Hugs, my weapon of choice

People who have a pervasive shit attitude toward everything are extremely exhausting to be around. No, this doesn't make you a bad person for having trauma or depression. You're allowed to go through hard times and lean on others for support. But there is a point where being negative and spiteful about things all the time is not only self-defeating but harmful to your relationships. There is a meaningful difference between talking about your struggles vs. almost pointedly refusing to engage with opportunities for positive experiences/emotions. The latter becomes contagious and fatiguing for people around you, because you're essentially expecting them to dig themselves into a hole, too. It can even start to feel like you're punishing others for enjoying things if you're not happy. And it's wrong.

Like my mother will often respond to a comment that's positive or happy by talking about how she's unhappy, upset, or angry about things, and she does it with a spiteful "good for you" tone. Absolutely nothing I say will get her to acknowledge that she's still being shown support and caring even if people aren't willing to be miserable with her all the time. It's a very unhealthy and emotionally immature trait. If this is you, I strongly suggest that you look at ways to improve your distress tolerance and consider the emotional impact you have on others. It is NOT others' job to regulate your emotions or fix all of the wrongs in your life for you. Other people's happiness or attempts at happiness aren't a betrayal.

The bottom line is that it does actually matter how you frame things, sometimes. A lot of the time. Are you committed to being miserable because you take some form of satisfaction in it, and is that maybe preventing you from being healthier and happier?

"Why would this character be jealous of their friend's romantic relationships? Clearly they're in love with them" I don't know if you guys have ever Had Friends but it's actually pretty common for people to feel jealous if their best friend suddenly has less time for them and is prioritising someone they just met over them. That's not inherently romantic, that's the general human desire to be valued by the people you value.

i love you lab grown diamonds i love you slavery-free chocolate i love you community gardens i love you fact that the insulin patent was sold for $1 i love you locally produced meat and milk i love you streets turned into walkable parks i love you little reminders that Things Do Not Have To Be This Way and there are people working to build a better world!!

i love you smog tests for cars i love you clean air regulations i love you HEPA filters i love you dam removal i love you planting native gardens i love you monarch butterflies (up 64% in 2026!) i love you working for decades to bring the condors back from zero to 300+ in the wild i love you inventing little machines to pick up the plastic fishing nets and other trash in the sea i love you occupational health and safety regulations i love you environmental protection agencies i love you unions i love you social aid programs i love you food not bombs i love you sea shepherds i love you most countries stopping industrial whaling and more humpback whales now than ever before i love you saving the forests i love you little libraries i love you take what you need cupboards/fridges i love you secular food pantries i love you public bathrooms i love you all-ages playgrounds i love you museums i love you aquariums + zoos i love you restoring peregrine falcons to nyc i love you letting beavers fix the river i love you releasing wolves into the wild i love you bison recovery efforts i love you landback i love you reducing light pollution i love you freeway sound baffle walls i love you advertising bans i love you public outreach and education i love you maria montessori i love you queer clinics i love you people working really hard and succeeding at fixing the world and making it safer for all living beings!

Incredibly violent take of mine but I actually don’t think you need to relate to a story in any way to enjoy it. You can enjoy a story even if you can’t point at a character and insert some aspect of your personality or identity into them. In fact I would argue the need for a character like that to be present in every single story you experience is a sign of stunted growth.

hate hate hate how sites are increasingly trying to make right click saving images impossible. facebook, instagram, reddit (app), pinterest*, etc... all make you jump through hoops just to save an image. can you guys not please. how ddo i make them stop. can we get one of those EU regulations or whatever that makes them all comply, or are we going to have to wait for global socialism for that. ugh

oh look, the exact tool that would have saved me SO much time and energy trying to find images hidden in the source code 🙃

Diversity hire bryson ur absolutely slaying