20-something. Writer//Wisher//Wanderer. I want to learn as many languages as I can and also maybe learn to share what I create. Just not yet. Wanna chat? HMU yo.
this is for those who despair over seeing ships or tropes that make them uncomfortable while they do their little scrolly-scroll on ao3, acting like they aren’t responsible for their own internet experience
If you experienced trauma in childhood or had a rough childhood, dude listen to me. Offer yourself play. You were deprived of it.
Keep bubbles in the house, blow bubbles in the yard, blow them in your room, get a coloring book that doesn’t have to be an adult one with mandalas, watch cartoons, laugh at stupid things, dress up as a superhero for Halloween, wear a Santa hat on Christmas and big light up snowflake earrings, lay down on the floor, lay down in the grass, eat eggos for dinner sometimes. It’s not stupid. You’re not childish. You’re giving your inner child what they had taken from them. They deserve it.
I don’t want to derail this post because it’s an important message, and OP has addressed it to the people who most need to hear it. But… can i just add, for people who don’t feel like they can give themselves permission to do this, that you can give yourself these things even if you didn’t overtly experience trauma in childhood?
Even if you never thought of your upbringing as painful or malicious, you can and should still give yourself things you missed out on. Take that class! Learn that skill! Eat the foods you like, or branch out into new ones! Jump in piles of leaves and decorate your walls the way you want them.
Give yourself the things you couldnt have as a kid, especially if you didn’t really get to have a childhood, but even if you didn’t have the childhood you wanted. Go for a bike ride with friends. Go stargazing. Whatever it was that you feel like you missed, it’s important to seek those things and remember that play and joy aren’t exclusive to childhood.
I don’t think you derailed this at all and think this was a really thoughtful addition. So thank you!
stop believing that you ran out of time to shape yourself into who you want to be! stop believing that its ruined! stop believing you don’t have potential! you are not a fixed being! you have endless opportunities to grow.
Any time I feel the grip of anxiety that I’m too old or don’t have time to do something with my limited hours after work, I just remember the wisdom of the ancients:
Look. My mom is 65. She just divorced my shitty dad, is in therapy, wearing what she actually wants, cutting her hair how how she likes, and is exploring her gender and sexual identity. She went from being stuck in the middle of nowhere watching fox news 24/7 to a guest house in the city where she paints and reads, goes to dance classes and botanical gardens, and has started playing D&D with her kids and our friends. She says this is the life she always wanted and she has never been happier.
ALT
