JoinedNovember 21, 2016
Articles36
Ayala has never been good at introducing herself. She enjoys bullet journaling, happy dancing, and making herself uncomfortable for the sake of compassion. She collects rubber ducks. You can find more of her creative work at crazyduckwoman.com.
People in Disney World are kind and courteous. They are also being emotionally pampered by dozens of workers during their visit. Good places inspire people to give what they get.
Sometimes I wonder if creativity might just mean your brain fires signals around in an abnormal pattern. Bridges being made over uncharted territory. That would support the all to relatable reality of having your best ideas in the shower or while whispering thoughts to yourself while trying to fall asleep.
What are they trying to prove? Why are they so desperate to elevate themselves from their brother and sisters?
Making art was a therapy from feelings that I didn’t know how to express, didn’t understand... It was my crutch. But then I didn’t need it anymore.
Watching my father go through this process when I was in high-school, I knew this was my messorah. I knew I had an obligation to keep it alive, in anyway I could. But I didn’t, did I? I was marrying an Ashakanaz guy.
We live in a world where all people are free to act as they please. Nothing about our world is perfect. There is no excuse for sexual violence. We cannot let ourselves be so naive as to resign to our culture and tip-toe around it, instead of tearing it down.
We are not a joke. Your ethnicity is not a joke. Your religion is not a joke. Because Yom Kippur isn’t about fasting.
No one teaches you how to do teshuvah or to navigate the yamim noraim when you have self abusive tendencies. Just know that your friends and community members who deal with these things are not in need of being told how wrong or bad they have been, but need to take this time to rebuild and reaffirm their relationship with themselves. Their lives depend on it.
Often we focus in Elul on what we did wrong,
sometimes we need to focus on what we didn’t do,
sometimes we need to promise to do more,
not to do "better" at what we already know
let those familiar things turn numb.
