— Clarice Lispector, From “The Stream Of Life.”

“Some steps need to be taken alone. It’s the only way to really figure out where you need to go and who you need to be.”

— Mandy Hale

i hope you buy things that bring you joy. i hope you wear clothes that make you feel good. i hope you decorate your home however you like. i hope you don’t wake up dreading going to work. i hope you meet people that make your heart sing. i hope you discover hobbies that fulfill you. i hope you go on fantastic adventures that give you unforgettable memories. i hope you do things just because you want to, and i hope you don’t feel like you have to justify your decisions to anybody. i hope you find happiness. i hope you cultivate a life you love.

You really will find your passion. Even if it’s not something typical, even if others don’t understand it. There’s something in the world calling to you, and when you find that joyful thing follow it! It’s so easy to tell ourselves we just don’t have a passion, but you do! It doesn’t have to be about work, or success. If it makes your heart light up, that is enough.

Btw people will have all these silly rules for success/happiness and they think because u dont follow them that youre somehow doomed for a bad life. Actually im carving out my own life and path. I am an imperfect human being. I will make mistakes. And along the way i will meet with true joy, with true human connection and Love. And i will laugh so loud i won’t even remember the word sadness. Anyways.

Reblog if you ARE a woman in STEM, SUPPORT women in STEM, or ARE STILL BITTER about Rosalind Franklin not getting credit for discovering the structure of DNA and the Nobel prize going to Watson and Crick instead.

“forgive all the versions of yourself that operated out of fear instead of growth, the ones that viewed comfort zones as safe havens and abandoned boundaries to keep other people happy, forgive all the versions of yourself that didn’t know that love begins with how you treat you.”

— iambrillyant

i save me, i heal me, i got me, i have me.

i think a lot about the loneliness of being aromantic. because it's something that's so profound, right? you're told your whole life that you need something to make you happy, to make you complete, to give you connection with other people, and when you realize you're aro, that's torn away from you. everything you've been raised to want is no longer something that will fulfill you. you are not built to be happy. and it gets better with time, it does! you restructure your world view, bit by bit, and the sting fades, but... i don't think it ever truly goes away. it's hard to express, because i love being aro, and i'm happy being aro, i wouldn't want to be any other way, but at the same time. there is such a profound heartbreak to knowing that you will never be someone's most important person in a society that values romance. that you'll never get the happy ever after that you were promised as a child. and you know you can be happy. but there's a lifetime of amatonormativity that lives in your brain and tells you that you can't.