#greyacademia

You deserve to have a happy life, no matter where you are in your life, how productive or unproductive, you deserve to feel fulfillment out of the life you life. But when life gets repetitive, the spark dies. Here are some ways you can romanticize your life:

Daydream about whatever song you are listening to while you ride the bus/train/walk to where your going: are you are rock/pop star performing on stage? Slaying a rap battle? Or on a great journey to defeat a dragon? Or are you an elf in disguise, listening to the music of your people, dreaming of dancing in the woods? Possibilities are endless, let your imagination wander.

That pen you have been carrying around for a few months that you found on the sidewalk that's a little scratched up but writes soooo good: come up with an origin story for them. Make a post about them, what makes them fabulous? Your pen is literally your main partner in academia, treat them nicely.

"You're too old for that" <- Forget this phrase. Throw it out the window. Go play on the playground if you want, cronch those leaves under your feet if you want too. Academia is stressful as hell, play! 

Had to fight with financial aid for 5 hours? Take a rest, make yourself some cupcakes or order takeout, you deserve it: they really need to get their stuff together. 

Look at things through the eyes of a child: with wonder and curiosity. children are fascinated by EVERYTHING. 

JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE A STEM/BUSNESS/HUMANITIES/ECT.. MAJOR DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN’T PARTICIPATE AND ENJOY ART. Non-art majors have this stigma against art that it is useless, if it’s not profitable, what’s it worth.... uhhhhh how about de-stressing with a quick doodle in between exams? Some people have told me that re-making their notes to be pretty for tumblr also has helped them study, and the visual pleasing aspect makes studying overall happier... so take from that what you will, do what you like best!

Even if you are in quarantine, you can find something new to do: make a pillow fort- a BIG one... move in, this is your room now. Try new recipes or a craft. learning a skill may sound cliché, but think of quarantine as a sort of New years: you can make resolutions- new goals and try and stick to them!

Find beauty in little things

Overall, romanticize your life. When you feel like everything is so mundane and redundant, you lose motivation QUICK. Let your imagination free, you may not have a choice in being up, but acting like an adult is overated. 

dark academia in non western culture 

So, the original creators of GA have left tumblr. One deleting their blog this morning and announcing it on discord. They denounced GA and academia as “stupid” and “colonial”, and If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ve felt more hurt in a long time...

 These are people I looked up too, this person in particular....the GA community I looked as a family- friends when I has none. I LOVED (platonically) these people. and Yes, I fought online for them because I loved them so much and wanted to protect the image of the community. Many of us did, because we love this community. I’ve never had a healthy friend group before, it felt like euphoria. 

GA was based on inclusivity and practicality, while promoting healthy lifestyle and sustainability- building a community of like-minded ppl who were activists who could work to make a better world, one small action at a time. Our community was built on validation, trust, jokes, memes, encouragement, and helping each other through hard times. 

However, It all seemed surface level when someone who was considered a close friend, lets say, G, left the server after an argument, and NO ONE except for me and one other person even asked her to see if she was ok. We are the only 2 who talk to them even now... it’s like, no one gave a shit except for us 2.... ya... what a strong community... I wonder if anyone will care when I’m gone....

I’ve noticed distance in the community for a bit... and it hurts, so bad. It’s partly a me thing, I know: People are moving on with their lives, and I am being left behind, but to hear them fully dismiss the community we all worked so hard and long to build hurt... really bad. 

For those interested, I've set up a public discord server for Grey Academia! Everyone is invited here to learn more about the community and to study together, grow together ❤.

I made this for a more open community. Its no secret the other server was semi-private, you could get in by invite only. But GA has become very peer-pressure based, and if you don't agree, you are kicked out/asked to remove the tags from your blog. I was once a part of this behavior, and I'm now trying to rectify it.

If you were ever harassed, or insulted by someone in the GA community, including me, I'm deeply, genuinely sorry. I wanna try again and this time, build a strong community that truly is inclusive.