u/C3ntr1fugal

You are allowed to grow at your own pace. Do not be worried or scared that others have achieved more or that you may be growing slower. Some flowers bloom in spring, others in winter. Neither is doing life incorrectly, our fundamental differences are what makes us us. There is no universal timeline for becoming yourself. Be patient, you'll find yourself there in the end, you still have so much time to grow

Remember to stay hydrated, its important for your mental and physical health

The fact that you are still here after everything you've endured is proof of a strength inside you that you probably dont even recognise yet. Some days courage is loud, but most days, its just about choosing to continue, even when it seems hard, even when it seems like everyone and everything is against you, just choosing to take one more step.

Remember to hydrate, its important for both your mental and physical health <3

Some day, maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe in 10 years, at any point really, you'll look back on who you used to be, who you are now. The tired you, the confused you, the you that feels that they are falling apart, and they will fin comfort that despite everything, they are still you, and you are still them, and its all turned out well, and oh how they wish to just tell that to you. Keep going for them, our distant friends, so far away in time, even if its only one small step at a time.

I was talking about this with a friend a while ago and she told me that shes glad who she was, all these times, who she has been, who she is. She told me that she believed (and now, by extension I also) that despite such time that has passed, all those past versions of you are as much you as you are now. You who fell asleep in the dark of night, watching the cars drive past, you who played and imagined in the garden all those years ago, you who saw a boy and knew that that was what you wanted from life, from love, you who always kept going, they are all equally you. Theres something comforting in that i think...

Remember to stay hydrated, its important for your mental and physical health <3

Its okay if all you did today was survive. You do not need to constantly achieve things to deserve rest or simple platitude. Sometimes strength is simply deciding to stay long enough to see if tomorrow feels a little lighter.

To all of you who are currently or about to go through exams, good luck, and remember to take breaks
Remember to hydrate, its important for both your mental and physical health <3

You are more than your worse moments. Growth is messy, healing is inconsistent, and becoming better happens slowly through small choices every day. The fact you want to improve already says there is goodness in you. Keep believing, dreamer, keep walking, I'm so, so proud of you, you've made it so far, only a bit longer to go.

Keep hydrated, its important for both your mental and physical health <3

It's alright to rest for a moment. You dont have to have everything figured out right now, and you dont have to face it all alone. I'm here with you exactly as you are. You matter, even on the days that everything just feels too much, even in those dark moments when you feel so secluded, I, and so many others, will always be here for you

Remember to keep hydrated, its important for your mental and physical health

Hai guysss!!!! I j wanted to rant and rave about birds in Macbeth.
FIRST OF ALL, OMFG I LOVE BIRDS (tism)
onto the actual content

TL;DR birds are used a lot throughout macbeth for a range of different themes and as a range of different symbols

So to begin, birds are first mentioned when Macbeth is compared to an Eagle in Act 1 Scene 2 —"as sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion". This quote is basically talking about how easy it was for Macbeth (Eagle) to take down the opposition (Sparrow), in symbolism, sparrows are seen as harmless and connotative of peace, while eagles are symbolic of nobility and bravery (as are hawks, but we'll get back to that). This early, seemingly unremarkable reference perfectly sets Macbeth up as somebody noble and just.
Throughout the play, however, as Macbeth becomes more and more corrupted by the ambition set upon him by Lady Macbeth, the image of Macbeth as an eagle slowly warps into that of an owl, which is repeatedly mentioned to be a sign of evil. More context supporting this is the roman and greek symbolism of owls, popularised at that time. In Roman belief, owls were seen as bad omens, foretelling that yet worse was to come, however, in Greek belief, owls were seen as figures of wisdom and knowledge. These two contrasting beliefs work in parallel with the play, showing us that the wisdom he had gained in Act 1 Scene 3—the knowledge that he would become king—is a bad omen and that his destiny was downfall, a Pyrrhic victory (A victory that results in such losses that it turns out worse for the victor than the defeated party), and it was set in stone from the very beginning, fate immutable, unstoppable
Not only is the owl, referred to as "Night's black agent" (Act 3 Scene 2), an omen of Macbeth's own downfall, but he is the familiar, the minion, of the witches, and Hecate herself. I kind of skimmed over this part so I dont know *too* much, but it is said that the "wing of owlet" is used in a cauldron for one of the witches' concoctions, as well as the witches being in control of a specific owl in order to carry out the ensuant chaos.
This idea is further referenced when in Act 4 Scene 2 ("The poor wren... will fight, her young ones still in the nest, against the owl") Lady Macduff (compared to a wren, which in other works of the period is described as a "Little King" and is intrinsically tied to family values) comments about how she must protect her "nest" from the owl that is Macbeth, however, this is not all, as this may raise the question: "Is there a species of owl that attacks other birds nests?" and why yes there is, its name is none other than the Eagle Owl, which is an ironic hint at Macbeth's transformation and corruption from Just to Immoral.
The last point I have about owls ties into the theme of Guilt. I'll begin by telling you about how, in Act 2 Scene 2 ("It was the owl that shrieked, that fatal bellman"), Macbeth calls the Owl, a "fatal bellman" which links back to when Macbeth murders Duncan, a scene elided (Elision is a technique in literature where the writer omits the scene, in this context, it is done to show the true extent of how taboo this action was) at the point where Macbeth is invited to kill Duncan by the toll of a bell (Linking to "fatal bellman", sry if i got offtopic)
I lied a bit, that wasnt the last point, the ACTUAL last point is about the quote that reads as follows: "A falcon, tow'ring in her pride of place, Was by a mousing owl, hawked at and killed", (Act 2 Scene 4) and though falcons and hawks are not the same thing, in Shakespearean England, any diurnal (awake during the day) bird of prey was referred to as a Hawk. This is relevant as this could be considered to be a metaphor for Macbeth, the owl, killing Duncan, the hawk. Furthermore, Hawks were considered symbolic of nobility and royal power, so the hawk's death at the hands of an omen of evil could be metaphorical for the fall of true divine, monarchical order and the just royalty instilled by the kind King Duncan.

