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“And I decide, now, in this moment, that I want it; I want this body. I want to inhabit her, enjoy her, care for her, and defend her in this world. And I no longer want to be yet another voice telling her she’s disgusting or embarrassing or inadequate or too much. I want to be one of those arresting voices of love and compassion, to offer her a space where she can go to restore, to feel safe, to grow.”
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and the Glory of Growing Up
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and the Glory of Growing Up
“And maybe I will live a happier, wilder, more colourful and unpredictable life if I can finally abandon the debilitating and brutal pursuit of perfection. If I can learn to love butterflies from afar, and watch them fly away.”
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and the Glory of Growing Up
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and the Glory of Growing Up
“One of the unlikely gifts of having an eating disorder is that nobody will ever be as mean as your disorder was. There is a profound sense of safety in being your own biggest bully, your own cruellest aggressor, which is why eating disorders are so addictive and so hard to let go of. There is something so comfortable and reassuring in getting to the edges of your darkest thought, in following it all the way to its fullest expression and burying yourself beneath it, where nobody can hurl it in your unsuspecting face.”
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and The Glory of Growing Up
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and The Glory of Growing Up
“Creativity in motion, from my vantage point watching these two joyful, experimental, mesmerising actors, looked messy, bold and playful. It didn’t seem that there was any space for perfection in the face of this kind of feral, rampant creativity.”
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and the Glory of Growing Up
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and the Glory of Growing Up
“I don’t think it’s fair to say that people who died of anorexia didn’t fight their illness. I think they fought it for as long as they possibly could. There is something heroic about people who manage to get up every day and somehow stay alive with their most vicious, hateful bully living within them. I don’t think it’s fair to judge them or term their entire journey a defeat. But I don’t think they took the right path. I think they took the path of numbness, certainty and safety, and I think it was the safe choice that cost them their life. I think the safe path always leads to a dead end.”
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and The Glory of Growing Up
― The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and The Glory of Growing Up
Our Shared Shelf
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OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. Dear Readers, As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading ...more
Tavas-Greenleaf’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Tavas-Greenleaf’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
762 books
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11 friends
913 books
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15 friends
99 books
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6 friends
35 books
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4 friends
6 books
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1 friend
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