Olivia

“Men tell stories. Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us when it was over, no medals or mentions in history books. We did what we had to during the war, and when it was over, we picked up the pieces and started our lives over.”
― Kristin Hannah, The Nightingale

“Smoothly and ethically are two very different things. And sometimes, I imagine, they're completely at odds.”
― Chloe Benjaminjam

“feeling angry signals a problem, venting anger does not solve it. Venting anger may serve to maintain, and even rigidify, the old rules and patterns in a relationship, thus ensuring that change does not occur. When emotional intensity is high, many of us engage in nonproductive efforts to change the other person, and in so doing, fail to exercise our power to clarify and change our own selves. The old anger-in/anger-out theory, which states that letting it all hang out offers protection from the psychological hazards of keeping it all pent up, is simply not true. Feelings of depression, low self-esteem, self-betrayal, and even self-hatred are inevitable when we fight but continue to submit to unfair circumstances, when we complain but live in a way that betrays our hopes, values and potentials, or when we find ourselves fulfilling society’s stereotype of the bitchy, nagging, bitter, or destructive woman. Those of us who are locked into ineffective expressions of anger suffer as deeply as those of us who dare not get angry at all.”
― Harriet Lerner, The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships

“Couldn't what begins as an exercise in self-knowledge actually reveal out darkest impulses? Once we experience our dreams --not via recollection, but right there in the moment-- how long is it before we start to believe that this is who we really are, what we really want, how we really feel? You're giving people access to their dreams as they're happening, which must make the dreams feel infinitely more real--more believable. Couldn't they lost track of what's real and what's not? Doesn't the line begin to blue? When does one's dream consciousness become their consciousness, I mean? Maybe the dreams themselves aren't dangerous. Maybe what's dangerous is putting people in contact with them.”
― Chloe Benjaminjam