Basic Fucking Kindness

unscheduled message because of reasons, this channel will no longer be active. a replacement might or might not sprout later down the line, if and when admin finds a digital space that feels more like a tool than a liability and a chore (platform issue, not user issue), but all about that remains to be seen. also, given that the chat has three different antispambot filters at the same time, as well as some custom rules, and it still gets an infuriating amount of spam, the chatroom has been made read only and will likely stay that way indefinitely. take care, and be well.

"{1} "the ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. all those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quntity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. his procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: 50 pounds of pots rated an "A", 40 pounds a "B", and so on. those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A". well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity it seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group hadsat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay" {2} perfection is intimidating. i think most artists blocks come from the fear of creating something imperfect. {3} putting it even more simply: just make shit. eventually it'll be good shit. maybe most of it will just be shit! but you cant make good shit if you're not making a lot of shit. GET EXCITED AND MAKE THINGS. {4} kind of important. i've spent way too much of my life thinking about the perfect things i could make without actually making the damned things."

art, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, activism [transcription in separate message]

society, humor, invisible problems "satire is meant to ridicule power. if you are laughing at people who are hurting, its not satire, its bullying" {terry pratchett}

mental health "btw that rule about not trusting how you feel after 4pm in the winter or 9pm in the summer (really we should just say after the sun goes down but whatever) is only about negative feelings. if you are chilling with your best friend drinking hot chocolate and have never felt more loved and safe, that is 100% true and you can and should trust."

language, labels, socialization, abuse "hey i've seen this making rounds a bit but the phrase "trauma bonding" isnt about people bonding over their traumas. its a specific psychology term where an abuser purposefully hurts you and then strategically comforts you after hurting you as a way to make you bond with them"

society, parenting, invisible problems "so many people seem completely unaware of what a genuine apology is. and thats because children are forced to say sorry on command. before they ever had a chance to process what they did, why they did it, what effect it had on others, or what they should have done instead, they're expected to say that they're sorry. and they're expected to "say it like you mean it" with no indication of what that even means and with no time to figure out how to phrase it correctly. sometimes, even when the child's actions are justified by any logical reasoning, they're expected to apologize because an authority figure demands it. the goal of saying sorry ends up being solely to avoid punishment. and they phrase the apology in whatever way the authority figure will accept. the result is an entire society filled with people who give completely useless apologies that appear like they're only trying to avoid punishment."

disability, invisible problems, mental health, chronic illness "i dont know who needs to hear this but i sure did: you can and absolutely should modify the chore/self care task if it makes life easier. sit on the floor while doing laundry. clean dishes while in a chair. sit in the shower. save your spoons. accommodate your fatigue rather than fighting it."

self compassion, healing, growth "if being hard on yourself worked it would have worked by now"

activism, feminism "your sister is loading the dishwashes while you tweet about communism from your bedroom. mutual aid begins at home, losers sure he's well versed in leftist theory but does he do the dishes this is such a succinct critique of male leftists who think of it as theory only & wont even get off their ass to clear the table"

society, socialization "i think people have forgotten that education is supposed to be a tool to help you on your way to greatness, not the definition of how great you are"

self compassion "hate to break this to you but if you call yourself self aware but you are only aware of your faults and never acknowledge your strengths you are not self aware. you have repackaged your self hatred.