Thanks for the added context and providing a link for folks! It’s a decent commencement speech overall and I appreciate the attention he draws to the importance (and difficulty) of perspective in it. If anyone understood the “great and terrible truth” of the adage, it would be him.

Thank you!!

“The mind is an excellent servant, but a terrible master.” David Foster Wallace

As a former ESL professor, I both learnt and taught: learnt, dreamt, was, became, began, taught, blew, meant, brought, thought, caught, drew, felt, fought, lit, grew etc. as part of the (very long) list of irregular English verbs in the past and participle forms.

I’m assuming your insistence is born (not borned) out of embarrassment over your initial mistake. It’s ok to not know something, admitting a mistake is a far better look.

Agreed. I think it was a shame to leave that section out as it illustrates Odysseus’ cleverness and hubris, the attributes that both help and hinder his journey. It also demonstrates the complicated nature of heroism investigated in the epic.

Odysseus shows great intelligence in introducing himself as Nobody and again in saving the surviving men. He also can’t resist shouting back his name and taking credit once he’s out of immediate danger. Had he not shouted his name back, Polyphemus would have been unable to call down a curse upon him, and by extension, all his men.

I try to do at least two of the following every day: journaling, walking, art, yoga, meditation, therapy, breath work, gratitude practice.

Recently, I’ve been working on being my own witness and that being enough. When my nervous system starts to react, I try to pause, take a breath, thank whatever protection program is trying its best to serve me, remind myself that I am safe and that I see myself, and then try and respond rather than react. It takes patience, curiosity, and a ton of self-compassion. The more I turn inward, the easier it is for me to turn outward.

I love Merlin. I turn it on when I go for my daily walk and see what birds it picks up. I’m building a fun “Life List” of birds and it’s cool to see which ones are full time neighbors and who is around for just a visit!

So, fun to know I’m not alone. I work in local government for a small Southern town in the US and our city manager orders these by the case and spends her lunch hour leaving them around town, sigh.

Sorry for your loss, cancer fucking sucks…

I’m just excited for all the “historically accurate” cyclops, witches, demi gods, and magic objects that the conservatives are going to have in their AI remakes!

/s (just in case)

Weaponzing therapy speak, so hot right now.

Oh, I love thistles! I have a collection of thistle photos from my nature walks.

Queer woman in a passing relationship here. I work for local government in a conservative Southern town. The things people say to me because they assume that I am, A). straight, B). conservative, and C.) religious, are mind boggling. I know they wouldn’t think of it this way, (or probably care, tbh) but they routinely make me feel really unsafe. I would never feel comfortable being out at work down here in the current climate.

Toe beans!!!

Textile work and sewing. I love working with fabrics and turning a flat piece of cloth into a usable/wearable object. It also gives me a feeling of connection to the flow of human history. When I’m sitting in my craft room, hand stitching a hem or working on a piece of embroidery, I often think about the fact that the physical movements I’m making with my body have been shared across human cultures and time. The pulling of a needle and thread through fabric is a mirror of the human tapestry we all create together.

I love finding these on my feed, thank you!

I love how the zombie looks like you just told them it was actually Saturday and not Monday after their alarm went off lol “what?! No way! Yay!”

Textile work! Could be sewing, weaving, dying, etc. I love working with fabrics and making them into usable 3D objects. Recently, as in the last two weeks, I’ve started working with wool felt with the vague idea of making insect brooches but I ended up making a cat toy instead lol.

If you’re interested, I highly recommend “The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper” by Hallie Rubenhold!