My friend came to me for help and I might be the worst person possible
This is a throwaway account to protect myself and my friend. Names and some details are changed for privacy.
For context, I (39F) met my friend Tara (22F) through a mentorship program about five years ago. We're still close, we still talk. As she's grown, the topics of our conversations have ranged from book club to personal. I send her birthday and respective holiday gifts and she's got direct communication with my kid. Just to say how serious I take this friendship. She's one of mine and I love her to pieces.
About a week or so ago now, she mentioned that she heard a song that had her spiraling. She sent me the song and asked me not to think less of her. The song was from a woman artist, singing about what is essentially the "male gaze". Obviously, I wasn't going to judge her for that or think less of her. So many young women her age and beyond struggle with body issues that, frankly, have been built with attractiveness in mind. "Perfect" is an impossible standard.
That led to the point of this post. My usage of "binge and purge" not being healthy, in my (probably too longwinded) rant particularly set with her. She's struggling with bulimia.
The thing is that I've dealt with diso
At this point, this feels like a half-step, not a full move and that tension shows up immediately That part stands out.
To be fair, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome so the response doesn’t surprise me That’s what changes the context.
Looking at this, the timing matters more than people admit At least from my perspective.
At first glance, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome This could age very differently in a week. That’s just my read on it.
Honestly, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified Hard to say where this lands long term.
At first glance, this feels rushed rather than thought through which turns this into more of a debate That’s what changes the context. That’s the impression it gives me.
From a practical angle, the main issue seems to be how this is handled Hard to say where this lands long term. That’s the impression it gives me.
this depends heavily on what happens next and that’s where it gets complicated
the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that’s what people are responding to That’s the key detail here. Hard to say where this lands long term.
Honestly, this feels like a half-step, not a full move which is why this is getting picked apart That’s the key detail here. That’s the impression it gives me.
the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here which is why this is getting picked apart
the main issue seems to be how this is handled and that’s where the disagreement starts That’s what makes this interesting. Not convinced this is settled yet.
Honestly, the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that’s where it gets complicated Feels like an opening move, not an ending.
Putting bias aside, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone
this solves one problem while creating another and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone That’s what makes this interesting. This probably isn’t the last word on it. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
To be fair, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified and that’s what people are responding to That part stands out. This could age very differently in a week. At least from my perspective.
Stepping back, this solves one problem while creating another and that’s where it gets complicated That’s just how it reads to me. At least from my perspective.
the main issue seems to be how this is handled
Honestly, the main issue seems to be how this is handled That part stands out. Feels like there’s more coming here. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
the logic is there, but the execution is uneven and that’s the part people are stuck on Hard to say where this lands long term. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
there’s a gap between the message and the outcome and that’s where it gets complicated This probably isn’t the last word on it.
this feels more about execution than intent Feels like an opening move, not an ending.
Looking at this, there’s a lot said here but not much clarified and that’s why opinions are all over the place That’s just my read on it.
Looking at this, this reads stronger on paper than in practice This could age very differently in a week.
the intention might be solid, the rollout less so Not convinced this is settled yet.
Putting bias aside, this comes across more reactive than planned and that’s what people are responding to That’s what makes this interesting. Feels like an opening move, not an ending.
the timing matters more than people admit Interested to see the follow-up. At least from my perspective.
Looking at this, the intention might be solid, the rollout less so which is why this is getting picked apart Interested to see the follow-up.
Without overthinking it, the wording alone shifts how people read this which is why this is getting picked apart That’s the key detail here. That’s the impression it gives me.
Without overthinking it, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome That part stands out.
On the surface, this feels more about execution than intent and that’s where it gets complicated Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
If you zoom out, this comes across more reactive than planned which is why this is getting picked apart We’ll see how people react over time. Others will probably see it differently.
the framing does a lot of heavy lifting here That’s what changes the context.
Trying to be fair, the signal is clear, the strategy less so That’s just my read on it.
At first glance, the signal is clear, the strategy less so which is why the comments look the way they do
Putting bias aside, the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage and that friction is hard to ignore
the idea isn’t bad, but the delivery is doing damage and that’s where people will push back This probably isn’t the last word on it. That’s the impression it gives me.
I get the idea, the direction makes sense but the details are messy and that tension shows up immediately This probably isn’t the last word on it.
Just reading this, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome That’s what makes this interesting. Hard to say where this lands long term.
To be fair, the timing matters more than people admit which is why this is getting picked apart At least from my perspective.
If we’re being honest, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome Not convinced this is settled yet.
From where I sit, this feels more about execution than intent and that’s where people will push back Time will tell.
Looking at this, the follow-through is what will decide this and that’s why this won’t land the same for everyone
From where I sit, this comes across more reactive than planned which is why the comments look the way they do That’s the impression it gives me.
From my side, the timing matters more than people admit That’s the impression it gives me.
If you zoom out, the follow-through is what will decide this
Bluntly speaking, this feels rushed rather than thought through which is why this is getting picked apart That’s what makes this interesting. Feels like there’s more coming here. That’s the impression it gives me.
Honestly, this solves one problem while creating another Feels like there’s more coming here. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
the direction makes sense but the details are messy Feels like an opening move, not an ending. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Looking at this, the timing matters more than people admit which turns this into more of a debate
there’s a lot said here but not much clarified Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
On the surface, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven so the response doesn’t surprise me
Real talk, this depends heavily on what happens next and that’s where people will push back Let’s see what happens next. At least from my perspective.
the follow-through is what will decide this which turns this into more of a debate
there’s a gap between the message and the outcome which explains why reactions are split That part stands out. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
To be fair, this feels more about execution than intent which explains why reactions are split That’s the key detail here. Interested to see the follow-up. Could be wrong, but that’s how it comes across.
Bluntly speaking, this depends heavily on what happens next so the response doesn’t surprise me That’s the key detail here.
From the outside, this comes across more reactive than planned and that’s what people are responding to Let’s see what happens next.
Just reading this, the direction makes sense but the details are messy so the response doesn’t surprise me That part stands out. Feels like there’s more coming here.
If we’re being honest, the logic is there, but the execution is uneven which explains why reactions are split
From my side, there’s a gap between the message and the outcome which is why this is getting picked apart Not convinced this is settled yet.