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Motivation - Blog Posts
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Music
I think one of the most underrated topics when it comes to self-improvement is music. I mean it. No one really talks about it. And not in the “listen to classical/jazz music, go to the opera, become a cultured individual” way. In the “stop listening to music all the time” way.
And before jumping at conclusions, hear me out.
I am and I’ve always been a fan of music. I don’t have a type - I listen to everything that I like. I had so many phases - Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, kpop, depressive music (let’s keep it a secret ok). You name it, I’ve been there.
For about two years, I listened to music nonstop. Not in the “music is my life” way, but in the “let’s open spotify while I’m getting dressed up” kind of way. I was listening to music in the morning, after I woke up. I was listening while I was doing homework, while I was getting ready, while I was eating. All the time. And I liked it - it’s not like I was scrolling, right?
I only noticed everything two weeks ago, when I was in an awful mental state. I was feeling like the pressure was too much, like the world was too much. I couldn’t hear my thoughts. Why? Partly because of the music that I was listening to.
Music blocks the outside noise. It is an escaping mechanism, much like social media or watching series. It makes you numb, or happy, or sad, according to the lyrics and the beat. In the end, music is content.
Let’s get back to the story. After that, I decided to search about the effect music (with lyrics, especially) has on people, and here, loves, is what I discovered:
Dopamine Desensitization: Excessive listening to highly stimulating music can lead to dopamine over-release, causing temporary pleasure desensitization, where one needs more intense stimuli to feel pleasure. Eventually, you may find it harder to feel good without intense music. Over time, this can feel almost addictive.
Dependency on Music: As many people do (and I am no exception), you might be tempted to use music as a coping mechanism, a way to escape the reality or regulate your stress levels. Over the time, though, this dependency may hinder emotional self-regulation and negatively impact your mental resilience.
False Cure for Loneliness: Listening to music is often perceived as a “cure” for loneliness. You’ve probably experienced it. Songs are relatable - they talk about love, family, trauma and all that - and this the reason for the overconsumption. And loneliness, as we know, is the no. 1 cause of depression and mental illnesses. The thing is, which I hope you are aware of, the only cure for loneliness is meeting other people, socializing. Music makes you think everything is getting better. Well, no. Everything is getting worse.
Mood Manipulation: As well as music boosts your mood…it can always take it down. Let’s say you got a bad grade. You listen to depressive music. It feels good for a moment, right? Your feelings are validated. But then the trauma and the mommy issues come to light and that bad grade leads a feeling tsunami. Music won’t let you live in the present. Wake up, love.
Internalizing Negative Messages: As a note to no. 4, humans tend to mimic everything they see and understand. So when a song is telling you that no one will miss you when you’re gone or some other bs, you believe it, huh? Because you are human. You’ve heard of the subconscious mind - find some other posts about it and read (I don’t have any, but there are plenty on tumblr - you can even find articles so dive in).
Overstimulation. Your brain is fried. Why, love, why? You need music 24/7? No, what you need is a walk in the nature and a therapy session, not living in a world inside of your head. When you can’t hear your thoughts and all you can hear are the lyrics…it’s time to stop. Please.
Note: by any means, I am not telling you to quit listening to music. What I want you to understand is that you have to live the present and be aware of your own feelings, without being influences by the break-up song of whatever singer. What I did after I noticed all this: I switched to classical music. It rebuilt my focus, it helps me stay calm and relieve stress and I don’t have to deal with the drama. Now, feel free to choose your own path. Or even keep listening to music if you think you can manage it - but stay present. I’m telling you once again.
I hope this helps! Rya
Just wanted to say this since I struggle with it as well.
You are not selfish or mean for shifting to escape
You are not selfish or mean for shifting for love
You are not selfish or mean for scripting a diff family
You are not selfish or mean if you feel jealous that other people have shifted and you haven’t (your feelings are valid and don’t ignore them)
You are not selfish or mean if you can’t remain positive 24/7 (this is toxic positivity and is bad for your mental health)
It’s okay to feel sad, mad, angry, upset, jealous, or tired. Don’t ignore those feelings, it won’t help.
Take a breath, you may feel stuck but you aren’t. The universe is not out to get you, they love you and so does your subconscious.
