the art of licking wounds

Red sun. The mysterious universe. 1930. Endpaper detail.

1: Untitled (Crucifix), David Lynch

2: Crucifixion Study, Francis Bacon

3: Crucifixion, Rico Lebrun

Wanting something requires dopamine signaling, but liking something doesn’t.

If you have a mental illness/disorder that affects dopamine, you might feel that you don’t want to do the things that you like. You do still like them. You will appreciate having done them.

Let your likes guide you.

(If you want to read more, here’s one experimental paper about it. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5171207/ This theory called the incentive-sensitization theory was originally created to explain behaviors in addiction but can be applied elsewhere as well)