being a teenager SUUUCKS
plus, how a cat rescue shows us the transformative power of love
welcome to brb crying, a newsletter where two thirty-something teenagers talk about what made them cry. laugh along as we dive into what moves us to tears (movies! books! personal stories! tbh anything is fair game!) and why crying helps us connect with ourselves and each other. check out the pod for more.
š dear diary reader
in this weekās episodeā027: adolessons / letās talk about brunoāwe get into how loving others with patience and grace has the power to transform them. the end result? absolute magic.
š® a glimpse into this weekās stories
āØARNS RELIVES EARLY 2000s TEENAGEHOOD THROUGH DĆDI (å¼å¼)
this film made arns cringe with how horrifyingly accurate it depicts life as a teenager in 2008. in other words: a masterpiece.
behold: our deepest, darkest secrets revealed.
a (slightly more sentimental) snippet from arnsā segment:
there are scenes where didiās mom picks him up and asksāhave you eaten yet? and then she proceeds to feed him.
all sheās really doing here is sitting and watching him eat. but the love and adoration she radiates is so abundant.
as complicated as their lives are, in these moments, it couldnāt be simpler. sheās just a mom, nourishing her son. and heās just a son, letting his mom love him.
this film is a beautiful depiction of what itās like to exist as a 13-year-old boyā¦but for me, itās an equally powerful narrative about loving a 13-year-old boy. trying to understand him, figuring out how to care for him even when you canāt.
āØNINS WATCHES AS LOVE TRANSFORMS A CAT RESCUE
as a self-proclaimed cat lady (hi, mer! š), ninsā FYP is a relentless barrage of cat videos. one such string of videos: Grace Choi of The Happy Kitty Rescue and her fostering of a sweet boy named Bruno. (watch days 1, 8, 19, and 20 to witness the transformation yourself.)
a snippet from ninsā segment:
there is so much to learn from Brunoās story. anyone who loves animals loves the purity of their souls. when they seem violent or aggressive, itās really because oftentimes theyāre hurting or theyāre scared, but never are they malicious.
the same could be said for most people, too. more often than not, the ones that lash out, that refuse to let us in, that hurt usā¦are just deeply hurt themselves. they donāt know how to accept love or feel safe in its warmth.
but look at how transformative it is when you choose to love someone at their own pace. and when weāre loved like that, where there isnāt any selfishness attached to itālook at how it changes us.
look at how much more beautiful the world becomes.