YOU WILL SHIFT
ily so much and please believe in your capability to do anything you desire! ❤️
lalalaaaaa au time. dont tag as ship or i will end you. ik it isnt super original but something something two cakes
the gist: instead of dying later in life, both danny and vlad were stillborns and turned half ghost after being resuscitated. their parents were told they had died and they were shipped off to the pentagon as little babies to be studied. theyre the same ages as in canon, they just grew up differently
they moved to amity park after they escaped because of the high level of ghost activity, wanting to learn more about other ghosts. they don't know about danny's birth parents living there YET. they only got out in like june and the actual story i imagine starts in the september of the same year after vlad and danny learn that its illegal to not have danny in school. they're super unfamiliar with the outside world and are super weird. they're rich but only because they do crimes for money (mostly theft), and because of that and not legally existing, they only use cash
their ghost forms are in medical gear because thats the only environment they've ever known and they can't really conceptualize themselves in anything else. they wear their hair long and down to cover up the spots of hair that the scientists lasered off to have easier access to their brains.
danny learned the ghostly wail early and uses it often enough (along with a few other voice based projectiles) that he's classified as a banshee subtype of ghost. he has very strong projectiles but his punches hit like wet paper bags. vlad is well rounded in his skills and very strong, but he and danny are VERY unused to fighting and are therefore pretty bad at it.
they're eventually nicknamed by the public "the doctor ghost and his patient", eventually shortened to "doctor" and "patient".
they're very close and consider each other family, but they don't put a specific label on it like father and son. every time they hug, it's as if they had been reunited after a war. they're used to being jostled around by scientists and so are very comfortable touching each others' hair, cuddling, etc and dont quite understand other people's physical boundaries for a while. they're protective of each other to the point of violence.
i have more but i already hate when i see posts this long in main tags so i will stop. if you actually read any of this shit thanks man have some choccy milk
Random thoughts
So you know how you have these dreams, like stuff that you want to do, and you hope that someday it will magically just happen? Like visiting a place or having a good relationship. Well guess what? Things don't just happen. You gotta work for it, not sit around and hope that opportunities will randomly stroll into your life.
And if you belittle someone for doing so you’re a shitty person
you are allowed to be proud of yourself for things that might seems small to other people.
Don't mind keeping a secret. Do you know why? Because most of these secrets are a huge deal for them, but nothing for others. It's just a passing thing like a drama you saw last night.
K-drama Great Seducer
🥹thank you
Hi guys! Remember you’re awesome! You’re doing good 💚
Commissions are always open! 💚💚💚
I'm good at existing-
Fuck self modesty! Tell me something you know you're great at! I'll start. I'm a great cook.
When you're in love with your OC…
Vaggie/Vagarde Motta (Male and human for my AU)
Couldn't wait posting this no more. I went a little out with the details, whoops- sorry not sorry! I also wanted to have some of my style combined with that of Viv. (Is it cool enough?)
Y'all can't guess my AU's theme.
Also, there IS coming more, but school is at its worst (they're basically controlling my life rn.) so when I get the time I work on my designs. (Next up is Charlie/Charles. (And he does not look anything like fem Charlie. I might have to change that…)) I had this one stirring in my documents for a while now and scrolling through here reminded me lol.
(And for the people who do know, please keep it a secret. I wanna have some fun!)
Hazbin Hotel characters in my style!
NIFFTY!! STAB STAB STAB THE ANGEL! She looks kinda bad, I might redo her (I was really lazy as you can see)
Hazbin Hotel characters in my style!
ANGEL DUST!!! (Idrk what to think of this one… He kinda looks weird but also not…???? I dunno)
Angel is such a sweetheart <3
Hazbin Hotel characters in my style!
HUSKER <33 He looks so tired, tired boi… >^._.^<
He's such a drunkard tho… I love him. (Not Alastor up there) Tell me which one I should draw next! (I'm literally gonna do every character)
Hazbin Hotel characters in my style!
YIPPEE IT'S ALASTOR THE GOOFY RADIO DEMON DEER. He looks like he wants to eat someone…
(I drew this on my Math hw 😔 sorry not sorry math teacher)
Tell me which one I should draw next (meanwhile nobody does that so I just draw randomly)
Hazbin Hotel characters in my style!
I drew Lucifer!! He's my comfort character of the whole series. I love him sm!
(I drew this on the back of my hw.)
Tell me which one I should draw next!
Wish them healing—after I'm done fucking them up.
“Never wish them pain. That’s not who you are. If they caused you pain they must have pain inside. Wish them healing.”
— Najwa Zebian
Halloween prompts no. 11
Something happens where Lazarus pits are opening up all over the world and no one knows whats going on or how to stop it.
