themarginalian.org

The Kiln and the Quantum of Relationships

Under the extreme pressures of expectation and the high heat of need, something reacts with something, impurities are exposed and bubbles burst, each person activating dormant potencies in the other, so that a distinct third entity comes alive — the dynamic reality of the relationship — incinerating the notion of the individual self as a set of inherent properties, hinting at the relational nature of reality itself.

themarginalian.org

George Saunders on the Antidote to Regret

At the end of my life, I know I won't be wishing I'd held more back, been less effusive, more often stood on ceremony, forgiven less, spent more days oblivious to the secret wishes and fears of the people around me.

themarginalian.org

Between the User and the Used: Zadie Smith on Instrumentalism

It is one of the most discomposing experiences in life, having felt a profound connection with someone only to discover it had been trivial to them — a fleeting fantasy, a frivolous experiment, a use.

3quarksdaily.com

Teenage Frida Kahlo’s Moving Letters

as an artist, as a lover, as a person who lived with extraordinary vulnerability, extraordinary courage, and the precocious awareness that the conversation between the two is the measure of a life.

themarginalian.org

Michael Rosen’s Sad Book: A Beautiful Anatomy of Loss, Illustrated by Quentin Blake

What emerges is a breathtaking bow before the central paradox of the human experience — the awareness that the heart's enormous capacity for love is matched with an equal capacity for pain, and yet we love anyway and somehow find fragments of that love even amid the ruins of loss.

jefftweedy

The Long Cut (solo acoustic)

Singing that felt a little bit like communicating with a much younger version of me who was concerned with being able to get better, being legitimate, and wanting to not feel shame about making mistakes. I feel like that song was written to me today, and I felt like I could answer back to that person, "Yeah, you were right to want this and want to try harder."

readtheprofile.com

The Profile: The longevity guru who fell from grace & the founder battling the company board

When a living subject invites a biography into being, how much truth are they really prepared to see once it's no longer theirs to control?

longreads.com

‘Their Power Feels Like Mine’: A Dog Sled Racer Says Goodbye to Her Pack

I want to call their names, so they know I'm here. I want to guard them in secret forever.

currincy

Whatever Else You’re Doing Today, Listen to Annahstasia’s New Live Album

Her voice welds might with vulnerability, finding profound strength by admitting that there are things she is still seeking.

longreads.com

The Devil’s Crown

But I think this may be parenthood—to give our best love to the ones we hurt most.