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That’s why so many people assume queer kids must be “brainwashed” by progressive parents, because they can’t imagine what it’s like to raise a child without controlling them.
They project authoritarianism onto others because it’s the only model they know.

We Are Not Meant To Live Like This

Pride 2025

open.substack.com

June 1, 2025 at 6:36 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

“…the cog you’ve become in someone else’s machine? That’s only a fraction of who you are. You were never meant to spend your brief time on this spinning planet just turning someone else’s gears.”

The Rain Still Knows

I was talking with some coworkers the other day about how Sundays used to feel different.

open.substack.com

May 13, 2025 at 2:13 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

#MeToo
#AutisticWomen
#NeurodivergentVoices
#PowerAndProximity
#ChildhoodMemories
#GirlsLikeUs
#QuietReckonings
#ChooseTheBear
#UnfilteredGirl
#MemoryAndMeaning
#ContainAndQuiet
#EmotionalArchaeology
#MemoryandMeaning
#GrowingUpUndiagnosed

On the Common

When I was in elementary school, I begged my parents to let me take dance class with my friends.

open.substack.com

April 24, 2025 at 5:09 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

‘And when the only way to survive is by extracting value from someone else, it becomes something even worse: a pyramid scheme dressed up as freedom. A Ponzi scheme of protection.‘

New on Substack: April. Revolution, collapse, resurrection. I think a change is coming. I hope we’re right for it.

A Change Is Gonna Come (I Think)

With a nod to Sam Cooke, whose voice carried hope through history.

open.substack.com

April 21, 2025 at 3:47 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

This ship is not going to right itself.

April 12, 2025 at 1:51 AM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

🧵 I don’t know who needs to hear this at the White House, but telling people “do not retaliate and you will be rewarded” is not the flex you think it is.
1/6

Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · Apr 10

The White House. The actual White House.

This is the attitude of every abuser, who is now fearful of the consequences of their abuse.

April 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

And now I riff on language.

#woke #ubuntu #language

open.substack.com/pub/aimuntet...

A Word that Woke Me

I didn’t know there was a word for it until someone gave it to me.

open.substack.com

April 7, 2025 at 3:20 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

See me.
Know that I matter too.

That’s what The Gathering is.
Not agreement.
But alignment.
A pull toward each other in the face of every system that tries to keep us apart.

Aimuntethered on Substack

I took my first protest photo in December 2014 at the March to End Violence in Portland, Maine. I brought a sign. I brought my camera. I didn’t know it then, but I was beginning something. Not just...

substack.com

April 5, 2025 at 8:06 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

What would America’s obituary sound like?
The truth.
A prelude and a wake, a love letter and a reckoning.
America’s Obituary: A Layered Wake
#AmericasObituary #LayeredWake #UntetheredThoughts #GriefAndGrace #TruthTelling #ReclaimTheStory #AmericaTheBeautiful #WitnessNotWorship

America’s Obituary: A Layered Wake

A friend of mine writes his own obituary every year.

open.substack.com

April 3, 2025 at 6:39 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

A million to a billion is more than a level up. I explore what that looks like in my latest Substack post

https://open.substack.com/pub/aimuntethered/p/whats-a-billion-really?r=eltkp&utm_medium=ios

#WealthInequality #Billionaires #EconomicJustice #LateStageCapitalism #Spiraltruth #WealthGap

A visual comparison showing how long it takes to receive $1 million versus $1 billion if handed $1 per second. On the left, it says “11 days to earn $1 million” and on the right, a pyramid of money with text reading “31 years to earn $1 billion.” Below, it says “To reach the wealth of Elon Musk? 666,350 years.”

A graphic showing a walking figure moving from Boston to Washington, D.C. as a metaphor for 1 million steps. On the right, a view of Earth with the caption “19 times around the Earth” to represent 1 billion steps. A note at the bottom says “Elon Musk’s wealth = 6,650 times around the Earth.”

