Lauren Lexa Brown

I sometimes literally burst into tears when I read certain essays or papers now just because it feels so special to have been able to gain access to this part of myself, a part that craves knowledge for its own sake and finds a sometimes-euphoric pleasure in the act of seeking it

In Susan Sontag’s seminal essay “Against Interpretation,” she argues for prioritizing the sensuous experience of art over the attempt to determine what it represents. Rather than trying to plumb it for a message or a meaning, Sontag wants us to try and reckon with art’s ability to evoke overwhelming, frightening, unintelligible feeling — to develop... See more

I’ve been reflecting on my relationship with sharing a lot over this summer. It’s an impulse that has always come naturally to me, something that I’ve been led to believe is a “skill” for most of my twenties.

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People, on the other hand, challenge us. They infuse our life with stakes. You can hurt a friend or partner or lose them forever if you refuse vulnerability or reject growth — the same cannot be said of a therapist, for instance, which makes them far safer companions.

If you’ve been encouraged to define a healthy life as a frictionless one, I think it may be inevitable that a life devoid of contact starts to feel like healing.