19 Comments
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Menji's avatar

'if the dream only exists as a reaction to your exhaustion, then it’s not a dream at all' this is so beautiful. Dear Author, the way you write heals something in my soul I never knew to be broken. Thank you for writing the truth, amazing as always.

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Corinna's avatar

Scary how relevant this was for me today. Thank you for the reassurance in these words.

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wildgoanna's avatar

Thank you. Consider reading:

Jikisai Minami - It's Okay Not to Look for the Meaning of Life: A Zen Monk's Guide to Living Stress-Free One Day at a Time

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Arsim's avatar

This was a great read. Humans are social creatures which means our desires are shaped by other people.

Do you think there is a true self or is our sense of self socially constructed?

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Mystimus's avatar

this —> “maybe joy isn’t something you earn, but something you allow”

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Harriet Hadfield's avatar

Every time you write I feel like you’re speaking directly to me. Thank you

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Caroline Beuley's avatar

"I don't think we're dreaming of cottages. we're dreaming of relief" Absolutely lovely! This felt so true to me.

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Jessica Alice's avatar

Ah yes, safety. I wrote about that here: https://neurodivergentnotes.substack.com/p/i-miss-me.

Great piece, btw!

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Victoria Ruby's avatar

You speak the deepest corners of my mind to life and make me feel as though there are people just like me, not like I am stuck in my mind. This really resonated with how I feel trying to constantly make smart decisions and thinking about the future and never the present. Thank you <3

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Grace <3's avatar

Thank you, these are the words i didn't know i needed. 💗

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Darek Šmíd's avatar

"we track our sleep and our screen time and our feelings and call it growth. we call it self care, but so much of what we’re doing isn’t care at all. it’s maintenance and damage control. it’s trying to hold ourselves together long enough to get through another cycle of burnout." oh my.

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Sienna's avatar

i found this post at time i needed it most. so for that i just want to say thank you. keep writing x

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Daria Buria's avatar

Thank you for this inspiring and relatable writing ❤️

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Camilo Gómez's avatar

What an amazing post, I loved it, I loved the way it took me in an inner journey through my being.

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Gizem Şebnem Tombak's avatar

I was at that point where questioning what does happiness mean to me? I feel like I see others interpretations and choose the one fits me the most.. the routines, the slow living dream, maybe quitting my job or get a bigger better designed house with a reading corner. Then I realized my reality snd my dreams dont match because simply they dont have to. When we were young everyone made us think whats the purpose of life meanwhile actually there is not. Life is simply collection of little moments that you call your moments. This piece helped me reflect that happiness should be defined by oneself only. Not by adaptation.

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Kendra Mase's avatar

Really enjoyed and felt how real this has been recently. it is hard to dream outside of the mundane, but also find that happiness there within the exhaustion and possibility of burnout which is... a lot that combats the "happiness" as well. Thanks for sharing!

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Maria Dee's avatar

Such a beautiful and thought-provoking piece Caitlyn, thank you. I've made a note of the reading list at the bottom and currently reading "How to do nothing" by Jenny Odell as you've mentioned ☺️💞

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