art museum dates are so underrated. I want to take dumb pictures in front of Roman statues and watch her stare in awe of the little ways the sculptor made the stone look as soft as skin. maybe she would pull me over to a painting that reminded her of me and I would get to listen to the way her voice twinkles as she explains her argument, and a glowing smile as I reluctantly agree with her. maybe we could pretend to have a museum heist and almost get kicked out, ending with the both of us in heaps of laughter, falling just a little bit deeper in love. and when I'm asked about which piece of art was my favorite today? darling, you already know the answer.
a fantasy
a body count not as in homicide nor as in sexuality but as in the trail of people from my childhood and adolescence i should’ve been a better friend to and taken better care of but i was too busy being caught up in my own heartache to recognize their own and therefore our relationship tapered off in an extremely unsatisfying way that continuously manifests itself as a thrumming sense of grief in my chest. anyway which restaurant chains have the best free pre-meal bread?
the picture of dorian gray // oscar wilde
getting overly defensive of your favourite historical / literary / classical figure
suddenly remembering how much knowledge there is to acquire and getting stressed about the overwhelming amount of stuff you don’t know
roman numerals: you either love them or you hate them
when your teacher is obsessed with one bit of the course and teaches you that for weeks then breezes over the rest
anachronisms
you’ve listened to so many in our times that melvyn bragg is basically your internal monologue
waking up in the morning with a desire to know everything about one specific thing that’s totally unrelated to everything you’re studying
‘ooo i know this word!’ she did not know that word
muddling up the actual history, the fictionalised versions of the actual history, and the fanfictionalised versions of the fictionalised versions of the actual history
‘what can this cartoon / movie / song / art tell us about x’
history students are over prepared for politics and classics students are over prepared for english lit
reading aloud in terrible accents in english lit
j s t o r
escapes for when you feel anxious
exploring a flowery town with cute villagers
drinking a milkshake in an empty diner at 3am
real life that feels dreamlike
cute sunflower field dates
in love with the universe
softest love songs
living inside an 80s tv show
drinking tea on a cozy raining morning
you’re an angsty teen in a coming-of-age film
summer road trip in the west coast
vacation in san francisco
living in an old French film
stargazing and contemplating the meaning of life
late night drives in a 90’s movie
watching a beautiful sunset over the beach with someone you love
feeling dazed and drifting off under dreamlike sunlight
going to the beach in a camper van in 1960′s california
collecting whimsical music-boxes and taking pictures of clouds in paris
falling asleep on the moon
city lights at midnight
half dreaming,half awake in faded 60s sunlight
remembering someone else’s memories like they’re your own
being the guardian of a snowy forest who befriends wolves and takes care of baby fawns
being in a vintage fairytale
wandering the avenues of vintage New York City
living in a cinematic landscape and watching over a magnificent scenery
exploring an art museum
eating fruit in a small italian seaside town
How to start again ✨
delete apps and social media that lowers your mood
wear a new scent, throw away things you don’t need, delete contacts of people who make you feel unworthy, unfollow social media that makes you feel bad in any way
make a new playlist that makes you feel confident and happy
in a journal, write down why you want to change, the traits of the person you truly want to be, the places you want to go and people that make you feel inspired
write down the things that stop you and bad habits you have, and replace those with new mindsets and habits
before you sleep, make a detailed, achievable routine for the next day, that includes everything you want to do, including activities that genuinely make you happy
try new hobbies, like baking/cooking, playing a musical instrument, making art, learning a new skill, a sport, or a new language. you can easily get free resources online
think about the ideal version of yourself. you can be like that, if you try your best and work hard.
do not overwork yourself or set overly lofty daily goals and forget to do things like drink water. make your sleep and health your number one priority.
spend less time on your phone scrolling through social media. have a method of focusing on other things, like Pomodoro method or using the Forest app.
if you can’t concentrate, commit yourself to doing it for 5 minutes. once you get into the flow it’s much easier to concentrate.
be patient and kind with yourself. it’s hard to change overnight. you’re the only one who can help change you, so be a friend to yourself.
once you start something, promise yourself you will finish it.
have new weekly routines, like going to a cafe every Wednesday afternoon or indulging in your favourite tv show every Friday night.
do not deny yourself of good things; there needs to be a balance. similarly, do not be too generous and overdo it too much.
dedicate a day to clean your room and organize your things if you feel stressed out.
it may feel scary to change, as you may feel like it’s not the real you. but you’re still you, just the best version of yourself.
have a relaxing morning routine to look forward to, like making a nice breakfast, having a skin care routine, stretches, journalling, or thinking about nothing for a few minutes
have a mental image that makes you excited to do something. visualize yourself completing the goal and concentrate on it every morning.
however, learn not to rely on motivation because your brain will often turn off motivation, especially when you first begin something. have a routine, a specific time to do something, and do it.
notice the places and people that drain your energy, and try to avoid them. find people who make you feel energized and places that calm you.
think about an enjoyable part of something. for example, when studying you can look forward to learning new things and when exercising, listening to calming music or using nice stationery. it’s actually more fun than you think.
even though it’s hard, don’t compare yourself. you’re on your own path, and it doesn’t matter if people are better than you, because there will always be someone better than everyone. don’t be afraid to suck. so draw badly, write bad poems, run slowly, make embarrassing mistakes and fail everything. you can’t be good at something unless you’re terrible at something first. and doing anything badly is so much better than doing nothing.
don’t tell anyone about your new beginning, just start and let the results speak for themselves.
you can change and be your ideal self. but it will be hard to do that if you don’t believe in yourself. so make sure you challenge negative thoughts telling you can’t do something. tell yourself firmly that you can do it and then prove your negative thoughts wrong.
The fact that Dante created the most popular image of the afterlife with absolutely no theological basis for it will still be the funniest thing to me