A girl lost in the woods is a different sort of creature than a girl who walks purposefully through the trees even though she does not know her way.
This girl in the woods is not lost. She is exploring.
This girl is not scared. She is not unnerved by the darkness of the clawing shadows case by the trees in the late-afternoon sun. She is not bothered by the thorns and branches that tug at her clothes and scratch at her skin.
She is young enough to carry fear with her without letting it into her heart. Without being scared. She wears her fear lightly, like a veil, aware that there are dangers but letting the crackling awareness hover around her. It does not sink in, it buzzes in excitement like a swarm of invisible bees.
A girl lost in the woods is a different sort of creature than a girl who walks purposefully through the trees even though she does not know her way.
This girl in the woods is not lost. She is exploring.
This girl is not scared. She is not unnerved by the darkness of the clawing shadows case by the trees in the late-afternoon sun. She is not bothered by the thorns and branches that tug at her clothes and scratch at her skin.
She is young enough to carry fear with her without letting it into her heart. Without being scared. She wears her fear lightly, like a veil, aware that there are dangers but letting the crackling awareness hover around her. It does not sink in, it buzzes in excitement like a swarm of invisible bees.
Mum: You know what you need? A bit of tuberculosis.
Me: ... why do I need a bit of tuberculosis?
Mum: You could finish your book then.
Me: I don't think that finishing a book is one of the symptoms of tuberculosis.
Mum: Well, it worked for the Brontës, didn't it? They all had tuberculosis and they all finished their books.
Me: Yeah, and then they all died before the age of 40!
Mum: But they died having finished their books. I'm just saying. You should consider getting tuberculosis. Just a bit of it.
Me: ...
Mum: You'd have to be authentic, though. Call it consumption. Else it might not work.
Me: I'll bear that in mind.
Mum: You know what you need? A bit of tuberculosis.
Me: ... why do I need a bit of tuberculosis?
Mum: You could finish your book then.
Me: I don't think that finishing a book is one of the symptoms of tuberculosis.
Mum: Well, it worked for the Brontës, didn't it? They all had tuberculosis and they all finished their books.
Me: Yeah, and then they all died before the age of 40!
Mum: But they died having finished their books. I'm just saying. You should consider getting tuberculosis. Just a bit of it.
Me: ...
Mum: You'd have to be authentic, though. Call it consumption. Else it might not work.
Me: I'll bear that in mind.
Green Party Leadership candidate Amita Kuttner entertaining their team with a bit of opera. Not what one might expect of an astrophysicist *or* a politician.
The article provides a detailed example of how ranked ballot voting works when electing a party leader to delight electoral system nerds. All the rest of us need do is read the opening summary and the conclusion at the end.
“Life had its seasons, and the season of letting go would always come, but there was something very beautiful in that, in the letting go. Leaves were always graceful as they floated away from the tree.”
- Benjamin Alire Sáenz, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life.
Now, I’m not saying romantic relationships are inferior, or that they’re useless, or that you being in one or that you shipping some characters romantically is Bad or something off the walls like that. What I’m saying is that two people (or characters, since we’re talking shipping here) can be just as devoted to each other, love each other just as deeply, mean just as much to each other while being in a platonic relationship. The end point of caring about someone doesn’t have to be romance.
Friendship isn’t a stepping stone between strangers and romantic partners, it’s a different path. And you can follow that path as deep into the wood as a romantic one if you want, and neither is inferior to the other, they just have different views.
