sasha_feather: dog looking over a valley (dog and landscape)
sasha_feather ([personal profile] sasha_feather) wrote2015-01-06 10:01 pm

Tortoise

What's Wrong with Me? by Meghan O'Rouke, in the New Yorker, 2013. A fantastic personal essay on having an autoimmune disease.

Lately I feel like while my peers and friends are making progress with their lives, I am barely maintaining mine. It's hard not to compare myself to other people and find myself coming up short. I'm permanently poor, my career is going nowhere, I'm chronically single, and I have no energy, etc.

It's comforting to be around animals, who are better at living in the moment. I'm meditating upon the tortoise, a cool animal that takes its time.

When I was about 18 or so, an adult friend of mine from 4-H and I were discussing shyness, and how she used to be shy. Her advice was, "give yourself ten years." It was good advice.

Give yourself time. Be the tortoise.

Post a comment in response:

If you don't have an account you can create one now.
No Subject Icon Selected
More info about formatting

If you are unable to use this captcha for any reason, please contact us by email at support@dreamwidth.org