Nobody is your friend until they defend your name in your absence. Because the real test of loyalty does not happen in front of you. It happens in rooms you were never part of, in conversations you will never hear, and in moments where people are given the chance either protect your name or participate in destroying it. Anyone can love you loudly when you are present.
turns out, reading voraciously, moving your body, loving people without keeping score, protecting your solitude, chasing nothing but your own growth, and occasionally staying out too late with people who make you laugh until it hurts is not a bad way to build a life.
Do not let people gaslight you into thinking that duality does not exist. You can be grateful and annoyed. You can want more and be grateful for what you have. You can be angry and frustrated and still be grateful. A lot of religious and spiritual gaslighting out here.
i allocated so much importance to people who are largely inconsequential now. i'm humbled by what i thought i knew. it's almost a relief that nobody is mine. people can be encountered and embraced, but they can't be possessed. the thought of it, acknowledging it, so freeing .
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