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— from a friend when I referred to myself as lil ol’ me 🥹 recency bias this was a couple of weeks ago…
Jan 3, 2025
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🧠"you're a very intelligent person", she said.
Look man, I don't get compliments that often.
Plus, my best friend is one of the smartest people I've ever met, so I never feel smart.
Not to brag, but I'm feeling pretty big brain right now 🧠☝️
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🌤i know this is kind of a polarizing compliment to receive for some people but it's my personal favorite. I'm chill with the "you look healthier", "you look beautiful", etc etc but being told i look happier actually makes my whole week. this might just be a commonality among people in remission from mental health disorders but it feels so affirming. i like to think that when I'm happy, i radiate it from my smile, my eyes, and my skin. when I'm actually having a good day i can feel my joy touch the people around me and i can see it everywhere i go. i love being told i look happier because i really did previously radiate despair and anxiety. your emotions are laid out plainly in your expressions, the way you move, and even in your eyes. i don't believe in the whole "aura" thing but i think that might be the only comparison that makes sense in this context. i battled with my mental health since i was a toddler. I've been in therapy for 9 years and have been in active, intensive recovery for 5. i was in and out of the hospital and treatment facilities through all 4 years of high school. I've been unhappy for most of my life and it reflected easily in the way i carried myself and even the people i surrounded myself with. i look at pictures of myself when i was in high school, at my very lowest, and i can see the grief in my own eyes. now that I'm in college and am in remission for borderline personality disorder, i have begun to forge my own hopes, dreams, and sense of identity. it's a feeling that can't really be compared to anything but freedom. and when i look at pictures of myself now, i can see the warmth and hope in my eyes and the joy in my smile. people have told me i glow, but I've also been told i look happier. i ran into one of my high school counselors a while back on my college campus because he was there for an alumni event. he smiled at me and told me i looked happier, and i gave him a smile back. there was a consensus there that we reached, and i felt like we both understood the massive weight that was lifted off of my shoulders when i heard that compliment. it's a mutual understanding that despite everything, and even though he has no idea exactly what I've done to get here, he can sense a great shift in me that speaks much louder than words. i hold every one of those compliments very, very close to my heart.
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It lends a reflective and wistful tone to written communications imo…
Jul 10, 2025
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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 💌
Feb 23, 2025
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