Life is Art

you know what’s wild is that all these crazy standards we hold ourselves to are things that we don’t even value in another person? like i’ve never been like “wow I love that this friend of mine is too proud to ask for help and never complains about their feelings” or “my favorite quality about this friend is that they get straight A’s and never get overwhelmed and has never told me about a problem” or “i love that this friend has never been wrong about anything or slipped up and said something embarrassing once in their life” and yet here we are, pushing ourselves past our limits for and beating ourselves up over slipups of things that our friends probably wouldn’t even rank in the top 50 reasons they like us

Romanticizing your life sounds so stupid but it will help you cope. Taking extra time to make a yummie coffee in the morning, sitting outide observing the wind in the trees, writing poems, going to old book stores, watching your childhood favourite movies, listening to romantic jazz, writing in a coffee shop, making sure you have moody lighting in your room, putting on asmr rooms as a background noise while you work. It's not a solution, but it makes things a bit better.

be soft because your softness is someone's safe place.

at this point how are you not anti-capitalist? don’t you think it’s messed up that people can work 2 jobs but are living paycheck to paycheck but are supposed to have thousands in savings, and be expected to pay for healthcare, food, and rent? how about the fact that you can probably never own a house in your lifetime, and if you want to live away from your family you will need to share a place with 6 roommates just to keep things afloat? does it make you angry that you’re dying for a living? don’t you think it’s mind boggling how the last time there was a technological space race it was between two super power countries but recently it has between the 2 richest men in the world? don’t you think the wealth gap between average person is far too wide? don’t you feel angry reading about “self made” success stories about how “hard” they worked when there is an obvious inequality in the opportunities they had in the first place? doesn’t it make you scared that the earth is being destroyed by exploitative capitalism? doesn’t it make you angry?

At it's very core, the dark academia aesthetic is about doing what you love, but taking it to a 10, and revelling in that 10. And finding exquisite beauty in the smallest of mundane moments. The unfiltered joy of life and your interests. And that is very lovely and queer of us.

Get up early. Stay focused. Watch less TV. Read more books. Avoid time wasters. Invest in your health. Take calculated risks. Write down your goals. Work smarter, not harder. Do something you believe in. Foster meaningful relationships.