The Lies In Our Bones

https://julielelder.com/2025/04/15/5274/

My Country Feels Like Death My Country Feels Like Death I remember when a friend’s brother died. I’ll call him Harry. He was young. My friend was young. I was young-ish. My brain didn’t know what to do with …

My Country Feels Like Death I remember when a friend's brother died. I'll call him Harry. He was young. My friend was young. I was young-ish. My brain didn't know what to do with the information. Harry was young enough--in his twenties--to have decades ahead of him. My brain questioned: but he's not had a life yet--how can he be gone?...

julielelder.com My Country Feels Like Death I remember when a friend’s brother died. I’ll call him Harry. He was young. My friend was young. I was young-ish. My brain didn’t know what to do with …

Me. There. (Substack)

Still learning (dammit) I hate when I hate myself.

This is a bit too in the mark—and describes what abuse looks like in a relationship. I’m seeing these same qualities displayed online now, and they’ve ramped up since the election.
Read with care.

14 Ways to Spot an Emotionally Abusive Relationship Emotionally abusive relationships can be hard to spot. Many abused spouses never see themselves that way. Here are 14 behaviors which indicate that you are probably in an emotionally abusive relationship.

I don’t get that much engagement here, but from the attacks I’ve seen on the pages of others who try to be a safe place for others, there’s a battle since the election to silence the voices of those who dare to stand up for women, LGBTQ+ community members, immigrants, or anyone else who has been made to feel Less-Than, I’m here.

Well , me and the dog.

(This is Finn. Also called Pampy because his fluffy butt looks like he’s wearing Pampers.)

Meet My Tiny Warrior I'm only a tiny warrior. Not small in body, but small in voice, in readers, in life. But this tiny warrior wants to speak up about the rights of all of us. Not just the ones that look the same. Not just the ones who worship the same. Not just the ones who believe in 1 p***s + 1 va**na = Marriage....

Meet My Tiny Warrior Meet My Tiny Warrior I’m only a tiny warrior. Not small in body, but small in voice, in readers, in life. But this tiny warrior wants to speak up about the rights of all of us. Not just the o…

“Talks too much in geometry” girl strikes again!
(Nobody else has ever rewarded me for talking a lot!)
Also, what do I earn with the points? An ice cream cone at the end of the week? A bag full of Reese’s and Butterfingers? (Oh wait—I already ate that…)
This is also a list of emotionally safe people when you want to Facebook without being assaulted. ❤️

THIS is very true and used to baffle me:

The way people view you.

Sometimes I think about the different characters I play in everybody’s story.

I’m a terrible person in some people's narratives and a Godsend in others.

And none of it has anything to do with the person I truly am.

The lens that others view you through is coloured by their upbringing, beliefs, and individual experiences.

Some people see your bright personality as endearing and others see it as annoying.

Some people think you’re weak and emotional and others feel safe to be themselves around you.

Some people think you’re rude and selfish and others respect the way you stand up for yourself.

Some people admire the way you take pride in the way you look and others think you’re conceited.

And none of it has to do with who you truly are as a person.

What you have to understand is that you have no authority over how people view you so never try to control the way others see you because the only thing that truly matters when the dust settles down at the end of the day is what you genuinely see in yourself.
~ Cody Bret

~ Art by Paula Jones

“the small everyday choices that bring me back to myself”….

Healing, for me, isn’t always about fixing what’s broken.

To me, it’s about peeling back the layers of who I thought I had to be—the expectations others placed on me, the beliefs I adopted to fit in, and all the ideas I took on that weren’t truly mine. I think about how many times I’ve shaped myself to please others or meet standards that were never really meant for me. From being told what “success” should look like to feeling pressured to be someone I’m not, I’ve realized that real healing is letting go of what doesn’t belong to me and honoring who I truly am.

Sometimes, that means saying “no” when I used to say “yes” out of guilt or habit. It’s choosing to step away from relationships that drain me, or setting boundaries with people who make me question my worth. There’s a profound relief in no longer needing to prove myself to anyone and finally feeling free to just be me.

Healing isn’t always some big transformation; it’s the small, everyday choices that slowly bring me back to myself. It’s not about becoming perfect, but about embracing the parts of me I was once afraid to show, and in doing so, feeling like I’m finally coming home to who I really am.

~ LJ Blossoms, Writer’s Blossoms

~ Art by Hayk Shalunts

Micro-dosing mushrooms might help too…but hope! Let’s stick with hope!

Yup.

🙌🙌🙌