Just keep swimming

Not because you're wrong but because your truth makes them uncomfortable.

The moment you stop shrinking to keep the peace, set boundaries, or say "This isn't okay with me anymore," you'll be called dramatic. Selfish. Too sensitive.

But listen: You're not the problem for wanting peace.

You're not too much for choosing healing over silence. You're not breaking the family-you're breaking the cycle.

They'll shame you because your growth reveals their wounds. Keep going.

Your voice might rattle the room, but it's also the reason future generations will finally breathe easier.

I’m running on 30 minutes of sleep. All I want to do is sleep. So watching The Greatest Showman and smoking some thc (It’s legal here in Washington state) weed helps with my anxiety and keeps me happy and stoned. We also have dabs. I’m just trying to distract myself. I know I’m having a weird mixed episode with my bipolar. I either want to sleep forever. Making an appointment with my mental health prescriber. I just feel so out of it. But watching comfort shows and movies is helping. Just trying to distract myself so that I don’t spiral out of control by overthinking which I’m very good at lol

Watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I also want to find the show Portlandia today.

Sweet Dee represents how it feels being in my head right now. If someone tells me to relax I’m gonna scream. Because today on the inside I’m screaming internally. I’m watching my comfort shows.

TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL ABUSE MENTIONED

This show is so intense to me because it’s scary in some of the Red States so many woman’s rights are being stripped away. I know I read a story where a women had to travel through two states because she was having a miscarriage and needed D&C surgery since the baby wasn’t passing on its own. What they do to the Handmaid’s in this book/show is unreal.

Watching Brave. Dealing with insomnia I am in love with this movie. The music is wonderful and the story is overall touching. I love Princess Merida because she’s very special and different from the other Disney princesses. She isn’t looking for the man to rescue her, in this she saves her mom on her own and didn’t need a prince by her side. This is what makes her so special:

Merida stands out from the other Disney Princesses because her story is built around self-discovery and family, not romance. While every Disney Princess is unique, Merida broke several long-standing traditions.

Here are some of the ways she is different:

She has no love interest. Merida's story doesn't involve falling in love or searching for a prince. In fact, the main conflict begins because she refuses to marry simply because tradition demands it.

Her greatest relationship is with her mother. The emotional heart of Brave is the evolving relationship between Merida and Queen Elinor. The film is about understanding, forgiveness, and rebuilding trust between parent and child.

She values freedom. Merida wants the chance to make her own choices about her future. She isn't rejecting marriage forever; she is rejecting the idea that someone else should decide her life for her.

She is courageous in more than one way. Merida is an expert archer and horse rider, but her greatest act of bravery is admitting she was wrong, apologizing, and fighting to save her mother.

She is imperfect. Merida can be impulsive, stubborn, and quick-tempered. The story doesn't portray her as flawless—it shows her learning from her mistakes and growing because of them.

She challenges tradition respectfully. Rather than overthrowing her kingdom, Merida helps her family find a new tradition that honors both individual choice and family unity.

Merida's story also has an important message: courage isn't just physical strength. It can mean speaking your mind, taking responsibility for your actions, listening to others, and changing when you realize you've made a mistake.

That combination of independence, vulnerability, and growth makes Merida one of the most distinctive Disney Princesses. Her journey isn't about becoming a queen through marriage or breaking a curse through true love—it's about becoming a wiser, more compassionate version of herself while strengthening the bond with her family

I am currently rewatching Once Upon a Time and I’m patiently waiting for Princess Merida to make her appearance. No one knows how happy I was to see her on there and they did perfect doing a live version of her. I think Once Upon a Tine does a better job then some of the live action Disney movies for choosing actors and actresses that really looks like the animated version of themselves.

Season 2, Episode 4: The Crocodile

I feel like as fans to Once Upon a Time we are supposed to have a love/hate relationship with the villains. Because once you hear their back story, you can understand why they leaned so much on magic and power. And how the magic and power took over them completely. Not really out of ignorance. That’s not how it started for Regina or Rumplestiltskin.

I’ve been pondering in my head why Rumpelstiltskin had such a desire for magic. ChatGPT sums it up pretty well

He started out powerless. Rumplestiltskin was mocked as a coward after refusing to die in the Ogre Wars because he wanted to stay alive for his son, Baelfire. He lived in fear of stronger people controlling his life.

Magic gave him control. When he became the Dark One by killing Zoso, he gained immense magical power. For the first time, no one could intimidate or hurt him. Magic became his shield against vulnerability.

He believed power would keep Baelfire safe. Initially, Rumple justified using magic as a way to protect his son and ensure they would never be helpless again. Ironically, Baelfire hated what his father had become and begged him to give up his powers.

He chose power over his son. When Baelfire found a way to escape to a land without magic, Rumple refused to go because crossing into that world would strip him of his magic. Baelfire went through the portal alone, which became Rumple's greatest regret.

After losing Baelfire, magic became an addiction. Although Rumple spent centuries searching for his son, he also grew increasingly dependent on his power. By then, he often sought magic for its own sake, manipulating kingdoms and people to maintain control.

So, in the Enchanted Forest, Rumplestiltskin didn't need magic in a literal sense. He needed what magic represented:

freedom from fear,

protection from being powerless,

control over his fate,

and eventually, the inability to let go of that control.

“Motivate me, I wanna get myself out of this bed,. Captivate me, I want good thoughts inside of my head. If I fall down would you come around and pick me right up off the ground?”

Fortunately for Henry (Jaren S. Gilmore), Regina is grappling with her new identity just like everybody else. Returning to its format of last year, the show delves into the Enchanted Forest's past to bring further depth to the characters. Last season, "The Stable Boy" revealed that Regina did not begin life as an evil queen, but rather as a gentle girl with a controlling mother.

In "We Are Both" it is further explained that her mother Cora (Barbara Hershey) has trapped Regina inside of the kingdom so that she cannot escape her impending marriage to Snow's father. Random flashes of anger overtake the young Regina; flashes she desperately wishes to banish but cannot. This desperation - not unlike David's in Storybrooke - lands her directly in the path of Mr. Gold's fairy tale alter-ego, Rumpelstiltskin.

As always, Rumple offers magic, though with Regina he seems more than eager not only to pass along magical objects, but the secrets to controlling the magic as well. Left with a magic mirror and a spell book, Regina must decide what to do, and in the end, mother dearest pushes her one step too far. Trapped, Regina pushes back, plunging her mother into the magic mirror and through the portal. This is her first taste of magic and she doesn't just like it, she loves it - but fear that she will become like her mother holds her back from wanting to fully embrace that side of herself.