Hello Cruel World

“You don't have to look at yourself with their eyes. Ever.”

I love this book. Wise, funny Kate Bornstein guides readers through those hells and taboos that “normal” and “polite” people pretend don't exist.

Bornstein wants readers to stop proving themselves real whatevers (fill in your binary nouns): “Free your imagination from the institutions that enthrall you.” In other words, if you can free yourself from either/or thinking, you can expunge others' tyrannies from your brain, and lessen your suffering.

it's written more for teens and people in active mental health crisis, but i love the framing and i love the idea of having a list of things, large or small, to try in order to shift a mood a little bit toward the better. not all of them resonated with me. that is okay. it has inspired me to think about what my 101 things should be.