Oh Emily Wilson Translation Of The Iliad We’re Really In It Now

humans are so cute, when we say goodbye we put our arms around each other and to show we love someone we bring them flowers. we say hello by holding each other’s hand, and sometimes tiny little dewdrops form in our eyes. for pleasure we listen to arrangements of sounds, press our lips together, smoke dried leaves, get drunk off of old fruit. we’re all just little animals, falling in love and having breakfast beneath billions of stars

Photo by Kristina Delp on Unsplash

a lot on my mind right now (broths)

u know what makes me cry..... that one van gogh quote about life changing for the better..... “many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. and it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘what do i care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ yes, evil often seems to surpass good. but then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. one morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. and so i must still have hope.” yeah..... Crying....

Mount Rainier National Park, WA by Ben Dutton

2025

BE A STUDENT OF WHAT YOU ADMIRE

DO IT BADLY RATHER THAN NOT AT ALL

TO DESPAIR IS TO CEDE VICTORY TO THOSE WHO DO NOT DESERVE IT

BROADEN YOUR CULTURAL HORIZONS

REVEL IN THE ANALOGUE

ACTION ABSORBS ANXIETY

GRIEF IS PRODUCTIVE; GUILT IS NOT

an author i love just tweeted about how “big joy and small joy are the same” and how she was just as content the other night eating chocolate and cuddling her dog as she was on her Big Trip to new york and honestly. i think that’s it. this morning i was listening to an audiobook while baking shortbread in my joggers and i realised i really didn’t care what Big Things happened in my future as long as i could keep baking and reading at the weekend and maybe that is the kind of bar we have to set to guard ourselves against disappointment. just appreciate and cherish the mundane stuff and see everything else as a bonus.

things to include in a letter to your overseas pen-pal

that one sticker you were saving

pressed flowers from a walk around your neighborhood

book quotes that made you laugh

paint swatches of colors that remind you of them

the local time of sunrise and sunset 

poems and movie quotes

meaningful song lyrics

polaroids of your desk space, or the view out of your window

cutouts of sheet music you used to play

phrases in your native language with translations

magazine cutouts

pages of old books folded into a small envelope

a secret about your hometown

newspaper clippings from the day of writing

coins from your country 

maps or drawings of your city

recounts of strangers you saw

teabag of your favorite tea

colorful stamps

listen to classical music while you do your chores. scribble quotes and thought fragments on your arms. fill your margins with sketches. brew coffee and drink it warm at 3am. recite poetry in the shower. scratch your favorite line into the desk. sit in a cold room with your fluffiest blanket. read in public. carve out a space for yourself in this world and thrive in it.