a lesson in you break yourself beautiful fall into each other feel the mountains grow frayed edges & surprises hand in hand we go i accept and i collect let's know the eye of the viewer the raw shred of me the spaces in between us the way your chest rises and falls therefore i am together in the great unknown together we can do so much weapons of reason you are understood

true mirrors.

some of us are surrounded by destructive people who tell us:

we’re worthless when we’re endlessly valuable,
that we’re stupid when we’re smart,
that we’re failing even when we succeed.

but the opposite of people who drag you down isn’t people who build you up and butter you up.

it’s equals who are generous but keep you accountable, true mirrors who reflect back who you are and what you are doing.

:: rebecca solnit

from
the loneliness of donald trump

break yourself beautiful dear you don't go gentle don't just write words frayed edges & surprises from nothing came everything hard is not impossible just keep making let's know move fast and break things put your name on top the eye of the viewer the vertigo of possibility

HOW TO BE A WRITER: 10 TIPS FROM REBECCA SOLNIT

because i love writing & tips & mostly, rebecca solnit

1) write. there is no substitute. write what you most passionately want to write, not blogs, posts, tweets or all the disposable bubblewrap in which modern life is cushioned. but start small: write a good sentence, then a good paragraph, and don’t be dreaming about writing the great american novel or what you’ll wear at the awards ceremony because that’s not what writing’s about or how you get there from here. the road is made entirely out of words. write a lot. maybe at the outset you’ll be like a toddler—the terrible twos are partly about being frustrated because you’re smarter than your motor skills or your mouth, you want to color the picture, ask for the toy, and you’re bumbling, incoherent and no one gets it, but it’s not only time that gets the kid onward to more sophistication and skill, it’s effort and practice. write bad stuff because the road to good writing is made out of words and not all of them are well-arranged words.
… HOW TO BE A WRITER: 10 TIPS FROM REBECCA SOLNIT

a broken machine a leap in the dark a lesson in you between the sea and the sky break yourself beautiful buy the flower shop do nothing, do everything don't go gentle don't let them tame you feel the mountains grow frayed edges & surprises ignore normal move fast and break things show me your weird the system broke the system the vertigo of possibility ticket to anywhere where the beautiful things are

blue elephants

when you’re a kid, you color with reckless abandon.

 // you color outside the lines.

// you color however you feel.

blue elephants,
purple trees,
red bears,
green oceans —

it’s all good.

as you get older, though, everyone tells you to stay inside the lines,

to color everything just like you see it.

you end up painting by numbers¹²³ —

whether you actually paint — or — whether you write — or — sing — or —
dance — or — act  — or — direct.

// i think you should create what you feel //

// create outside the lines //

i want to watch green oceans and red bears.
i’d love to listen to purple trees.
and i long to read blue elephants.

a highly privileged rapture all she wanted was everything blackened by a bright past feel the mountains grow frayed edges & surprises hard is not impossible let's know paradise is not for everyone simply and impossibly together in the great unknown where the beautiful things are

utopia

island where all becomes clear.

solid ground beneath your feet.
the only roads are those that offer access.
bushes bend beneath the weight of proofs.

the tree of valid supposition grows here
with branches disentangled since time immemorial.

the tree of understanding, dazzlingly straight and simple,
sprouts by the spring called now i get it.

the thicker the woods, the vaster the vista:
the valley of obviously.

if any doubts arise, the wind dispels them instantly.

echoes stir unsummoned
and eagerly explain all the secrets of the worlds. … utopia