“We need so desperately to believe in a forever love--so much so that there’s an entire genre of entertainment dedicated to young lovers who persist against all odds, medical or fantastical or otherwise--that when it doesn’t happen, we fall a little bit to pieces. The spell is broken. Evil wins. Because that’s a true representation of reality, that loss of hope, that perversion of purity. That’s what we’re all living with anyway and seeing it represented in our entertainment reinforces what we already know to be true: there is no perfect love or life or quest or character. We’re all just fumbling along, trying to make the best of whatever it is we can find, whatever small comforts we can take, whatever compromise seems the least devastating.” Reality Of LifeTeen RomanceForever LoveMake The Best Of ItYoung LoversLoss Of HopeEvil WinsSmall Comforts Book:Fully Functioning: a postpartum descent into obsessive fangirling Source: Fully Functioning: a postpartum descent into obsessive fangirling
“Like the feeling of a carbonated beverage slipping down the throat, the bubbles rushing and popping as they make their descent, the air around a departed spirit fizzles, dissipating from a thick electric presence to an ephemeral blink of light and color, like the aftereffect of too many flash cameras going off at once.” MetaphorGhostsCameraGhost StoryRestless SpiritsSpirits In The Material World Book:Lay Her Ghosts to Rest Source: Lay Her Ghosts to Rest
“It wasn’t one event, but a series of events followed by years of research adjudicated by panels of experts and committees of laypeople until a decision was finally made: we’ve been going about handling dead people all wrong.” FuneralDeadGhostsBurialWakeCasketRestless SpiritsDeceased People Book:Lay Her Ghosts to Rest Source: Lay Her Ghosts to Rest
“Apparently, as long as I continue to feed my children, there’s nothing wrong with me. A functional mom is one who can change a diaper and remember bedtimes. I’m not falling apart, so I’m fine.” MomMental HealthMotherhoodMotherhood QuotesMental Health BiasPostpartumPostpartum DepressionMotherhood ParentingPostpartum Symptoms Book:Fully Functioning: a postpartum descent into obsessive fangirling Source: Fully Functioning: a postpartum descent into obsessive fangirling
“But this is the power of storytelling, isn’t it? To make sense of the things we can’t figure out ourselves. We make up gods and monsters and origin stories and archetypes and tell each other it’s all explainable so we don’t have to feel the weight of the unknown. That’s the theory anyway. The practice is that we’re all so much better at seeing the faults of others, at watching them make their mistakes and judging from afar, our social telescopes so much more powerful than the microscopes we forget to use on ourselves.” StorytellingIntrospectionArchetypesSocial CriticismThe UnknownGods And MonstersPower Of Story Book:Fully Functioning: a postpartum descent into obsessive fangirling Source: Fully Functioning: a postpartum descent into obsessive fangirling