Relationships

A quote on empathy by poet <n>Rainer Maria Rilke</n>.

<n>Masayuki Takahashi</n>'s <n>Fujino Love Letter</n> sculpture, commissioned by Fujino Town in 1989.

1. Every second spent comparing yourself to someone else is a second lost improving yourself

2. Smart people listen more than they talk

3. Acknowledge the world is broken, then do what you can to fix it

4. To get to new highs, you often have to drop to new lows

5. Relationships create more wealth than any amount of money

6. Say something nice to someone if it pops into your head

7. Share your experience, someone might benefit from it

8. Controversy is a byproduct of making something worthwhile

9. Cultivate friendships instead of a following

10. Write to understand

11. Never think you’re the smartest person in the room

12. Call your friends instead of texting them

13. Read more books

14. In moments where you can’t force creativity, seek serendipity

15. Stop consuming productivity content and start producing

16. Arguing online is pointless, seeking understanding isn’t

17. Sacrificing short term health does not yield long term gains

18. It’s easy to lose perspective, try and keep track of it

19. A lot of “success” is just doing things thoughtfully and consistently for a really long time

20. You are allowed to create your own definition of success

21. People don’t spend as much time thinking about you as you think they do

22. Seek simplicity

23. Demonstrate empathy, you never know what people around you are going through

24. Ask more questions

25. Sleep more and drink water, they’re cheap investments with insane returns

26. You can’t do ordinary things and expect extraordinary results

<n>Sleeping Couple</n> (1909) by <n>Egon Schiele</n>.

Quote by <n>Paramatma Siri Sadhana</n>. Design by <n>Kajsa Quinterno</n>.

Real love doesn't cage anyone. You don't own people. Real love is freedom. It's supposed to set you free. If you feel trapped, it's not love. It's something else... Entitlement. Just because you're in a relationship doesn't mean you can control someone's life or make them change into someone who they obviously do not want to be.

\- Unknown

“Solid self-esteem in adulthood is hard earned. It comes from tapping into our own creativity and personal pleasures, from developing our competence and our connections, from participating in friendship, intimacy, and community. It develops from living in accord with our deeply held values and priorities, from learning to recognize and share both competence and vulnerability, and from navigating relationships with integrity, balance, and generosity of spirit. Living well is the work of a lifetime that demands our full attention.” — Harriet Lerner in Fear and Other Uninvited Guests: Tackling the Anxiety, Fear, and Shame That Keeps Us from Optimal Living and Loving, p. 70.

<n>Leslie Cheung</n> and <n>Rowena Cortes</n> in <n>Teenage Dreamers</n> (1982), directed by <n>Clifford Choi</n>.

From the photobook "Oma Toos," a portrait of the artist's grandmother by <n>Jaap Scheeren</n>.