Gentleness (Patreon)

As gentle as The Ridleys’ songs can be, I just want people to know that I don’t buy into the idea of “self-love,” and to be honest I’m not so comfortable with that term. There’s more nuance to the way I see kindness and forgiveness towards oneself.

I shouldn’t have made mistakes. I don’t deserve gentleness. And yet I was given an almost infinite amount of chances, and the power to change every time. None of those chances should be wasted.

Being a good person is hard work if you have help, and impossible to do on your own. Change takes a superhuman amount of strength, humility, and accountability — none of those can be done in isolation. It takes community. I can’t do this alone, especially not by isolating myself and treating myself like a big fragile baby.

I’ve been isolated for too long now. Been stuck in my own echo chambers. I need to be reconnected.