept your shortcoming or setback, forgive yourself, and figure out what’s going wrong so that you can plan for how to prevent it from repeating in the future. Thank your past self for trying in the first place and then give your future self the love needed to flourish.

— Brittney Moss

“I just feel like I should be doing better.  I’m nowhere near retirement.  I’m working two jobs: I’m a licensed tour guide, and I make videos for businesses.  But even that’s not enough, so recently I’ve started working for the census.  I don’t want to run down the census: it’s fine, it’s great, it’s important work.  But I’m ashamed of it.  Because I’m sixty-five years old, I’m a college graduate, and I’m supposed to be done by now.  I’m supposed to be coasting.  But I’m not even close.  I feel like I still don’t even have a grip on the basics: how to make a living, how to keep my house in order, how to take care of myself.  And it feels shameful.  I feel not grown up.  Like I should have learned all of this so long ago.  And I’m afraid people will think it’s pathetic.  Worse than that.  They’ll think I’m incapable.  So I’ve been keeping a lot hidden.  I haven’t even told my colleagues about the census.  And that’s one thing I’m trying to work on— not keeping things hidden.  Because I know this shame isn’t healthy.  It isn’t right.  I’m luckier than 99 percent of people.  I’ve been sober for 39 years.  I have the greatest wife of 32 years.  I don’t have any crippling debt.  I’m doing OK.  I shouldn’t have to hide my situation.  And being more open has helped.  Because once I start telling people, and I see they’re not judging me, and that they’re still loving me, the shame tends to disappear.”

Chibird Store | Patreon | 2020 Calendar 

Jonah Reenders | Instagram

“I think most teachers try to act like they’re a higher status, and they’re above us.  It’s probably because our parents are  paying them to teach us things.  Maybe they’re just taking the teaching part a little too serious.  But our art teacher Ms. Grierson isn’t like that.  She’ll admit her mistakes.  She’ll point out her own flaws.  She gives off this vibe like she’s not just a teacher, and you can talk to her about more than just school.  You can tell her about your personal life.  But not just your problems,  you can also tell her fun stuff like what you’re going to do on the weekend.  She’s also crazy.  Really crazy.  One kid brought in an umbilical cord from his mother, and everyone was freaking out, but she didn’t even care.  I used to think that art was like drawing a person and it had to look perfect.  But Ms. Grierson says, and I’m quoting her on this: ‘Art doesn’t have to look good, because the process is more important.  It’s about how you came up with the idea.  We’re here to pose questions, not give answers.’” (Hong Kong)