You ever think about how unified humanity is by just everyday experiences? Tudor peasants had hangnails, nobles in the Qin dynasty had favorite foods, workers in the 1700s liked seeing flowers growing in pavement cracks, a cook in medieval Iran teared up cutting onions, a mom in 1300 told her son not to get grass stains on his clothes, some girl in the past loved staying up late to see the sun rise.
Sudden wave of an immense love for humanity has hit me once again…
I have no patience for negativity toward "boomers" anymore.
Almost everybody doing the work to restore ecosystems, grow native plants, and preserve rare species is 50 or older
The people I work with IRL have told me that my presence is encouraging because it means "the younger generation is getting involved with this stuff too." There's really not very many people my age
Who do you think was fighting this fight in the 1970's
“i don’t like writing about my day, but i want to keep a journal”:
quotes and copywork. when reading, if you find something you enjoy, just copy it into the notebook. you can copy a whole chapter if you wish, highlighting what caught your attention the most.
definitions. look up on a dictionary and copy it. you could write your own dictionary as well, making up definitions for words.
lists. a classic, write movies to watch, books to read, the playlist of the month or just the groceries you have to buy.
maps. when going somewhere, you could draw the route you took or just a map of the place itself. just look up the place on google maps and copy it. you can draw a little map of all the places you have lived or the schools you have attended as well.
photos
take “notes” as you watch movies / documentaries. write down phrases that caught your attention or doodle.
illustrations and clippings. if you see an image or piece of art that you liked, put it in your journal. if it’s from a book or from a magazine I would recommend scanning it, tho’. it will serve as a record of what kind of art you enjoy through the years.
newspaper clippings from the day.
tickets and pamphlets. from movies, museums, transportation.
postcards
records. you could record for a month what the temperature was when you woke up and when you went to sleep. if you do that for a year, it gives you a better notion of the passing of seasons. you could record rainfall and other seasonal changes as well. you could choose something (an animal, a plant, an item or object) and write down every time you see it.
rubbings of leaves, coins, landmarks.
count. there’s a scene in the movie Coraline (2009) where Coraline’s dad tells her to go count the windows. you could do the same type of counting game if you are bored and write down.
mindmaps/sketchnotes + timelines of books, movies, music albums.
collages
pressed leafs and flowers
your collections. if you collect anything you could write down an inventory or maybe try to draw the items.
recipes. write down recipes and give it a score every time you try it. you could do the same for drinks you try out.
stickers
comic strips. you can find a bunch of it online, glue your favorites in your notebook.
“there are, on this planet alone, something like two million naturally occurring sweet things, some with names so gorgeous as to kick the steel from my knees: agave, persimmon, stick ball, the purple okra I bought for two bucks at the market. Think of that. The long night, the skeleton in the mirror, the man behind me on the bus taking notes, yeah, yeah. But look; my niece is running through a field calling my name. My neighbor sings like an angel and at the end of my block is a basketball court. I remember. My color’s green. I’m spring.”
— Ross Gay, excerpt of “Sorrow Is Not My Name”, in Bringing the Shovel Down
As someone who's going to be moving and starting uni soon, this is where I find myself most days. It's strange seeing someone else write out my thoughts practically exactly as I thought them, but comforting to know that other people have similar experiences!
i keep trying to memorize every detail of the moments i live in. in the soreness of my legs from standing so long at a concert, the chill of the night, the patterns of a tablecloth, the oily texture in my mouth after eating fried bananas. i keep trying to memorize the feelings, the quiet contentedness, the laughter, the excitement. i keep trying to memorize the people, their smiles, the way they speak, what makes them laugh. i’m constantly on the cusp of the next part of my life and that’s just so.. strange. but it makes it so much easier to find happiness no matter what’s happening to me, in a way? because i’m already kind of looking at life with those rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, simply because i know these are times i’ll never be able to live again, and these are people i might not always have, and that makes it so much easier to appreciate everything i might miss later.
Now this is funny
not a wave nor a particle but a secret third thing
mae, she/her, 19, physics student & researcher
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