About the journey of recovering from body image dissatisfaction. We hope it can show that the road towards healing is quite bumpy 🎢 but that it can happen. These thoughts can become a background noise or even completely silent 🤫

The writer shares “These are my thoughts about my non-monogamous relationship”.

This is a poem about grieving and watching someone you love grieve. Sometimes watching someone go through grief can hurt more than grief itself.

This week’s Think on Ink is a simple poem that Margherita wrote for her friend Alice 🌈 It is actually a thank you to all the people who make others feel safe and calm, particularly in the context of social situations. Thank you! ⭐️

A great reflection on the feeling of anger, how it can protect, but mask, from feelings of sadness and pain. What role does anger play for you?🌀

A few weeks ago a person reached out to us asking if they could share their personal experience with mental illness. This is their story. Please take the time to read it only when you are in a safe place, both mentally and physically. And to you, dear writer, thank you. We are so grateful you reached out to us and immensely honoured to provide the space for such story and vulnerability❤️

How sense of smell can relate to memory is so strong and beautiful

Reflecting on how people change after relationships and how connections can transform but stay fulfilling nonetheless❤️

About the small things they would like to see more of, that could make a difference and make them happier☀️

On the complicated relationship between who we are at soul and who we appear to be (in front of the mirror).

On the struggles of engaging in close romantic relationships due to a fear of rejection💙

Feeling attached to someone is a hard story. It does truly feel, like the person explains here, to be "attached to you like laces to your shoes". Suddenly every little action and word the other person performs is just an occasion to 'read into things'. The following Think On Ink explains attachment very well, intertwined with lots of questioning, a journey towards the loved one's approval and a journey towards self-compassion. It is a quick, easy and wise read :)

A piece describing part of accepting other people's pain.

Anonymous writer sharing their everyday life experience with an eating disorder.

A piece on the importance of silence and the misconceptions people have

A short poem where a person compares their false beliefs to grumpy hedgehogs where the spikes protects them from the outside world. They realize however, that these actually create a wall, preventing real connection and feelings, rather than protecting them.

Someone feels like they are putting themselves second while being with someone else, sharing and talking (seems relatable to any type of relationship). They feel as if they listen a lot, but nothing is said about them, and they feel blocked in sharing things that "matter" for a fear that the other person might think they are not good listeners. Can you relate?

Before we take a well-deserved holiday break, here is a lovely reflection on time.

Originally in the form of a twitter thread, the writer reflects on the value of time and how it has become less apparent to us with the rise of technology.

Someone tells us about how progress and gratitude are two very important aspects and feelings during their journey of moving on from a person they lost (it is not clear what loss it may be, but it can be interpreted in any way). It's really nice how they recognise progress as a sign of moving forward, showing that we can and do change even when we feel stuck or when we feel like someone impedes us from doing so. Gratitude, instead, is important to remind ourselves to look at the glass half full and as the author says "life is pretty great without you too".

This is a very touching piece on what happiness is for this person. We want to thank the author of this piece especially because their piece really moved us and touched us from within. Thank you.

This piece outlines the importance of listening to energy when you relate to others and trusting how you feel when you are with them!

The following piece appears to be a reflection on memory, on an ended relationship or someone that was lost. The writer seems to have many confusing thoughts, almost existential questions about what memory is, how it works and what it means. It seems that they are processing everything that has happened, while trying to make sense of it. Also, they explain how they feel now, and how they wish they felt, which sets a nice contradiction expressing rationality behind these thoughts. Can you relate to their questions? Do you find yourself wondering about these things too?

This piece is a personal perspective on the multiple forms social anxiety can take and how it come to shape various dimensions of a person. Not everyone with social anxiety experiences the same things. This is just how the author experiences it.

In the following text, the author describes a lot of contradictions they feel and perceive about a supposed relationship. It seems as thought they feel on top of the world, appreciated and protected, but also unstable, neglected and unsure of how to move around the other person. They say that this person is toxic for them, yet also makes them feel pure. If you also experience contradictory relationships with people, don't lose yourself trying to find a way to reach them or by trying to balance conflicting signals and behaviours. Remind yourself about your needs and your worth.

This piece treats the topic of body dysmorphia and insecurities with breast size. The author displaces their insecurities onto an object (a tank top) hoping that this can become a tool for their self-confidence.

