Is That Because You Are Consumed By The Light..? I Love The Dark, But The Light Is So Enlivening.

Is that because you are consumed by the light..? I love the dark, but the light is so enlivening. 🌅🤍💓💖✨🌠

Dulce María Loynaz, tr. by James O’Connor, from Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems

[Text ID: “I am not I. I am barely my own shadow.”]

As infectious as the character of Shalnark is, this telling is miotic, and will absorb your fears and unease into the warm, yet cold, vivacity that is Shalnark Ryuusei. ✨🩵💕👹

A bit of a WIP for Shalnark:

~~~

Entering the main room, I noticed the balcony door was open. Interesting, I don't remember opening it. But I'm on the tenth floor. There's no other alternative, right? I walked over to close the door. As it snapped shut, I felt a presence standing directly behind me. I slowly turned around and prepared to scream, but his hands were swift, covering my mouth with one hand while holding me still with the other. "Hey now, let's not do that; we might have the neighbors think something bad is happening here." He let out a warm laugh as if he hadn't just broken into the room of a total stranger. I tried to calm down and take a good look at my captor. It was the man from earlier. He seemed taller and more muscular, standing directly before me. How is he here? WHY is he here? I felt myself getting faint, and my legs gave out. He grabbed me smoothly in his arms, holding me up.

"Whoa there, here, let's sit you on the bed, okay?" He carefully helped me sit down and then ran off to the bathroom. I momentarily heard the faucet; before I knew it, he was kneeling before me. "Here, drink some water; it'll help."

"Who are you? How did you get here?" I said weakly.

"Let's worry about the details later. I want to make sure you're okay first." He held the glass up to my mouth. I took it from him and sipped it, but he pushed up the bottom of the glass. "Finish it all. You'll need that for later."

"Huh? Why?"

"Again, we'll worry about all that in a bit." His smile was infectious. I felt nervous but also safe, like I knew deep down he wasn't going to hurt me but that he could if he wanted to.

I chugged the glass of water, and he went off to fill it back up. This time, he sat down on the bed facing me.

"So, I'm Shalnark, by the way. You don't have to tell me your name if you don't want to. I'm sure you're at least a little freaked out right now." He rubbed the back of his head and smiled.

"Hi," was all I could muster at the moment. I drank some more of the water. "It’s —. Are you going to tell me how you got in here?"

"Haha, well, I thought about coming through the front door, but it was easier to climb through the balcony."

my little meow-meow

nat meier

Build a life that makes you smile, in the simplest moments, even if that kind of life doesn't look splashy on Instagram. Make choices that make you feel lighter, even if those choices don't reflect what society has told you that you "should" do. Befriend people you respect, who inspire you, even if it means starting over. Interpret your life through the lens of positivity and optimism, even in a world that feels harsh. Orient yourself in the direction of joy, every single day. Focus on what's working in your life. Give more space to "it's all working out for me" to be true for you. Hope is not dangerous. It's essential. Be your own support system. Make your mind into a beautiful garden, where you can choose the most beautiful thought at any given time. No one deserves a life they love more than you. But you do need to create it, build it, curate it. You do need to trust yourself. You do need to let go of how you think it should be, and find out who you are, what your opinion is, what matters most to you. Know yourself. Choose yourself.

Love yourself. Let your life bloom.

Nen (Mindfulness), by Rie Takeda.