An illustration of rows and rows of tiny green T. rexes (about one thousand) representing the weight of 1 billion pennies. A small rectangle in the corner compares it to the weight of 1 million pennies with a single T. rex. Red arrows label “The weight of 1 billion pennies” and “The weight of 1 million pennies.”

March 31, 2025 at 12:30 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

What if we could see our impact as clearly as footprints in fresh snow?
Where would we walk more gently, more boldly, more consciously?

#SundaySelfReflection #IntentionalLiving #ConsciousConnection #RippleEffect #YouMatter #SoulQuestions #aimuntethered

A galaxy spiral with vivid pinks and violets radiates from the center of the image. A large, translucent circle overlays the starscape, holding the reflective question:
“If I could see my impact on the world as clearly as footprints in snow, where would I go more carefully? And where would I step with more confidence?”

A dreamlike arctic scene at sunset, with swirling pink and purple clouds reflected on still water and a snow-covered shore. Three soft circles contain follow-up questions:
• “What traces have I already left behind that I’m proud of?”
• “Where might I be leaving marks without realizing their weight or reach?”
• “What would it mean to walk with more intention—and more trust—in the path ahead?”

March 30, 2025 at 12:53 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

Tolerance, Snowflakes, and the power we have.
@aimuntethered on Substack

Snowflake to Snowflake

There’s a kind of magic that happens when people get curious.

open.substack.com

March 29, 2025 at 1:46 PM

Reposted by Aimee L

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

Due process is a legal line. Dignity is a human one. What we’re witnessing violates both.

March 27, 2025 at 3:39 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

Due process is a legal line. Dignity is a human one. What we’re witnessing violates both.

March 27, 2025 at 3:39 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

Hillary’s emails, Hunter’s laptop, and Benghazi. Now? Crickets while their side leaks national security in a group chat like it’s fantasy football. Their outrage is their entertainment. Their willful ignorance is our national liability.

March 25, 2025 at 12:33 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

Liberty isn’t handed down. It’s held up.
These quotes have been hitting me different lately, so I gathered them up and gave them a home.
Resistance isn’t chaos, I am learning. It’s how justice lives.
#QuoteThread #Justice #Resistance #HoldTheLine

A stylized graphic with bold, layered stripes in gold and copper tones. Silhouettes of people standing together with raised hands span the bottom. The text reads: “Liberty isn’t granted. It’s reclaimed. Some quotes that remind us: resistance is how justice breathes.” The handle @aimuntethered appears in the corner.

March 24, 2025 at 12:54 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

Sunday Self-Reflection
#Reflection #InnerWork #Interconnection #SundayPause #HumanityUnlocked #YouMatter

A star-filled view of a spiral galaxy with a soft, dusty glow. A large, translucent circle centers the image with the question in bold white and deep blue text: “Who am I in the spaces between roles and responsibilities?

A peaceful snowy landscape beneath the northern lights, with a single person walking toward cozy lit houses and a mountain. Three semi-transparent circles hold the follow-up prompts:
• “When no one is looking, who do I become?”
• “What brings me back to that version of myself most naturally—solitude, music, nature, art, stillness?”
• “How might I nurture that version of me more often, even in the midst of daily life?

March 23, 2025 at 5:07 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

We are treating America’s emotional pain with torture. And worse. We are making it entertainment.

When Does Your Pain Become Someone Else’s Torture?

We are taught that pain must be erased.

open.substack.com

March 20, 2025 at 4:41 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

Spring fever is in full swing… but she just wants a snack! 🌸🐿️ #SpringFling #SquirrelDrama #LetHerEat #Anxiety

March 18, 2025 at 5:55 PM

Aimee L

@aimuntethered.bsky.social

They may not see what they’ve become, but they’re still responsible for it. Meanwhile, I find joy in the small things—hands in the earth, nurturing growth that feeds both body and spirit.
#GardenMagic #SpringVibes #GonkLife #basil #spiceoflife #herbgarden