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📝

HAVING A LONG ASS NAME

I used to get so embarrassed by my long ass name (I have two middle names and a weird last name) but I think it’s so cool now and so unique??

@glombroski

May 3, 2025

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So fucking rad.

I used to hate my name. My mother wanted to name me Mary (after the Virgin Mary) of all things but I ended up with the name “Thuweiba” because my dad ended up naming me. Growing up in a predominately white town it was hard to honor it and I hated my name. I even went to visit Somalia for the first time and my family memebers kept asking my dad why I was given an “American” name. This is far from American lol. My dad’s a history and religion nerd so my name’s pretty archaic. I fucking love it now tho. It’s so darn cool and I’ve never met anyone else with it! ✨ Adds to my individuality complex 😼

@portraitofthuw

Oct 14, 2024

✍️

learning to love your first name

perhaps it was a desperate need to fit in, but i used to tell kids in school that my real name was actually emily. i genuinely don't think i fooled anyone with that lie, especially when my accent was still very noticeable whenever i spoke back then. regardless, i thought my first name was too long and it was a pretty common name to have in colombia, so i always sported it like something that was mandated, assigned, but not something i actually appreciated. throughout the years, i met a couple of emilys, each very lovely, who fit the name very well. and that's when it clicked: i couldn't actually picture myself carrying that name for the rest of my life and truly feeling at home with it. valentina still felt like a mouthful, but i realized it did actually feel like me. anyways, that was a pretty long time ago and i cherish my first name in all its nine-character glory. i hope you find comfort and feel at home with your first name/chosen name– it's so important to how we view and present ourselves.

@verygoodvalentina

Nov 21, 2024

Top Recs from @taterhole

🧸

Never changing

My dad teases me about how when I was a little kid, my favorite thing to do when I was on the landline phone with somebody—be it a relative or one of my best friends—was to breathlessly describe the things that were in my bedroom so that they could have a mental picture of everything I loved and chose to surround myself with, and where I sat at that moment in time. Perfectly Imperfect reminds me of that so thanks for always listening and for sharing with me too 💌

@taterhole

Feb 23, 2025

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SURFING THE TIDES OF THE EVERYONE TAB

I am a woman of the people

@taterhole

May 28, 2025

🖐

Rejecting the Commodification of the Self

I’ve been thinking about how much of social media is centered around curating our self-image. When selfies first became popular, they were dismissed as vain and vapid—a critique often rooted in misogyny—but now, the way we craft our online selves feels more like creating monuments. We try to signal our individuality, hoping to be seen and understood, but ironically, I think this widens the gap between how others perceive us and who we really are. Instead of fostering connection, it can invite projection and misinterpretation—preconceived notions, prefab labels, and stereotypes. Worse, individuality has become branded and commodified, reducing our identities to products for others to consume. On most platforms, validation often comes from how well you can curate and present your image—selfies, aesthetic branding, and lifestyle content tend to dominate. High engagement is tied to visibility, not necessarily depth or substance. But I think spaces like PI.FYI show that there’s another way: where connection is built on shared ideas, tastes, and interests rather than surface-level content. It’s refreshing to be part of a community that values thoughts over optics. By sharing so few images of myself, I’ve found that it gives others room to focus on my ideas and voice. When I do share an image, it feels intentional—something that contributes to the story I want to tell rather than defining it. Sharing less allows me to express who I am beyond appearance. For women, especially, sharing less can be a radical act in a world where the default is to objectify ourselves. It resists the pressure to center appearance, focusing instead on what truly matters: our thoughts, voices, and authenticity. I’ve posted a handful of pictures of myself in 2,500 posts because I care more about showing who I am than how I look. In trying to be seen, are we making it harder for others to truly know us? It’s a question worth considering.

@taterhole

Dec 27, 2024