i hate it when i cant even write a poem about something because its too obvious. like in the airbnb i was at i guess it used to be a kids room cause you could see the imprint of one little glow in the dark star that had been missed and painted over in landlord white. like that's a poem already what's the point

you get it. you get the themes. i dont have time to do it justice. just look at it its on the ceiling

these exchanges and this fiddling about for the collective to appreciate in passing is, to me, true artistic spirit. I don't know what the past was truly like to live, but in my heart i know that humans have always been... like this

ok. :] ♥️

god people have always been people. victorian noblewomen stubbed their toes and swore about it. medieval peasants ripped hangnails a little too hard and sucked on it to make it better. cavemen put kids on their shoulders so the kids could get their handprints up on the wall. someone in the 1760s played with their dog and someone in the 1340s dragged themself out of bed at some unholy hour of the morning to soothe a crying baby and someone in the 1550s stuck a flower behind their lovers ear. I'm gonna be sick people have always been people

I sit and think about how we’re all just walking our individual paths but sometimes our paths align perfectly with someone else’s and you either walk the rest of your lives together or it’s just for a brief moment in time and you carry on. We’re really all just walking each other home. Life is so magical.

My grandfather and my godfather (a beloved neighbor and dear family friend) had a long standing bet- for one dollar- about who would die first. Both of them being slightly pessimistic (in the funny way), they both insisted that they themselves would be the first to die. Any time my grandfather had a health scare, he’d gleefully call up my godfather to boast that he’d be passing “any day now” and he was sure to win the bet. It was a big family joke and they were always amiably sparring and comparing notes about who was in worse shape, medically speaking.

When my grandfather was in hospice care dying of liver cancer, my godfather was quite ill also. It took him great effort to make the journey to see his dying friend. As he came into the room, supported by a family member, he shuffled to my grandpa’s bedside and silently handed him a dollar bill. He was ceding his loss of the bet, as they both knew who was going first. My grandpa had been in quite bad shape for a while and was no longer able to speak but let me tell you he snatched that dollar with unexpected strength and literally laughed aloud. He knew exactly what the gesture meant and he couldn’t help but find the humor within the grief. It was the last time any of us heard my grandpa laugh, as he passed shortly after.

When I talk about my appreciation for “dark humor” I’m not so much thinking about edgy jokes, but rather the human instinct to somehow, impossibly, both find and appreciate the absurdity that is so often folded into the profound grief of life and death. When I tell this story I think it kind of perturbs people sometimes, but it’s honestly one of my favorite memories about two men I really deeply admired. I could never hope for anything more than for my loved ones to remember me laughing until the very end, and taking joy in a little joke as one of my final acts.

it’s small joys saturday y’all let’s get it

Here is what my mother told me when I was young: the world is harsh. It is unforgiving and it has teeth. Take no shit.

Here is what I have learned from the world: it is wounded and the humans scattered throughout it are rarely the rats of Rat Park, they are the tired, trembling experiments in need of more kindness, not less. Do no harm.

Here's what I have learned from the world: humans are good. They are soft, and gentle, and they are wounded, all of them. When humans were young and wild, they looked at the snarling beasts that came to their fires, the ones with sharp teeth in their long muzzles, and they saw soft fur and the welcome-home wag of a tail.

Here is what I have seen: Given an opportunity, humans will choose creation and love. They will create art, and music, and community. They will tell each other stories, sing each other songs, help each other heal. Even without safety, even when it wounds them, they will love. They will love each other - their family, their friends, their mates - and they will love the world.

Here is what I have seen: there is hope. Sometimes it is ugly and twisted and burns, but humans will hold onto it with both hands and their entire heart. They will share it with one another. They will use it to tame beasts with fur and teeth as well as the ones that live inside of themselves. They will create because of it; they will say I hope this makes someone smile, I hope this makes someone cry. I hope this saves someone. And it will.

Here is what I know to be true: evidence of a healed broken bone from thousands of years ago reminds us that what makes us human isn't our wounds, but how we care for one another through them.

Here is what my mother told me: the world will gnash its sharp teeth at me. It will try to wound me.

Here is what I know to be true: I am human, and humans heal one another and can turn sharp teeth into wagging tails.

Cringe culture is unfortunately not dead but we can kill it in major spaces if we all keep being ourselves authentically and unapologetically. What they call "cringe" is actually pretty punk. It's defiance. Keep being yourselves, you're ALLOWED to exist as you are.

I think people online need to go to the store and have the healing experience of making a silly mistake when some other stranger is around and you both look at eachother and chuckle. It without fail restores a little humanity

I dropped something in an aisle and it fell straight through the back of the shelf and I just shrugged and the old man just looked at me and we exchanged bemused looks. In that moment I was reminded that humanity is compassion

I have a good addition to this. Not even the store, just, go out in public.

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through the city with a friend of mine and there was a woman on the sidewalk with an ice cream cone, and she was trying to take a bite and the scoop fell right off the top and landed on the ground. And without even thinking I let out a much more audible than intended "Oh no!" And she clearly heard me and then laughed and then I laughed and my friend laughed because man what a human thing, to drop your ice cream on the sidewalk.

So yeah, go experience humanity in person and remember that other people are actually just like you and we all fuck up and drop our ice cream sometimes.

Sharing a look with a stranger about something benign is so healing

some loser: humans are innately selfish creatures

my psych book:

@hopepunk-humanity

the right hairstyle for your face is the one that makes you smile when you see yourself in the mirror btw.