(The skeleton picture is not mine, I found it on Pinterest. Everything else I took.)
As a student, reader, and person, I often find a need to actively look for beauty in the things I do and the places around me. I love the idea of the “dark academia aesthetic” with its dark, muted colors, beautiful handwriting, and perfect intellectualism.
But realistically, it’s just not something I can achieve— as much as I need routine to survive, I am not an orderly or organized person. My life is fundamentally chaotic, ever-changing, and colorful— and I think that in the real world, that’s how it is for most people. There’s so much beauty in that—in change, color, movement, and chaos—that I think gets missed in the ~dark academia~ world on this site and everywhere.
This isn’t meant to be a long essay on the aesthetic implications of “dark academia” and its social and political implications as a popular concept in our day and age (though I couldddd write a lot about that) — I just want to appreciate the depth of life that I find in change, struggle, unpredictably, and vibrance, and share a little collage of pictures I’ve taken that emphasize that for me.
I started a community because I love the studyblr space on here, but really struggle with the performative, perfect workspaces, insane standards, and aesthetic perfection I see in a lot of spaces—if you’re feeling like you’d like a space to share realistic, messy academics, and find group accountability, please join!!
A community for academic (in college/university and beyond) who can’t help bring more chaos than calm to their studies. Let’s help each othe