Many of us feel like we will not be able to achieve our goals, or we feel unsatisfied with what we have and that we may be helpless because of this. In the following Think on Ink, the writer shines light upon an issue they spotted while growing up: the lack of self-compassion in the road to success. They explain how they always felt incapable of reaching what they wanted because they were only taught to reach the goal, but not to forgive their failures and the mistakes along the road. However, neglecting yourself and your needs will more likely make it harder for you. Like the writer says here: "Scolding yourself for not achieving your goals won’t help. One step at a time".

In this Think on Ink the writer is talking to someone, while describing them, by expressing how they make them feel. It seems as if there are a lot of contradictions: the sea and the rock, climbing and diving, hot and cold. The text can be left to free interpretation, whether it is about love, life, friendship or anything else.

This week’s Think on Ink is on friendship and self-worth. The writer introduced the piece themselves so here it goes:“My friend and I are big fans of Shrink it Out. We always read your think on inks so I thought this was a good way to share some of my words and feelings towards them. I want to remind them to not question their worth even when people around them don’t seem to fully get them.”

This piece describes three meaningful sexual experiences of the author and outlines how much this act reflects their dynamic with their partners. With increased talk on the topic of sex we often tend to focus on pleasure, exploration and self-focused gains of this act. We think it is important that we don’t forget sex is also about subtleness, intimacy, desire and vulnerability that is shared with the other. Solely thinking of sex in terms of pleasure limits the beauty and power of this act. Enjoy the read :)

This piece tries to describe those oddly inexplicable sensations and feelings associated with leaving home, or a special place. These are of course very subjective, but for the writer here it seems that leaving their home is an occasion to stop, reflect and wrap their head around some things...

A piece about having to let go someone we care for and with whom we have shared a lot. It's hard to know what the "right thing" to do is, and sometimes it still isn't enough to make us move on or feel satisfied with ourselves. The writer explains very well all the feelings that come with these experiences.

I am a short girl who suffered because of their height this since I was a kid. Yet, my height does not defined who am I. I would like to motivate people who do not feel not good enough because of their differences :) It is not about being short and about its difficulties. It is the other way around! It is a manifestation of the unbearable lightness and happiness of being short. Because good things always come in small packages...

This piece is an interesting reflection of the concept of lightness. There seem to be generally accepted "rules" on which activities, periods of life, or circumstances make us feel lighthearted. However, we forget that this feeling is very subjective and things that may bring lightness to some people may actually just bring stress or heaviness to others.

In this piece the writer seems to describe a sense of detachment from reality: they are simply having dinner with their friends, yet they feel distant and unseen. It may happen to everyone from time to time to feel like this, wherever or whomever you may be with. Feeling disconnected from your surroundings can be scary, confusing and debilitating. As the writer does, try to be mindful about the situation, focusing on your breath and on your senses. Try to find something that brings you that sense of "concreteness" that they mention.

Psychological projection is a defense mechanism people subconsciously engage in when having to cope with undesirable emotions. It consists in projecting these difficult feelings onto someone else, rather than admitting to or dealing with them. It happens to everyone from time to time especially with people with live in close proximity with. However, when it occurs repeatedly it can be severely damaging to those who surround us (who are probably just trying to help). Talking to them, like this writer seems to do, and asking for what you need in moments of pain (e.g., space and being alone rather than comfort) can be a good first step. As always, taking a non-judgmental look at ourselves and understanding where these emotions stem from can help us to move towards healthier coping strategies.

This piece brings light to the difficulties of being a first year university student abroad in a period of pandemic. It talks about feelings of loneliness, isolation, fear of having changed due to the decreased interactions. It finishes with a positive re-elaboration on how all this time alone may have actually helped them understand who they are . We thank the writer for letting out their pain and we admire them for their strength.

Today is the Worldwide Eating Disorder Action Day. In occasion of this important day we decided to release a Think on Ink on this matter. This piece unravels the struggles of overevaluating weight, a core component of eating disorders. Overevaluation is when an individual derives their self-worth and value on the perception of their weight. This piece in particular focuses on the topic of identity. We would like to remind you that this is just one aspect of the infinite that play into these disorders and that the experience, like always, is very subjective.

Here is a bedtime reflection from an anonymous writer. It explores the limbo in between feeling lost because we are not setting a structure to our duties or setting it and feeling incapable of achieving our goals.

The author called this piece "Contradiction". It unravels the intricacies of the internalised homophobia of a young queer person. Enjoy the read.

Here are two poems sent to us by an anonymous writer. We thank them for sharing a bit of their pain and strength with us. We prefer to leave these pieces without interpretation as we think they speak for themselves.

