Spirits of broken branches
By Ivan Khanzhin
Spirits of broken branches
By Ivan Khanzhin
God I really wish carrying stuffed animals around with you was socially acceptable
I donโt mean to take over a post, but I actually did a project on this for my sociology of deviance class in college!
I carried a large stuffed rabbit whenever I went in public for about a week to observe the reaction of others. The point of the project was to do something harmless yet unusual to see if the action would be considered deviant, in which case someone had to try to correct or shame the behavior.
Long story short, nobody tried to correct my behavior. I was asked about it casually, had a few lingering stares thrown my way and when I was with my boyfriend, shop employees would direct questions to him instead of me. However, nobody refused to assist me when I was alone in a store, nobody said anything about the rabbit besides โoh, thats a cute bunny!โ and I attended college classes without even a teacher questioning it.
In conclusion, it is socially acceptable to carry a stuffed animal, its just not a societal norm. ^^
DOING IT
My friend gave me a stuffed monkey plushy when I was struggling with uni, and I took him everywhere for like four years, usually velcrod to my backpack. No one said a damn thing, except my renaissance professor who saw it one day in the hallway and cracked the fuck up because I had a literal monkey on my backย and he just looked at me like,ย โoh god, me tooโ. I used to leave him on desks during classes and exams (the monkey, not my prof). It was my reminder that someone cared if I was coping. But more than that it was soothing to have something to fidget with that wasnโt a pen. I used to ping those fucking things across the room I was so agitated. Harder to hurt people with a projectile stuffed monkey.
I got what I thought was a normal screen cleaning kit for my computer while I was in college. Much to my delight, instead of a little washcloth or whatever, the kit came with a tiny stuffed pig.ย
So I carried this pig in my backpack all through college, periodically taking it out, spraying my screen, and using the pig to wipe it off.ย
Now, I kept the pig in the side pocket of my bag where he was completely visible.
Then one day in screenwriting class I pulled him out to wipe my screen.ย
One of the guys sitting next to me looked appalled.ย โYouโre wiping it off with your little stuffed animal??โย
I explained what the pig was.ย
Turns out, the guy had noticed it and just thought it was adorable I carried a stuffed animal with me every day. Heโd never mentioned it before.ย
Honestly, people do not care, and will not say anything. No matter the reason for your little stuffed animal friend.ย
And if youโre still really nervous about it keep a stuffed animal keychain on your bag. I have a cute little frog that stays on my backpack so when work gets stressful I can squeeze it.
For my anxious followers.
Confirmed. I take my Venom tsum tsum to uni when I need a little mental boost. The little goo always brings me good luck and overall makes my day just a tiny bit better. I havenโt received a single comment about them so far.
Bring your stuffed buddies to class/work/whatever, guys. People donโt care.
I have a couple of Ikea sharks* and have had cause to periodically carry them around in public - one of which I bought with the last $15 I had at the time, after making a series of big life changes. โThis is frivolous and I donโt have to care about that because Iโm getting paid shortlyโIโm going to do it!โ
The reactions I get range from amusement through delight and โWHERE DID YOU GET THATโ but so far, never disapproval.
The moral of the story is Carry Your Emotional Support Plushie With Pride, You Deserve It.
*pictured: not my shark
true story: I once had an appallingly awful day at the hell job and it coincided with my giant squishy Baymax being delivered from China, and no lie I hugged on that Baymax to keep from crying until it was time to leave
I travel with DC (โDonโt Careโ) the Emotional Support Honey Badger.ย I go through TSA with him attached to my backpack, I hug him when I sleep in transit, I prop him next to me in cafes in cities, towns, and rural areas.ย The only time anyoneโs ever so much as raised an eyebrow at me was the TSA agent who recognized what he was, and asked it he could get his picture taken with him.
People donโt judge.ย Kids think youโre awesome. You get a companion who never judges you.ย Itโs all win.
I know probably everyone has seen this post already, but its too good not to reblog.
