I learned to open up anyways and engage every cell – I truly love this post. It’s fierce and vulnerable all at once.

I learned that we’re all the little man behind the showy curtain, even though we think we’re the only one with a projector.

I learned that science supports the benefits of connecting with yourself; physics students who wrote an unrelated-to-physics essay about their personal values got better grades. For real.

I learned how to survive extreme suckitude by not denying it and not losing yourself in it, either.

I found a 1995 Newsweek article on why the internet isn’t that great or important. I laughed. A lot.

I fell the fuck in love with Catherynne Valente’s mythpunk cowboy poem, which even has an audio recording of SJ Tucker reading it in the best way.

I learned that maybe it’s better to be a “loser” than constantly war with the me-or-them winner paradigm.

I read about the unexpected, relentless medicine of love and was deeply touched.

After someone complained that Dragon Age 2 was neglecting their main demographic by having non-straight romance options in the game, I cheered my head off when I found out that Bioware responded by affirming their support to their entire audience, not just the traditionally-pandered-to straight males. Huz-fucking-zah, Bioware! I love you. Thank you.

And your Friday photo was taken at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado a while back: