Fae > Recent Status Updates

“What do you need to do to convince yourself that someone might see you as a lover instead of a friend? How might you shut down your impulse to shut down?”

“Go! Go! Go! Do you need it one more time, darling? GO. (…) I know too many people who didn’t do those things. They ended up kingly, shrink-wrapped versions of the people they intended to be.”

“…you’re consumed by the grandiose ideas you have about your own importance. You’re up to high and down too low. Neither is the place where we get any work done.”

“…get your ass down to the floor (…) nobody is going to give you a thing. You have to give it to yourself. You have to tell us what you have to say.”

Therapy! Malala finds out for the first time that she has PTSD, especially in moments where she feels a lack of control or words/objects related to physical harm and death. I highlighted so many of her therapist’s quotes. It was so interesting to learn about, how it’s perpetuated by stress, and the body can be in a constant state of alarm from the past that keeps you from being able to engage in what’s ahead.

IMPOSTER SYNDROME! I loved when she talked about how much she struggled in college. It was so vulnerable and real. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to be a global advocate for women’s education, with the world’s eyes waiting for you to fail, and feel like your education is too difficult for you. But being Malala doesn’t make hard concepts easy! Everyone struggles in college!

Malala talks about how the things that happen to us have an unseen effect on others. On the day she was shot, she was surrounded by students who were made to fear going to school after that. The girl, her best friend, sitting next to her had nightmares for years after, thinking she’d wake up with bullets in her chest. Though Malala has no memories of that day, everyone else around her will never forget it.

LOVING! One concept I am still ruminating is the critiques of her fashion when she wore skinny jeans on campus. Many of the people from her home in Pakistan questioned her loyalty to her homeland and religion although she just wanted to “blend in” at Oxford, and westerns claimed her head scarf oppressed her though it reminded her of home. Blending cultures is dicey topic when you’re a public figure.