Leilah Smith

“If we are taken over by craving, no matter who or what is before us, all we can see is how it might satisfy our needs. This kind of thirst contracts our body and mind into a profound trance. We move through the world with a kind of tunnel vision that prevents us from enjoying what is in front of us. The color of an autumn leaves or a passage of poetry merely amplifies the feeling that there is a gaping hole in our life. The smile of a child only reminds us that we are painfully childless. We turn away from simple pleasures because our craving compels us to seek more intense stimulation or numbing relief.”
― Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha

“The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness. With objective consciousness it is possible to see and feel the unity of everything. Attempts to connect these phenomena into some sort of system in a scientific or philosophical way lead to nothing because man cannot reconstruct the idea of the whole starting from separate facts. —George Gurdjieff, The Fourth Way”
― Nicole LePera, How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self

“By adulthood women are already far more skilled at emotional labor, and that disparity in experience makes it seem logical for men to hand over the reins. Whether consciously or not, men tend to perform emotional labor as a means to an end, whereas women perform emotional labor as a way of being. That’s how we get from a happy and equitable relationship at the onset to the simmering resentment that appears years later.”
― Gemma Hartley, Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward

“The times when men have to think about our desires and needs and emotional responses are culturally viewed as exceptional acts. It’s above and beyond, and it’s not meant to last forever. There’s an expiration date on the demand for men’s emotional labor in a relationship. Women, on the other hand, must offer it in perpetuity.”
― Gemma Hartley, Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward