10 Comments

As always, your writing is a breath of fresh air and sanity. Thank you.

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oh my gosh jessica! you always make these connections so nicely. i saw a video a few days ago about a woman who got botox, and because of the botox and inability to make facial expressions, she felt like she could no longer feel her emotions. it truly fascinated me and i thought of the "seen and not heard" concept which made me think of women being treated as "objects." thank you for writing this! your honesty has given me the courage to write about beauty and our current culture.

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This is SO good. I put so little effort into my appearance now and wonder if people I’ve know for a long time are thinking I’ve “let myself go”. Every time I have that thought I remind myself that I’m actually letting myself just be and that my appearance is the least important/ interesting thing about me. (And no one is actually thinking about me anyway. They’re too worried about themselves.) thank you for making all these connections!

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I'm doing the same. I treasure the idea of <gasp> letting myself go ever since I read the phrase describing how Natasha Rostova "let herself go" after she married Pierre Bezhulov. We're in good company.

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War and Peace!!! I love it. And btw it’s on my shelf waiting for me to open it!

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Well I am going to now look up those fabulous people! And yay for you! Yay for us!

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This is your best essay yet.

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True dat!!

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Thank you!! I have been waiting for this!! The footnotes were A++++

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Superb essay. Reading your work is so satisfying for my brain.

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