letters home :: by sylvia plath

• "i am afraid of getting older. i am afraid of getting married. spare me from cooking three meals a day. spare me from the relentless cage of routine and rote."

the lonely cities :: olivia laing

• "so much of the pain of loneliness is to do with concealment, with feeling compelled to hide vulnerability, to tuck ugliness away, to cover up scars as if they are literally repulsive. but why hide? what's so shameful about wanting, about desire, about having failed to achieve satisfaction, about experiencing unhappiness?"

tiny beautiful things :: by cheryl strayed

• "there is no cure except to live the hell out of our lives, to take it apart, to put it back together, to dig it all up, and then fill the hole. to help ourselves and one another to the best of our abilities. to believe everything entirely, while also calling bullshit for what it is."