If Their Presence Does Not Heal You Or Support You, Then Their Absence Will Neither Hurt You, Nor Drag

If their presence does not heal you or support you, then their absence will neither hurt you, nor drag you down.

@kafkaesquebibliomaniac

"The true mind can weather all the lies and allusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light."

_The Lion Turtle, Avatar: The Last Airbender_

"Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished." And so begins the greatest stories of my teenage years. If grown-ups have the epic trilogy of Lord of The Rings, the kids before them had 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Three seasons, 20/22 episodes each, equally exciting, great characters and by great I mean lost, complex, twisted and relatable. The plot is well written, the episodes are well-wrought to each other that they unfold in a way which mesmerized me as a kid and still do (as an adult). It has a goofy humour and salty sarcasm which entertains and appeals to children and adults equally. The animation is brilliant and likeable, the music is AWESOME... And of course there are dark episode, dark characters, and some themes with dark undertones which are undertaken and portrayed in the best of ways. The show is one of the most influential stories I watched in my teenage years. So I decided to rewatch and revisit certain shows and movies I watched as a child and as an adolescent (let's call it a 2022 resolution). And having started with Avatar:The Last Airbender is thy best decision of January. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Uncle Iroh, Azula... These are characters that have had a lasting impression on me, their intertwining journeys of self-exploration, of self-worth and of enlightenment, plus the their descent to madness, to doubt, to hatred, to prejudice... Together they voice important messages, subjects and themes for their audience to learn, unlearn and relearn. Have you seen the show? If not, consider it. Trust me.

"I like looking at her lips and if she's not around, I love to imagine them. Her lips have an aura I cannot describe, when she speaks, they move like a caring embrace, like gentle transparent fingertips that wake a soul from within, and kissing, O kissing her always feels like coming home. When she's silent or quiet or when silence obliges itself upon her, her lips still possess a nonverbal beauty that always invite my lips to bury ourselves into each other. And when we kiss, I tell you truly, the world halts and we spin and spin in love, and not even the ancient voices of doom could stop us."

@kafkaesquebibliomaniac

(Artwork The Kiss by Gustav Klimt.)

"I want to be that faintest, almost unnoticeable ray of sunshine that falls on that faintest, almost faded, petal of the faintest flower in the backyard garden. Little triumphs in life, that's all I'm asking for."

@kafkaesquebibliomaniac

"Nervous states of the worst sort control me without pause. Everything that is not literature bores me and I hate it. I lack all aptitude for family life except, at best, as an observer. I have no family feeling and visitors make me almost feel as though I were maliciously being attacked."

_Franz Kafka, Diaries, 1910-1923_

(Artwork by D.B Horowitz.)

(From A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)

(Artwork by Anne Magill.)