ALT

Where Does the Temple Begin, Where Does It End? Mary Oliver

august - taylor swift

[ text ID: Yes, I deserve a spring–I owe nobody nothing. ]

Ingeborg Bachmann, from Word for Word in "Three Paths to the Lake: Stories"

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

At the time, I was seeking oblivion, and I sought in those blank, anonymous faces, even the most painfully familiar, a kind of benign escape. A death that would not mean being dead.

Everyone laughed. “He really would,” I said nodding, thinking that if I ever became a foreign object, I’d no doubt be eliminated in much the same way.

Oh, I thought absently, I’ve become a foreign object.

[...] You’re a foreign object. It’s just nobody bothered to tell you because they find you too freaky. They’ve been saying it behind your back, though. And now they’ll start saying it to your face too.”

Nothing that lived and breathed was truly objective—even in a vacuum, even if all that possessed the brain was a self-immolating desire for the truth.

When I first started here, there was a detailed manual that taught me how to be a store worker, and I still don’t have a clue how to be a normal person outside that manual.

• perfectionism - never being satisfied
• honesty - coming off as rude and insensitive
• devotion - can turn into obsession
• generosity - being taken advantage of
• loyalty - can make them blind for character faults in others
• being dependable - always depending on them
• ambitiousness - coming off as ruthless
• optimism - not being realistic
• diligence - not able to bend strict rules
• protectiveness - being overprotective
• cautiousness - never risking anything
• being determined - too focussed on one thing
• persuasiveness - coming off as manipulative
• tidiness - can become an obsession
• being realistic - being seen as pessimistic
• assertiveness - coming off as bossy
• pride - not accepting help from others
• innocence - being seen as naive
• selflessness - not thinking about themself enough
• being forgiving - not holding others accountable
• curiosity - asking too many questions
• persistence - being seen as annoying
• being charming - can seem manipulative
• modesty - not reaching for more
• confidence - coming off as arrogant
• wit/humor - not taking things serious
• patience - being left hanging
• strategic - coming off as calculated
• being caring - being overbearing
• tolerance - being expected to tolerate a lot
• eagerness - coming off as impatient
• being observant - being seen as nosy
• independence - not accepting help
• being considerate - forgetting about themself
• fearlessness - ignoring real danger
• politeness - not telling what they really think
• reliability - being taken advantage of
• empathy - getting overwhelmed with feeling too much for other people

“From which stars have we fallen to meet each other here?”

Louise Glück, from The Silver Lily