Tenderqueerthings #54, Mar Pascual. 2016.

June 1, 2018 | Mesa Lakes Painting

Somewhere off highway 550.

Love to draw while traveling 😍

Exploring the Colorado Rockies

Westcliffe, Colorado is located about an hour and a half southwest of Colorado Springs in the Wet Mountain Valley. Surrounded on each side by the Sangre de Cristo mountain range to the west and the Wet Mountains to the east, this small community has a beautiful backdrop and plenty of sights to see.

Keep reading

every day i see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.

-mary oliver

Perimeter Trail

[05|20|16]

From what I recall, we only did part of the perimeter trail in Ouray this day. I remember finding it way more tiring than I was expecting! This is a classic trail. It has so many dimensions--waterfall, gorges, baby baths, aspen groves, meadows that open up to views of Mt. Abrams, Hayden Mountain... I did do the complete trail the year before in July 2015. I think there was a bit of renovation completed on the trail between those times. I also remember specifically that I did not do any online research prior to hitting the trail, and I went and asked the Visitor’s Center where the trailhead was. Oh, only right across the street! But I do wish I had read this blog post first, from Rocky Mountain Hiking Trails. Below are a few half-assed shots of the part of the trail that we did. I probably didn’t have enough strength to lift my arm. Oh, and it looks like there were some pretty trees in bloom in town, too. 

Interested in updates made to the trail? This’ll help you out. 

Rico in the Fall

Rico, Colorado

The quaint old mining town of Rico in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.

San Juan Mountains, Colorado

I don’t think self-neutrality should always be treated as a stepping stone on the way to a commodified form of self-love. Sometimes, perhaps, self-neutrality is enough on its own, and might even be more helpful.

Example:

“I feel worthless” doesn’t need to become “I have value.” Instead, it would honestly be healthier to realize that “value” is a vague concept with little to no bearing on your right to exist.

“I’m useless,” doesn’t need to become “I have potential.” Who honestly gives a fuck if you have potential, except for people who want to use that potential for their own gain? We don’t exist to be a vessel for potential. We exist merely because we were born to exist.

“My life has no purpose,” doesn’t mean you need to find an all-consuming passion to give your life meaning. Life doesn’t really need to have a grand meaning, that’s just something human beings decided. You can still live a fulfilling life just by focusing on what you like now.

“I’m nobody.” Why do you need to “be someone” in the first place?? Everyone is always trying to be somebody, what’s so bad with just enjoying yourself and your friends and good food and laughs, without any expectation of being a person that others can identify and judge?

Conclusion: Self-love can have many benefits, but sometimes it has foundations in toxic productivity culture, capitalistic ideals, and an unhealthy pressure for us to be socially and financially valuable. In those situations, it’s best to just throw away the whole suitcase and realize that you don’t need to be judging your existence based on made-up ideals.

My favorite image of 2020, photographed in Finnish Lapland in February this year [OC] [1536x1920] - Author: philipslotte on reddit