Because it’s my birthday I’m going to share the very small slivers of wisdom I have gained this year:
- you literally cannot cater to and please everyone. So you should just be yourself. And yourself happens to be very divisive and loud and all that, you should just be it

- people come in go from your life at all instances and you need to practice non-attachment towards all of your relationships, even those you hold most dear. That doesn’t mean being distant but just recognizing the impermanence of it all

- your path may look VERY different from your peers and that’s really okay. While you are judging yourself against them, they are also secretly judging themselves against you. If you haven’t followed the traditional path they probably secretly envy your freedom

- no matter how smart or knowledgeable about the world you THINK you are, you aren’t. And you can learn from literally everyone. If you approach everyone as a potential teacher you both won’t be an asshole and you will gain so much wisdom.

- the more people want you to shut up, honestly the louder you should be. You’ll lose friendships and relationships but if you are righteously fighting for something beyond you, the pain of those losses will be worth it

- I do not think we were supposed to stay connected with literally everyone we know and that’s a very contemporary phenomena. If you need to disconnect from someone don’t feel bad. Although know it hurts on both sides of it happening

- openness to new ideas and worldviews is the most precious trait you could have and will enrich your life tremendously

- this shouldn’t be last and I’m sorry that it is but: ALWAYS choose to center the most vulnerable, the most marginalized, the most in need and you will probably be doing right (I know I question myself and my actions a lot)

- lastly, trust your intuition. We’ve been guided to mistrust ourselves every step of the way through a lot of different things, but she is a wise lady. You have a deep knowing that no one else can understand but truly gets you.

- okay actually one last one, your sadness isn’t something to be scared of but rather to embrace. I wish we focused less on “being happy” and more just allowing ourselves to feel the full human range of emotions. Processing is how we get through, not denial.