Discerning Yourself Quotes

“Previously, as I went through life, I was in full belief of the concept of "blending" (I was fully convinced that I as a person am completely capable of blending myself in the accordance of friendship, in order to give respect to the differences between people and in order for others to feel that I respect them). However, I have come to learn at this time in my life, that such an attitude is all good for a while, but then there does come a point where you must see and identify yourself; also see and identify others! You have to be able to identify yourself as someone who is made happy by this and as someone who doesn't like that; then when you meet people, discern if those same things are the things that make them happy and if those same things are the things that they don't like, because at a point in time it becomes beneficial to you, to not waste time on blending in behalf of virtue but rather it becomes beneficial to you, to see yourself and go into the direction that makes you happy, taking people with you that are already going in that same direction and who also do not like the things that you do not like. At the end of the day, there are those paths in life, and you have to take one of them, you can't walk down all of them.”
― C. JoyBell C.

“My gaze falls on the little tree spirit from Princess Mononoke sitting on one of the bookshelves. It’s an easter egg in our game, which Kamal, being his usual meticulous self, has added here as well. I cautiously pick up the tiny figurine, weighing it in my trembling hands. Mononoke is an umbrella term for monsters, spirits, and demons— creatures you’re supposed to be afraid of, but San, the film’s main character, is the exact opposite. My free hand strays to my tattoo, which today is covered by wide-legged trousers for a change. See with eyes unclouded by hate.
The words, like the film itself, are a reminder not to be blinded by hate, to look behind the veneer, not to give in to the allure of black-and-white thinking. It’s something I’ve experienced firsthand, and despite my tattoo’s reminder, I’ve slipped into that exact kind of thinking myself over time. It’s why I can’t accept compliments from Luca, and it’s why I always immediately assume the worst.
Novel Haven is meant to carry lessons like this out into the world, showing people a better path than the one I’m on. Showing that looking behind the veneer is worth it.”
― Anabelle Stehl, Levels of Love