GROZA.

Random Hiyao Miyazaki fact I learned a while ago.

Hiyao Miyazakis Howls Moving Castle is based on a book series. When making the movie, he flew to Europe to meet the writer and get a feel for the area the books setting was based on.

While there, he found out that she had gotten the idea for her books from watching Castle in the Sky, and had based a lot of her storytelling around his movies.

Howls Moving Castle is a Hiyao Miyazaki film, based on a book, based on a Hiyao Miyazaki film.

I’ve been thinking about Howl’s Moving Castle and how Sophie’s curse is a physical symbol of her self belief of being unlovable (especially after growing up with beautiful, sought after women in her family.) How Howl tries to undo the curse the moment she steps into his castle but he *cant* because Sophie doesn’t want it to be broken. How, in the film, Sophie gets so close to breaking the curse in the field, but hearing Howl call her beautiful went against her self views, so she reinforces her sense of self by turning 90 again.

And the way that her love and kindness make her younger again and again. How film Sophie sacrifices her long hair, perhaps what past Sophie would have seen as her only beauty, for Howl but she’s grown so much that she still remains young, perhaps even confident about her grey hair, showing that Sophie no longer links her appearance to her lovability or worth and she learned to accept herself as she is. In this essay I-

Why dont you go watch a studio ghibli movie and think about the power of love and kindness and maybe you'll calm down

an angel wearing a t shirt that says ↖ MY ↑ EYES ↗ ARE → AROUND ↘ HERE ↓

Bonus courtesy of @claiborneart:

Simply love.

I wanna be a cowboy baaaaby

— Lord of the Butterflies, ‘The Day You Died Because You Wanted To’ by Andrea Gibson

— Unknown

See you next year!

girls after saying something smart: So yeah

Girls after giving a concise and completely sensible thought on the matter, with well thought out arguments:

... If that makes sense?

Girls after expressing a personal opinion: if you think that's okay haha maybe

Girls saying something they know to be absolutely correct and spent years studying: if I remember correctly

Alternatives for each of these to practice:

instead of: “so yeah” -- silence or “do you have any questions?”

instead of: “if that makes sense?” -- “does that make sense or can i clarify further?” or “do you have any questions I can help answer?” 

instead of: “if you think that’s okay haha maybe” -- “that is my recommendation/opinion, though I am open to further discussion” or “Does anybody have reservations about this course of action/decision?”

instead of: “if i remember correctly” -- “to my understanding” or “I have found, through xyz”

the goal of these alternatives is not to shut down dissent, but to change the level of confidence and authority you give yourself in discussions. 

the original statements essentially position your opinions and knowledge as by default “probably incorrect” and seeking confirmation. 

the updated statements position your opinions and knowledge as being confirmed by you considering the information you have available-- others can voice their concerns and disconfirm, but this requires them to logically explain with facts/evidence why they disagree with you. 

my joints are a retractable ballpoint pen and god is going clickclickclickclick

The version of you right now is deserving of love. Not you two years ago when you had more of your shit together, or the five years later version where you’ll surely be thriving. The version of you right now. The one that might just be okay, or is really struggling, or is bored and unproductive. That version deserves love. Having trouble accepting this is fine, but actively denying it is not. Your value is intrinsic, and finding confidence in that is mandatory.

sorry for being the girl of ur dreams? Lol. literally not my problem

I come from a mental illness dynasty

Photo by Alexander Slash on Unsplash