Go Ahead, Take A Look At Reality….. You’re Floating In Empty Space In A Universe That Goes On Forever.

Being able to name the thing makes it so much easier to deal with.

non-magical!au in which Draco and Harry study in different schools

Okay, so you’ve been called smart all your life. As a kid, you were one of the smartest in your class. Maybe you could read at a much higher level than your peers, or you could fly through multiplication drills like they were nothing. Then, you get to high school and suddenly you’re surrounded by lots of people who were ‘gifted kids’. None of what made you ‘special’ seems all that important now. Your work is actually challenging, and it’s actually requiring effort.

If you’re experiencing this, just know that so many students have gone through the same thing. Maybe it happens in high school, maybe college. But a lot of us who were considered gifted as kids suddenly run into this and it challenges our entire identity. It can be paralyzing, but it’s 100% possible to overcome it and succeed! I’ve compiled a few tips for ex-gifted kids dealing with impostor syndrome and self-doubt. I’m not a therapist, psychologist, or any sort of education expert. I’m just speaking to my own experiences, and I welcome any input from others who have insight into this as well!

1. Understand that working hard does not mean you aren’t intelligent. If something doesn’t come naturally to you, that’s not a reason to give up. Believing that people can do things “just because they were born with a talent for it” is only going to hurt you. It’s not true! People may have natural aptitudes for things, but hard work is involved even for the smartest or most talented people. You are capable of learning anything, and you don’t have to be “good at it” right away to do so.

2. Comparison will kill you. You are your only competition. Focusing on how you rank with other students, and comparing yourself to your classmates is going to exhaust you. By focusing on others, you can’t put your full energy into focusing on your work and yourself. You belong. Even if you struggle with your work, you belong. Focus on your own self-improvement and doing your best.

3. Don’t focus on the goal, focus on your current actions. If you’re always thinking about the future, and about whether you’ll get into that school or that program or win that award or get that scholarship, you’re not using that time to get work done. Don’t worry about college applications, just do your homework. Focus on what you are doing now to reach your goals so you can apply to schools with confidence later.

4. Your grades may not reflect intelligence, but they do reflect work ethic. Don’t let others convince you that grades mean nothing. They sure as hell mean a lot to colleges, and thinking that you should “reject the current education system” is not going to harm anyone but yourself. If you don’t feel like you’re learning anything in your high school classes, that’s all the more reason to want to get into a university that will challenge you. If you put effort into your work, it will not let you down. Your hard work will be reflected on your transcript. Don’t lose focus.

5. Talk to someone. Let people know if you’re struggling. It can be hard to feel like you aren’t allowed to identify as “smart” or to feel pressure to constantly compete and improve. I went to a highly competitive high school that pushed kids to cope in dangerous ways. This is not healthy and not okay. If you’re feeling overwhelmed you need to find healthy coping mechanisms. Speak with someone you trust and don’t let yourself spiral. Don’t try to self medicate. Your well being is always more important than your grades. Period.

6. Enjoy yourself. School may seem like hell, and you may feel like it will never end and you’ll always be stressed and worried. But high school is only four years, and you can do things during that time that you probably won’t ever again. Take advantage of things that seem fun, even if people think they’re nerdy or weird. Try and remind yourself that you’re lucky to have your education and you have the power to do great things with it. Don’t lose sight of your own ability and your bright future!

Olympus has changed.

The balance of power has shifted.

Zeus still reigns as king, yes, but now no more than a figurehead.

Gone are the days of mortals quaking in fear at every thunderstorm, every drought, every flood. They have grown beyond that, evolved. They have figured ways around his wrath; levees, crops that grow in the desert, iron and steel and cables.

Zeus is no more than a figurehead on Olympus.

Gone are the days of his council, of Demeter and Poseidon and Hera.

The crops are managed by the mortals now, the seas pose little threat when they can see Poseidon’s wrath coming, plot course around it, or dive below the waves. Hera’s base is crumbling- what she protected, her narrow idea of marriage, is changing and broadening to include so much more. Aphrodite is inching in on her power, love taking place where obligation once stood.

Instead, Olympus is ruled by a parliament.

In a world that runs on fossil fuels and crude oils mined from beneath the earth, Hades’ power grows. His kingdom expands with every life lost in pursuit of his materials. The mortals are learning, their eyes are opening at the futility of this effort. They are beginning to turn to other methods- to Apollo and Zephyros and Persephone, but there will always be death. Hades wins either way.

The machines that guzzle the fuel? They belong to Hephaestus. The machines that take lives? They are his realm as well. Anything with a gear, and engine, a circuit board, or a blade belongs to the God of Fire. His crooked throne grows ever higher.

The old ways of thinking are dying. Those in power who have wielded it over the oppressed are falling from their perches, called to justice by the women they wronged. Peoples of all genders are coming out of the woodwork, less and less afraid to be who they are everyday. The social norms that separate the mortals based on a binary are crumbling. Athena waits, and smiles. Her time has come once more.

But above all, one God’s power has risen exponentially. Roads cross-cross the world like the scars on a whipped man’s back. Currency flows like water, more and more essential by the day. Hephaestus’ machines and Hades’ fuels only further his power. Places of commerce spring up like weeds among enclaves of mortals- they will travel miles to go to one market and miles to another with nary a thought. The internet connects them all- relating messages, parcels, commerce, gambling… all his realm.

Zeus may be king of Olympus, but Hermes holds the power.

The establishment of heaven has fallen. The Patriarch is powerless.

The Outcast, the Disabled, the Feminist, and the Clever Criminal have risen up and seized the throne, if not in name, then in deed.

It won’t be long before the mortals do the same.

The most hilarious thing about the fact Buckbeak had a trial and lost is that later on JKR resolves the issue by having Hagrid take him in again and renaming him Witherwings. That’s literally all it took. What if in POA, Hagrid simply said, “Sorry, Buckbeak flew away.” 

“There’s a hippogriff right there, Hagrid.”

“A different hipprogriff.”

“I’m… pretty sure that’s the same hipprogriff.”

“Prove it.” 

Everyone has the name of their supposed soulmate printed on the inside of your wrist. You, however, are defiant, and begin dating someone that’s not your soulmate. It turns out that not meeting someone with the magic expectation that you’re ‘meant to be for each other and will get married and live happily ever after’ actually made you two get along pretty well, and you’re now deeply in love with them. However, after several years of dating this person, both your and your S.O.’s real ‘soulmates’ find you, and they’re both furious that you didn’t wait for them.

Everything changes when you start to emit your own frequency rather than absorbing the frequencies around you, when you start imprinting your intent on the universe rather than receiving an imprint from existence.

Barbara Marciniak (via infj-misc)

Coming Out

it’s me! yay!

Anyone else relate to these ace moods?

1) thinking you just have really high standards

2) thinking you have a very specific type which you haven’t found yet

3) thinking other people are joking

4) not realizing the song was about sex

5) thinking movies and tv are over dramatizing it

6) thinking movie and tv is accurate but like how???

7) not knowing which one it is

8) wondering when you’ll turn out to be gay