Now, we move onto something of a more light tone, we have when King Duncan and Banquo arrived at Macbeth's castle where Banquo comments on the "temple-haunting martlets" (Act 1 Scene 6). Now martlets are a type of sparrow, which, as previously mentioned, due to their tendency to inhabit churches and other such temples (hence why they are referred to as "temple-haunting"), are symbolic of peace, joy and freedom. However, this reference to martlets is a play on words, by Shakespeare, as Martlets are also known as Martins, and a piece of slang, used around that time is Martin as a dupe, or a double crossing, anything connotative of deceit really. This tells us how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's feigned hospitality is a deceit, and gently foreshadows the king's death.
Macbeth then mentions three other species of birds after seeing Banquo's ghost, as seen in this quote: "By maggot pies (magpies, as they were known in that time) and choughs and rooks brought forth the secret'st man of blood" (Act 3 Scene 4). Now Shakespeare uses these birds as they are all corvids and as such have the ability to mimic human speech. This mention of these three birds shows his fear, especially of the chough, named after the sound it makes, a chatter of sorts, exemplifying the fear Macbeth feels of the possibility that he could be revealed as the reason behind Banquo's demise.

Now the last thing I have to talk about, about birds, is the recurring reference to flight. The first occurrence of this motif is at the moment of Banquo's death when he tells his son: "Fly, good Fleance. Fly, fly, fly!" (Act 3 Scene 3), this refers to Fleance's freedom and survival, flying away. A stark contrast to this is in Macbeth's penultimate scene, where Macbeth remarks that "They have tied me to a stake, I cannot fly" which, through the evocation of an image of a bird, snared in a trap, shows us how Macbeth is truly trapped and cannot get out of the situation he got himself, and cannot avoid his demise. Further however, we can realise that this may be a reference to the fact of the Wyrd sister's augury, fate befalling Macbeth, immutable and unstoppable, a true Pyrrhic victory, condemning him to such a great downfall, not allowing any chance of escape, as if there was any chance of escape to begin with.

Anyways, thanks for listening to me rant abt this, I like birds and i like symbolism, and well, if no themes that I can link to birds come up I am royally screwed.

ALSO BEFORE ANY OF YOU CALL ME AI FOR USING EMDASHES, NO IM JUST AUTISTIC.

Remember to hydrate you guys, its important for both your mental and physical health

Just a reminder for you guys that you're not annoying, you're not a burden, you're not "too much". Be unashamedly you, in this way, you may achieve true happiness. There will be bad days, yes, there will be good days, yes, all while remembering that most things in the universe don't even have days at all. Your life is worth living, I promise.

Remember to hydrate, its important for both your mental and physical health <3

You matter more than your mistakes, more than your bad days, more than whatever you think, I promise. If goodness were something you are, you could simply lose it forever, fall once and you could be ruined, but goodness is something you perform, a verb, a movement, a reaching. It returns the moment you decide to act with care. Even if you've done horrible things, you can still be good. I believe in you

Remember to stay hydrated, its important for your mental and physical health <3

Hope you're all doing alright, today, and any day really! Just a reminded to some of you guys that you dont have to have everything figured out right now, hell you dont ever need to have it all figured out. Just be happy being you, whatever "you" is. You're amazing.

Remember to hydrate, its important for both your mental and physical health < 3

Just thought that, due to the newfound absence of this sub's most popular posters, I might try to fill their absence a bit. This may stick, it may not, only time will tell.

Just here to remind you guys that someone out there loves you, and always will. You can do it, sometimes it'll feel hard, sometimes it'll feel easy, but I know, no matter what, you can get through it

Remember to hydrate, its important for your mental and physical health < 3

i feel bad :c

BLEHHHHHHHHH
I THOUGHT I WAS DONE LITERAL MONTHS AGOO BUT NOOOOOO ITS TOO LONG AND IVE PUT IN *TOO MUCH* EFFORT ARGHHHHHH

NOT ONLY DID I HAVE TO CUT LIKE A GOOD 2 MINUTES OF MUSIC, I HAD TO RERECORD LIKE HALF OF MY VOCALS DDDDX

THEN I HAD TO MESS AROUND WITH THE SOFTWARE I WAS USING TO GET A SCORE AND THE AUDIO WHICH TOOK 15 MINUTES TO FIGURE OUT

I HAD TO STAY TIL 5:30 JUST TO DO IT ALL (2 HEQIN HOURS)