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the best essays i read on substack this year 💌 part two

MILK FED can intellectual intimacy replace physical desire? CAITLYN MAR 9, 2025 AT 5:31 PM hello. there are levels of seduction that exists beyond the body. something less tangible, and perhaps more potent. anais nin understood this idea about how desire does not begin with touch but with language, perception, and the sharp electric pull of a mind that challenges and excites you. in her journals, desire is not just a physical hunger but a hunger of the intellect, an unraveling of thought before an unraveling of the body. to be drawn into someone's mind, to feel their thoughts press against your own, can be more intoxicating than any physical closeness.

THOUGHTS AND WANTS Let Them Wonder About You I miss mystery SYDNEY ENGELHART JAN 5, 2025 AT 11:29 AM Thoughts and Wants SUBSCRIBE The most captivating moments for me are when I encounter someone or something extraordinary in real life and find myself wondering about them. Maybe it's my instinct to romanticize everything, but I genuinely enjoy not having all the details. What has the age of hyper-access done to our creativity, individuality, and thoughtfulness? With the internet, we're just a few clicks away from replicating someone's entire persona, right down to their outfit or morning routine. In some ways, I feel like it's making us... dumber? Why exercise individuality or strengthen personal style when you can simply download someone else's blueprint? What unnerves me is how comforting many people find this idea- a quick google search, a little DIY help from ChatGPT. Being "creative" now demands almost nothing from us.

THE OPEN LETTERS The Beginner's Guide to Writing Personal Essays THE OPEN LETTERS OCT 26, 2025 AT 1:49 AM The Power of Personal Reflection Essay writing is often seen as an academic exercise, something that's confined to the classroom or an assignment. But for many writers especially those who create personal essays the beauty of writing lies in its power to connect. Personal reflection essays allow us to understand ourselves better, process our emotions, and share our experiences in a way that can resonate with others. In this guide, we're going to shift the focus from technicalities to the emotional process of essay writing, especially for beginners who want to explore personal topics with depth and vulnerability. We'll talk about how to write essays that truly reflect your inner world and how you can use structure and storytelling techniques to make your personal reflections come to life on the page.

DOSTOEVSKY'S BLOG Meditations for Phone Addicts FYODOR FEB 27, 2025 AT 2:31 PM Dostoevsky's blog SUBSCRIBE 00:14:13 The modern soul finds itself divided. In one hand, we hold a device—a small, glowing rectangle that promises connection, knowledge, and distraction. In the other hand: nothing. And it is this nothing that terrifies us. We reach for our phones not merely out of habit but out of existential dread. The silence. The stillness. The terrible weight of being alone with one's thoughts. We have made ourselves refugees from our own consciousness, fleeing into the digital realm where time dissolves, where the self fragments into likes and comments, where the infinite scroll provides the illusion of purpose.