Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women, kitchen of love, bedroom of grief, bathroom of apathy. Sometimes, the men, they come with keys, and sometimes the men, they come with hammers.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the complexities of women's emotions and how men interact with them, either tenderly or forcefully.
Warsan Shire's quote illustrates the intricate emotional landscapes that women navigate, portraying their feelings as locked rooms that can be accessed differently by men. The 'keys' symbolize gentle and respectful approaches to understanding and connecting with these emotions, while the 'hammers' represent destructive or forceful attempts that can lead to emotional harm.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the emotional intelligence required in relationships.
I’m not sad, but the boys who are looking for sad girls always find me. I’m not a girl anymore and I’m not sad anymore. You want me to be a tragic backdrop so that you can appear to be illuminated, so that people can say ‘Wow, isn't he so terribly brave to love a girl who is so obviously sad?’ You think I’ll be the dark sky so you can be the star? I’ll swallow you whole.
We took such care of tomorrow, but died on the way there.
Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself - what you're wearing, who you're around, what you're doing. Recreate and repeat.
Every mouth you’ve ever kissed was just practice. All the bodies you’ve ever undressed and ploughed in to were preparing you for me. I don’t mind tasting them in the memory of your mouth. _x000D_ Was it a long journey? Did it take you long to find me? _x000D_ You’re here now, welcome home.
Make peace with your body, it's not manmade, there are no flaws, there are no mistakes.
You can't make homes out of human beings.
A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man.
Hugs make you feel psychologically more secure and together.
Nobody listens anymore. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me, I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough it'll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read.
We all lose somebody we care about and want to find some comforting way of dealing with it, something that will give us a little closure, a little peace.
Understanding of our fellow human beings...becomes fruitful only when it is sustained by sympathetic feelings in joy and sorrow.
There are moments when the heart is generous, and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here, one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
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