“All things had turned to ghosts;”— Virginia Woolf, from The Complete Works; “Night and Day,” c. October 1919
“The world does not console me, does not hold me,”— Birhan Keskin, from And Silk and Love and Flame: Poems; “Water,”
a gentle reminder that you did well this year. you met new people, learned new things and felt new feelings. you did so many things that made you scared. you picked yourself up off the floor after feeling completely defeated or heartbroken. there were some really tough nights but you survived them all. you made people happy just by existing. you accepted many goodbyes but the serendipitous meetings made up for them. it was your own hard work that paid off but you always downplay it or compare yourself to others. that’s not fair on yourself. you’ve come so far from the first day of this year. you have more wisdom and strength now. yes, other people seem more “successful” but does that even matter? please don’t think so lowly of yourself to only think about your failures. 2018 was your year of growth. I hope you take a moment to be kind to yourself, and believe that 2019 will be even better.
You never know what people have to go home to, always be kind.
i think it’s important to realize that no matter how good you are to people, it won’t make them good to you.
“The hardest battle you are ever going to have to fight is the battle to be just you.”— Leo Buscaglia
(via goodreadss)
Some questions for self-reflection on the past month:
1. Change: A change you enacted with intention, or one that came from the outside.
2. Simple Nourishment: What simply satisfied you? Maybe it was a ten minute phone call with a friend. Maybe it was a perfectly timed bath. Maybe it was a sandwich.
3. New to You: What did you do for the first time, as a beginner or simply with a new sense of openness?
4. Abundance: What was plentiful?
5. Loss: What was lost, what are you mourning? Maybe it is minor. Maybe it was more of a simplification than a ‘loss’.
6. Mystery: Describe a mystery from the last month. What happened that you can’t explain?
7. Front Burner List: What was read, watched, seen, listened to? Any colours, tastes, sensorial details that stand out?
8. Proportion: A specific moment that reminded you of the scale of the universe, that you are part of a greater whole. An outdoor shower in the mountains. A particular drive at night. Reading a certain quotation at the right time.
“The sunrise, of course, doesn’t care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful, even if no one bothers to look at it.”— via @oyerooh (via wizdomly)