Let's Plus Ultra this Shit

Simple question, right?

Except… he suddenly got defensive. His tone changed. I could feel tension building, and I had no idea why. So I took a breath and asked, “Wait, what did you hear me say?”

He paused, thought about it, and said, “I thought you meant ‘Why aren’t you doing anything?’ Like you were mad I was being lazy.”

But that wasn’t what I meant at all. I’d genuinely just been curious.

And that moment reminded me how easily things can go sideways when we assume intent. Our brains, especially when we’ve had messy pasts, trauma, or relationship anxiety, tend to fill in the blanks with the worst possible meaning.

But that one question, “What did you hear me say?”, turned what could’ve been an argument into understanding.

It gave both of us a chance to clarify before our brains made up a story that wasn’t true. I was able to explain, and he was able to listen. Understanding what I meant changed his tension entirely.

Sometimes the fight isn’t about what was said. It’s about what was heard.

Also the further you move toward the poles the more pronounced the difference between the length of day and night is. Worst part of a far-north (or south) heatwave is it doesn’t get dark long enough for meaningful cooling.

Also the further you move toward the poles the more pronounced the difference between the length of day and night is. Worst part of a far-north (or south) heatwave is it doesn’t get dark long enough for meaningful cooling.

Long ago, the tales say, the people came from across the sea. They brought death and destruction in their wake, blackening the forests and skies with disease and decay, and staining the earth red with the blood of the Yecht Fradí. Only when the clans gathered together in desperation, and beseeched the island for salvation did En On Míl Frichtimen send them the Nadaíg, the Guardians. Only then were the invaders beaten back into the sea.

For most of the clans, the tale ends there. For the Sísaíg Cnámeis, the battle has never ended. Muirin, daughter of Arelwin, knows this better than most — but she doesn’t know just how much her destiny will change with the arrival of the newest strangers from across the sea.

Long ago, the tales say, the people came from across the sea. They brought death and destruction in their wake, blackening the forests and skies with disease and decay, and staining the earth red with the blood of the Yecht Fradí. Only when the clans gathered together in desperation, and beseeched the island for salvation did En On Míl Frichtimen send them the Nadaíg, the Guardians. Only then were the invaders beaten back into the sea.

For most of the clans, the tale ends there. For the Sísaíg Cnámeis, the battle has never ended. Muirin, daughter of Arelwin, knows this better than most — but she doesn’t know just how much her destiny will change with the arrival of the newest strangers from across the sea.

If this little book should see the light after its 100 years of entombment, I would like its readers to know that the author was a lover of her own sex and devoted the best years of her life in striving for the political equality and social and moral elevation of women.