Donโt be afraid to carry your comfort items around with you! :D I take some of my stuffed friends to work sometimes, and no one ever bats an eye at them!
druck meme [5/9] scenes โบโบ amiraโs pep talk โIโm so fucked. Matteo! Really? Okay, Iโll tell you something. When we were supposed to study together I thought to myself, "Shit, my Abi is fucked.โ And it was. Because youโve been a horrible study partner, my friend. I pulled you through this. Butโฆโ
(Source)
ALWAYS REBLOG WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS PLEASE; ITS SO MUCH MORE THAN IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE. IT MEANS EVERYTHING TO SOMEBODY AND EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT NOT SEE THIS IN THE SAME LIGHT, SOMEONE MIGHT. INFACT YOU REBLOGGING THIS COULD STOP SOMEONE TAKING THEIR LIFE TONIGHT.
I noticed there isnโt one here for Ireland, so
Irish free suicide helpline: 01-116 123
last time i reblogged this, i got this ask:
so please, please reblog. this could actually save a life.
Check the notes, some people have added hotlines that arenโt listed here.
If youโre ever considering suicide, please, I am begging you, donโt do it. Things may not be alright now, but they will be, eventually. You will be alright at some point. It may not be today, tomorrow, next week, next month, it may not even be in a year from now. But, believe me when I say, at one point, it WILL get better. You WILL be alright. And, you DO deserve to live. If you ever need to vent to me, anon is always on and I will do my best to help. Iโm always here for you.ย ๐
my desire to be hidden from the world just keeps intensifying
Boy (2010), dir. Taika Waititi
you arenโt alone anymore
Jessica Shirley (American, based Vancouver, WA, USA) - The Child Sleeps, Drawings: Black India Ink, +Digital Color
โYou donโt meet the people you love, you recognize them.โ
โ Anna Gavalda, โLife, Only Betterโย , trans. Tina Kover
โYou and I know each other in our bonesโ
โ Kurt Vonnegut, from a letter to Nanny Vonnegutย
โbut everyone had this patina
ย of slightly bruised longing, this shimmer of
ย I think I knew you when we were children,
ย this look of Iโve loved you ever since you
were born
ย and probably longer than thatโ
โ Paul Hostovsky, from โEveryone was Beautiful,โ Dear Truth (Main Street Rag, 2009)
โHeโs been here in my heart before I even knew him. Understand? Heโs always been here. Always.โ
โ Sandra Cisneros , from Woman at Hollering Creek: Stories; โNever Marry a Mexican,โ
โYou came into my lifeโnot as one comes to visitโฆbut as one comes to a kingdom where all the rivers have been waiting for your reflection, all the roads, for your stepsโฆโ
โ Vladimir Nabokov, in a letter to Vรฉra Slonim (1923), Letters to Vรฉra
โI love you. I feel as though we were never strangers, you and I, not even for a moment.โ
โ Friedrich Nietzsche, from a letter to Mathilde Trampedach
โEventually soulmates meet, for they have the same hiding place.โ
โ Robert Brault
โHere when I say โI never want to be without you,โ
somewhere else I am saying
โI never want to be without you again.โ And when I touch you
in each of the places we meet in all of the lives we are,
itโs with hands that are dying and resurrected.
When I donโt touch you itโs a mistake in any life,
in each place and forever.
โ Bob Hicok,ย Other Lives and Dimensions and Finally a Love Poem
โShe said that she had been searching for my eyes in the crowd because she felt as if she were talking to my heart.โ
โ Audre Lorde, from โZami: A New Spelling of my Name,โ published c. 1982
โWho knows? perhaps the same bird echoed through both of us yesterday, separate, in the eveningโฆโ
โ Rainer Maria Rilke, from You who never arrived (tr. by Stephen Mitchell); Uncollected Poems: 1913โ1918
โi knew you. before i met you. iโve known you my whole life.โ
โ Nayyirah Waheed, from Salt; nafsi
(Source)
ALWAYS REBLOG WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS PLEASE; ITS SO MUCH MORE THAN IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE. IT MEANS EVERYTHING TO SOMEBODY AND EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT NOT SEE THIS IN THE SAME LIGHT, SOMEONE MIGHT. INFACT YOU REBLOGGING THIS COULD STOP SOMEONE TAKING THEIR LIFE TONIGHT.
I noticed there isnโt one here for Ireland, so
Irish free suicide helpline: 01-116 123
last time i reblogged this, i got this ask:
so please, please reblog. this could actually save a life.
Stop! I donโt want to fight youโฆ
How I love being a woman!
What yall think of my frog