If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to.

-Lao Tzu

To give birth, to nourish, to bear and not to own, to act and not lay claim, to lead and not to rule: this is mysterious power. --Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, trans. Ursula K. Le Guin

Heartstopper is not really my type of show in terms of plot/genre (high-school romance etc) but what intrigued me to watch it was that one of the main characters is bisexual. S1 wasn't that intense for me though it had some moments most queer kids go through (taking the quiz, struggling with acceptance etc) but S2, as a bisexual, made me tear up so many times. The fact that Nick had to say so many times that he's bisexual, that he doesn't have to 'choose' a side, that he's not gay just because he's dating a man and that he wouldn't be straight if he chose to date a woman.

These types of shows are needed. I'm in my 20s now and I still struggle sometimes with my identity, though I've always been involved with queer media, even when I thought that I was just a "loud ally", I'd only see confirmed straight or gay characters. I'd feel a little seen/be able to relate with characters who would be considered "bi-coded" due to queer bait or fandom discourse and I just know that teen me would feel so seen and understood if a show like Heartstopper existed back then. I'm glad bi kids nowadays get to have that.

We are valid, our sexuality is valid, we're not straight, we're not gay, we don't have to choose a side, you're not straight if you've only dated people of the opposite gender and you're not gay if you've only dated people of the same gender. Bisexuality is fucking valid and we finally have someone in the media to scream it for us.

True goodness is like water. Water's good for everything. It doesn't compete. It goes right to the loathsome places, and so finds the way.

—'Easy By Nature' from Tao Te Ching (道德經) by Lao Tzu (老子), rendition by Ursula K. Le Guin

Árpád fenyvesi Tóth: Tao Te Ching, 1981. Ink on paper, 30.5 × 21.7 cm.

Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind become still. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return. They grow and flourish and then return to the Source. Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.

Tao Te Ching

"Stay close to anything that makes you glad that you are alive."-Hafiz

Los hombres nacen suaves y blandos; muertos, son rígidos y duros. Las plantas nacen flexibles y tiernas; muertas son quebradizas y secas. Así, quien sea rígido e inflexible es un discípulo de la muerte. Quien sea suave y adaptable es un discípulo de la vida. Lo duro y rígido se quebrará. Lo suave y flexible prevalecerá.

Tao Te Ching. Lao Tzu.

“When you are content to simply be yourself

and don’t compare or compete

everybody will respect you”

— Tao Te Ching

If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial.

If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.

If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.

If you want to be reborn, let yourself die.

If you want to be given everything, give everything up.

-Lao Tzu

What calamity is greater than no contentment, And what flaw greater than the passion for gain? -Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 46 (trans. David Hinton)

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (translated by Wing-tsit Chan)

"Battle in the Heavens". Nicolas Roerich. 1912.

* * * *

Prayer

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.

- A great thanks to Stephen Mitchell’s translation of Lao Tzu’s Tao te Ching