Aleynah
@aleynah
Aleynah
love isn't a performance to be optimized or a test to be passed — it's a private language spoken between two people who choose, again and again, to keep showing up for each other, phones down, cameras off, no audience required.
Maalvika • tiktok's boyfriend tests & the spectacle of modern love
notes on performing intimacy in the digital age (ex: soft/hard launches, tiktok challenges, content maintenance)
Our breakup was so protracted, in part, because our story was so, so good, and I wanted so badly for the story of our relationship to be the story of my life — doing the dishes in the nighttime, his hands over my eyes when we watched horror movies, the love songs I wrote him on our anniversary. A math prodigy and a writer. Our children would have... See more
Rayne Fisher-Quann • against narrative
I call my mother to ask if the emotions I feel are hereditary. My father is on the line, too, but I don’t dare ask the same question. My mother once told me he was hard on me because he saw too much of himself in me. I think of all the times my father explained my outbursts to my mother, the look of arrogance on his face as I reluctantly admitted... See more
Wenyi Xue • we fear no god but each other
Eliminate the bad. In other words, don’t suck. The most basic thing you need to do at any job is simply be competent. This isn’t very hard to achieve, because it’s based on not under-achieving. To get where you’re going, you need to start the car in park, not in reverse. Your boss mostly wants to know that when they tell you to do something, you do... See more
Catherine Shannon • How to Make the Most of Your 20s
Importance of reliability at work
Thoughts are fleeting; they change with the times. Sometimes they’re random or intrusive. Often they’re unproductive and based more on fear than love. We seek psychic security by thoroughly evaluating “all the choices,” but we feel less and less secure as a result. Follow your thoughts all day and you’ll be run ragged, darting left, right, center,... See more
Catherine Shannon • On cultivating intuition
Thoughts vs Intuition, and why following your intuition is hard, beautiful, and the most honest thing you can follow
the film’s body horror is an effective metaphor for the torture traps of contemporary feminism and beauty culture, where superficial body positive marketing doesn’t square with an ever-expanding suite of digital and surgical tools for beauty optimization and modification.
Camille Sojit Pejcha • the ugly desire for perfection
A review on ‘The Substance’, my favourite film of the year; on how the fear of inadequacy propels the beauty industry and drains the life out of women.
You will not find your true self through a series rational choices and consumptive experiences. Some things are not chosen, they simply are.
Catherine Shannon • On cultivating intuition
Trust your intuition — make decisions not just from your head, but your heart and your gut as well