"
[1/2
]..years ago, anthropologist margaret mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. the student expected mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.

but no. mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. you cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. you are meat for prowling beasts. no animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.

a broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended to the person through recovery. helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, mead said."

[2/2]

a student once asked anthropologist margaret mead, "what is the earliest sign of civilization?" the student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, or maybe a weapon.

margaret mead thought for a moment, then she said, "a healed femur."

a femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. in societies whithout the benefits of modern medicine, it takes six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. a healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured person, did their hunting and gathering, stayed with them, and offered physical protection and human companionship until the injury could mend.

mead explained that where the law of the jungle - the survival of the fittest - rules, no healed femurs are found. the first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur."

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intrusive thoughts, impostor syndrome, self compassion

"-i keep having these horrible thoughts. i think i might be a bad person

+how christian of you

-what is?

+thinking that your thoughts alone makes you a good or a bad person.
just dont act on them and you're fine."

society

"i think a lot about how we as a culture have turned "forever" into the only acceptable definition of success"

digital, addictions, society

"not to be all "think of the children" but the fact that companies can openly admit to using methods to intentionally form addictions in children and we're not killing their ceos on the streets yet is astounding"

relationships, socialization

"having to come to terms with the fact that love is not an everlasting performance in which you attempt to retain the attention of your significant other but rather a release of control"

emotions, socialization

"a therapist once told me that happy is an extreme feeling just like anger or sadness. you cant constantly be happy"

self compassion, rest, mental health, body

"taking care of yourself is productive."

body

"sometimes my body feels like a rented house
and that i shouldnt settle in
because soon, i'll be leaving out again

but when i get a tattoo, it feels like im painting the walls
and when i look at them, im reminded that this is more than a rental

i own this body
and its walls are mine"

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microwave, perspective

"you're hooked up to the internet and sentient. what do you think of life? bad? horrible?

i really like it

even with all the pain and suffering?

when you look at the night sky do you look at the stars or the space between them?"

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