stripped down
I can honestly say this is the best I’ve ever been. I can step forward with confidence, radiance, and clarity.
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Ilan Cooley
Jun 102 min read
in pieces
We may not always have the proper words to go with our inner pain, but we can still mend and heal the parts of us that become inexplicably b
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Ilan Cooley
May 62 min read
old me
There’s a stigma about getting old, but I think people are getting it wrong. We are not actually growing old, we are growing new.
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Ilan Cooley
Mar 252 min read
enough
I ask myself, will this use of my time make me happy? Will it help me to feel fulfilled? Will it be time well spent?
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Ilan Cooley
Feb 272 min read
house of mirrors
The parts of us that people see impacts how we are perceived. This fragmented reality, based on imperfect moments, is inherently flawed....
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Ilan Cooley
Feb 121 min read
strong
Can we be strong if we are also fragile? If we are prone to breaking, will it be too easy to be completely shattered? We equate strength...
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Ilan Cooley
Nov 10, 20232 min read
honest, good, and real
Someday I will stop writing about isolation, but not today… In a lot of ways my journey through solitude continues. I’m alone less, but...
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Ilan Cooley
Oct 23, 20232 min read
old
I long for things that are old—things with a past. Things with character, and a story—things that are built to last. I am drawn to things...
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Ilan Cooley
Oct 10, 20232 min read
dust
Someone came into my house and ran their fingers over my furnishings, leaving little snail trails in the dust that had settled. It felt...
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Ilan Cooley
Sep 25, 20232 min read
garbage
Someone once told me when they looked at the world, they saw garbage. It was a jarring revelation—something I could not myself envision....
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Ilan Cooley
Aug 28, 20233 min read
toothpaste
Life is like a tube of toothpaste. It’s hard to squeeze the last bit out. Sometimes it feels like we are on the outside squeezing the...
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Ilan Cooley
Jun 21, 20233 min read
soul-o
soul-o I am constantly being forced into solitary situations, and I don’t really understand why. After glimpses of normal socialization...
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Ilan Cooley
Jun 7, 20232 min read
flourish
I stopped to look at a tree. I walk past it often, but this time it stretched out its branches like a warm embrace, and fluttered its...
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Ilan Cooley
May 15, 20232 min read
life on ice
It takes time to adjust to a new season, both figuratively and literally. I feel like we’ve come through a bit of a deep freeze; a long,...
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Ilan Cooley
Apr 19, 20232 min read
marked safe
Life can be hard sometimes. Even though there is so much to be thankful for, and many good things and positive people in the world,...
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Ilan Cooley
Mar 27, 20232 min read
crouching gopher, hidden cobra
I am, at times, a coiled cobra, ready to strike. After too much time in the snake charmer’s basket, I can no longer resist the seductive...
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Ilan Cooley
Jan 30, 20232 min read
jack in the box
I turn the crank and it plays a silly song. Even though you know what’s about to happen, it’s still a bit startling when the lid springs...
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Ilan Cooley
Dec 5, 20222 min read
arrival
In order arrive somewhere new, we have to leave the place we were. This rings true as I reflect on a year of change and reinvention. I...
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Ilan Cooley
Nov 21, 20222 min read
fitting in
Life is an ongoing sequence of attempts to make things fit. We try to fit in with multiple kinds of people, places and things, hoping for...
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Ilan Cooley
Oct 20, 20222 min read
jigsaw
Life can be…well…puzzling. It’s like a giant, complicated jigsaw puzzle. Just when we think we have it figured out, we realize we don’t....
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