In this simple and touching piece the writer shares their thoughts on what is left of their partner at the end of a relationship. It is common to feel a sense of emptiness after a break-up and like everything we have experienced with the other is lost forever. Below, there are feelings of nostalgia and melancholy, but also hope and resolution: although the writer misses this special person, they realise how much the latter has given them, and is now a part of their everyday life. This text is a good reminder that all that we have experienced, felt and learnt in a relationship still belong to us and we can find it within ourselves.

Disclaimer: This letter is quite a positive re-elaboration of the concept of death. It might be interesting to read if you have already thoroughly processed the idea of death or if you are not grieving anyone at the moment. In case you are currently grieving someone or your thoughts about death are darker than this, know that they are important and valid. Do not push away the pain but integrate it as a part of yourself, just like you would do with any other emotion.

In this piece the writer shares their thoughts on the importance of presence and absence in social media. They explain their frustration in understanding the negative aspects of these platforms but their inability to "delete" them because of a fear of disappearing.

The writer shares a personal reflection on the balance between the mind and the world outside, by looking at the cars on the highway. It seems that the mind is also a world of its own, that should have the space to grow and to be explored. The writer also mentions how we are all connected by some energy, which we can take advantage of to walk this world more easily.

In this Think on Ink the writer explains the feeling of embarrassment that is extremely present in their life. This feeling seems to be ambivalent: on the one hand it protects the writer and makes them feel in control but on the other hand it makes them feel lonely and trapped.

This piece unravels the infinite feelings that accompany the end of a romantic relationship. The writer thinks back at the time in which their relationship ended and cannot help but feel guilty and responsible for it. The feeling of regret makes the writer hate themselves in a deep and overwhelming manner. At the end of the piece there is a temporal shift, some time has passed, and the writer looks back at what they wrote with more clarity and rationality. They still feel the same pain, but are trying to make something out of it.

This short piece of writing is a stream of consciousness on destiny. The writer tries to express what destiny is to them: how it works, what affects it, what it affects. It seems like destiny is something fixed in every moment, but can change as time passes. Can you relate to this view of destiny? Do you think destiny is malleable or not? What is destiny to you?

This piece of writing tackles the topic of self-criticism, which may be familiar to many of us given the highly competitive world we live in. The mind of the writer is depicted through the metaphor of a house, in which live a stranger (who resembles the critical part of the self) and a friend (who represents a more rational and gentle part). This text provides an interesting insight on how negative self-speech is detrimental in the long-term as opposed to how more motivating it is to be kind to oneself.

In this piece of writing, the writer parallels feelings of powerlessness, self-responsibility and self-disappointment. On one hand they feel incapable of exerting control over themselves and their feelings, leading them to experience frequent highs and lows. On the other hand, they can't help but feel responsible for this instability, which pervades them with a sense of emptiness. We acknowledge the courage it takes to express this pain.

This piece contrasts the concepts of calmness and haste and how they are related to distinct emotional experiences for the writer. Whilst the concept of calmness brings warmth, focus and a care to the writer, haste is associated with anxiety, overthinking and irritability. This text reminds us of the importance of searching for calmness in the little things of life when everything else seems to move extremely quickly.

In this Think on Ink the writer shares their thoughts and pain in a sort of stream of consciousness. This text underlines the struggles of being stuck in ruminative thought patterns and self-hatred. Such thoughts seem to lead to a feeling of detachment between the person's body and mind. The "soundproof foam" is a metaphor for a sensation of cloudiness and heaviness that prevents the writer from being present and living their life to the fullest.

In this poem, the writer seems to reminisce about a time when they felt secure and stable with another person, as they accept the fact that the relationship has now changed. At the same time, the writer questions whether their individual identity has remained intact.

This text talks about the struggles of entering a space of intimacy in a relationship. Intimacy can be seen as a bubble of disinhibition and transparency from all sides: all parties are truly themselves and at ease with each other. The Lines represent the barriers the writer has, which block them from externalising their affection and inner thoughts, and thus entering in the zone of intimacy. Enjoy the read :)

In this piece the writer shares thoughts on their personal dissatisfaction. In psychology, dissatisfaction is the feeling of being unhappy and disconnected to one self or the world. It can lead into disappointment and frustration because of the perception that needs are never entirely fulfilled. Still, everyone might experience dissatisfaction in a different way and in diverse life areas. Here's what our anonymous thinker has to say about it.