Nicole McCutcheon
@nicole02
Nicole McCutcheon
“Around us, life bursts with miracles--a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere. Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain
... See moreTincture
1975 –2025
Imagine, when a human dies,
the soul misses the body, actually grieves
the loss of its hands and all
they could hold. Misses the throat closing shy
reading out loud on the first day of school.
Imagine the soul misses the stubbed toe,
the loose tooth, the funny bone. The soul still asks, Why
does the funny bone do that? It’s
“Desire is a blueprint for expansion, a tug toward something that doesn’t yet exist but might. If we never desired, we would never build, never leave, never create. Imagine the opposite: a world where no one wanted more. No bridges, no love songs, no rebellions, no symphonies. Just flatness.”
Storage
When I moved from one house to another
there were many things I had no room
for. What does one do? I rented a storage
space. And filled it. Years passed.
Occasionally I went there and looked in,
but nothing happened, not a single
twinge of the heart.
As I grew older the things I cared
about grew fewer, but were more
important. So one day
Move to Oregon in July
Joy Sullivan, Instructions for Traveling West
And you can drive to the coast and slurp oysters from the shell in cafes with tiny brass forks and fancy chilled plates. Or you can pass a lavender farm and feel the scent creep through your skin and into your dreams. Soon, you'll be ordering brandy manhattans at the bar and trying
... See moreThere You Are
There you are
this cold day
boiling the water on the stove
pouring the herbs into the pot
hawthorn, rose;
buying the tulips
& looking at them, holding
your heart in your hands at the table
saying please, please to nobody else
here in the kitchen with you.
How hard, how heavy this all is.
How beautiful, these things you
... See more“Maybe the first step on the way to the awakening is the simple act of being glad you’re alive. What a magic that is. Just to stop for a minute. That in itself is a politically subversive act because we’re taught so much dissatisfaction.”
Incomprehensible
open.spotify.com"I'm afraid of getting older, " that's what I've learned to say
Society has given me the words to think that way
The message spirals, "Don't get saggy, don't get grey"
But the soft and lovely silvers are now fallin' on my shoulder
My mother and my grandma, my great-grandmother too
Wrinkle like the river, sweeten like the dew
And as silver as the rainbow scales that shimmer purple blue
How can beauty that is livin' be anything but true?
So let gravity be my sculptor, let the wind do my hair
Let me dance in front of people without a care
Let me be naked alone with nobody there
With mismatched socks and shoes and stuff stuffed in my underwear
Incomprehensible, let me be
Incomprehensible, let me be
They Convinced you to Love Yourself So you’d Forget to Respect Yourself
open.substack.com
“Self-respect is fundamentally different to self-love in that it is not contingent upon self-affirmation, indulgence, or external validation. Self-love encourages a self-acceptance without challenge or accountability, while self-respect demands integrity, discipline, and—most importantly—a steadfast alignment with one's values. If your worldview is one of higher purpose and one that acknowledges the reality that struggle is a condition of life, ‘feeling good’ is peripheral. What becomes central is dignity, self-confidence, resilience, and an ability to rely on yourself. Unlike self-love, which has few, if any, conditions and can drift into narcissism or self-indulgence, self-respect demands a lot from us. It requires that we honour our commitments and uphold our moral principles practically. It requires that we repeatedly do what we say we will do.
In every situation, you are simultaneously both the actor and observer of your life. In every interaction with another person you are simultaneously interacting with that person and watching yourself interact with that person. This is meaningful. Self-respect is a psychological need that can only be fulfilled independently of others—it is established by you, within you, in front of you. You develop your self-respect when you say you’ll wash the dishes, start to wash the dishes, and observe yourself finish washing the dishes. You develop your self-respect when you say you’ll do the assignment, write the assignment, and observe yourself submit the assignment. You develop your self-respect when you say you’ll spend more time with the kids, set out the time to play with the kids, and observe yourself play with the kids. We don’t often think of ourselves as an audience or a spectator to our choices, but we are. Every decision we make is witnessed by the quiet observer within us—the part of ourselves that knows when we have honored our word or betrayed it. This internal witness does not judge with fleeting emotions or external standards; it registers, with quiet certainty, whether we are living in alignment with our values or falling short of them. Over time, these observations accumulate, shaping how we see ourselves. When we consistently follow through on our commitments, no matter how small, we reinforce a sense of integrity. Conversely, when we repeatedly neglect our own promises, we erode our self-respect, fostering guilt, disappointment, and a low self-esteem.”