Literary-Throwaway

What is the best thing an individual can do to help someone who is or could be in your situation? One involved in religion as opposed to one not involved?

Furthermore, it wasn't until recent years that I learned that child marriage is more prevalent in the United States than I had once thought. It was something I used to believe that only ever happened in "other countries" (read: third-world countries), so it worries me that something like this could be happening right under my nose with me none the wiser. Are there warning signs that people should look out for, whether or not one goes to church?

When Roe v Wade was first overturned, people were advocating for anyone with a penis to download period-tracking apps and use them improperly to taint any analytics that could be taken by governments or other third parties. For example, I heard one cis man say that he downloaded an app to track his workout schedule. Is this a strategy you would recommend? If enough people adopted this strategy, how much of a difference would it make for people with uteri?

Hello! First off, thank you for coming today to answer everyone's questions. I've been an overachiever all my life (still kind of am), and I wanted to ask for some specific input from both an art perspective and a therapy perspective. I'm somebody who is very driven in terms of career, academics, volunteering, and athleticism, but art was something I used to enjoy for myself that I had lost on and off as my life got busier with college and work. Aside from my overbooked schedule, however, my perfectionism just gets in the way of any inspiration.

When I was in middle school, I was always the kid who doodled in my planner and carried a sketchbook with me. There were times that I would practice with landscapes or still-lives, but the bulk of what I drew were characters from media I liked. I also used to avidly create my own characters, but of course, as an adolescent who didn’t have much technical experience in creativity, the characters weren’t very well-written.

I want to have the joy and contentment I used to have while drawing, but all I can think of while putting pencil to paper is, "What's the point of making this if I'll be ashamed of it in one, two, or five years when I'm more aware of the mistakes that I am blissfully ignorant of now? What is it about this creation that will reveal to more experienced artists that I am an amateur clearly motivated by emotional fulfillment, to which they will be amused by and maybe even joke about behind my back?"

It’s not just about technical aspects of the art either. If someone tells me that all the colors I’m using are too saturated and that I need to balance the colors better, that’s something I can work with. What I’m deeply afraid of is that my interest in drawing the things that I really enjoy because they will betray deeply personal flaws to others that I will be blind to, if that makes sense.

Usually, I come across well-intended pithy quotes like, "Don't listen to the haters! Your art is not for them! Draw what you love!" Which I politely accept because I know that they're given with love, but they're not as convincing as full comment threads of people taking other people’s art to nitpick and criticize - sometimes with valid criticisms in good faith, but oftentimes to insult the creator because they are seen as cringeworthy (especially if the creator is neurodivergent, particularly autistic). Is this something you’ve encountered from clients before?