Robin and Red Robin find a boy at a Lazarus Pit and watch from the shadows as the boy raises a hand and his eyes glow the same as those who carry the pit madness, the only difference was the sharp white light of his pupils. Within moments the Lazarus Pit seems to crumple in on itself but in reverse. The stones rising from within the pit and the glowing waters receding until there was no hint a pit was there in the first place.
Damian rushes in with his katana despite his brother telling him to stop and demands the boy explain. Instead he vanishes into thin air. The birds fight as the boy makes his unseen escape.
This continues with Lazarus Pits opening and just as mysteriously closing and the batfam/Justice League enter a race against the League of Assasins, the League of Shadows and the Chaos Lords, as well as many other factions who want to capture this child and learn his secrets.
After all, its clear that this boy knows far more about Lazarus than anyone has a right to, and perhaps even whats going on.
----
Danny keeps getting saved and saving these strange people. Mostly these ones in red black and yellow. Sometimes purple. Also they have muscles...Ancients. Sam had always joked that a good heart and muscles made him swoon, but he never knew he was this bad. How dare he. Getting back on track, he enters into a pseudo partnership with one of them as they work together to avoid Danny being captured and using weapons made from blood blossom plants to fight boss battles against the monsters the currupted Lazarus Pits spawn (or "Pit Bosses" as Jason calls them) Danny immediately closes the pit after the monster had been defeated and turned into goo.
Danny never explains himself. Who he is (other than his first name), whats happening, how is he connected to these events, how he's closing the pits, what are those things, nothing. Cue batfam member using thier detective training and gathering clues to discover the truth.
At the end of the journey they work together to fight an Ancient. A truly ancient being from Lazarus itself seeking to murder the prince and usurp his throne by drowning this world in the toxic energy of Lazarus and devouring the souls of all that passed, gaining the power necessary to rule.
They beat him of course and Danny slays him once and for all with a spear made from the stems and thorny vines of the blood blossom plant. Later, while everyone else is celebrating, Danny tries to sneak away and the batfam member follows him to a bus stop near the party. They can still faintly hear the people as they stand there under the streetlight.
"Where you really planning to leave without saying goodbye?"
"It would probably be for the best."
"And why is that?"
Cue love confession that tuggs at readers heartstrings and Danny confessing back only for Danny to reveal his Phantom form and tell them it could never work as Danny was a spirit of Lazarus, the prince himself, and it could never work between them as Danny had died years ago and left the living world and all his connections to it behind.
Phantom couldn't sustain himself in the living realms without the power of the Lazarus Pits everywhere as he would fade if he didn't return to his own reality. The batfam member couldn't come to Lazarus because the place was toxic to the living and they could never survive there.
They had to say goodbye.
A portal opens up behind Danny, making him seem to glow all the more and imprinting a scene of ethereal beauty into the batfam members mind forever. Then he was gone and they were left alone and hollow with the sounds of others joy not too far away.
Dick comes by soon after to ask what that light was only to see his little sibling staring blankly ahead and silently crying. Dick bundles them into his arms and they start sobbing, letting loose the most soul shattering sound big bird had ever heard.
The end.
Or is it?
Most of the people involved had been exposed to high levels of ecto radiation off and on throughout this adventure, and the batfam member can't help but think of what could have been. Couldn't help but think of the future they could have had together, the dumb quips Danny would make, the way his brow would furrow whenever he was worried about someone, the cute way he'd turn invisible when startled bad enough or-or!
The batfam watch uncomfortably as one of thier own falls apart, but its just heartbreak right? Little do they know the true essence of Lazarus isn't just life or death.
It's obsession
The duality of art
Honestly, the first picture of the armadillo bear made me think of Avatar
We are energy capable of transforming our life and that of others. Art by thekeymonster
the original got flagged with no way to appeal it when every contributor is deactivated but I will never let this post die. it's monday and we are getting on it cunts
"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."
— Anne Frank
(One of the first and best books I ever read. Rip Anne Frank 💐)
Crippling loneliness in the age of the internet:
"Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?"
~Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart (1999)
Let me set the scene:
In a dark room, the only light is coming from the phone of a girl laying on the bed, as she mindlessly scrolls for hours on end. She is typing fast, she is running multiple apps in the background, she is listening to the latest hits while doing all of this, her earphones never leave her ears; even when she closes her eyes, she is still listening to a podcast. Despite all these activities happening around her. The girl looks bored and apathetic, her eyes are blank, no emotions, no thoughts. And for hours to come she stays in that state, waiting for something to happen, even if it doesn't, she doesn't care.
This could be the opening lines of a sci-fi novel but this is actually how I act when I am alone. This is how my life has become. And while people like to blame this on the internet that has made Gen Z mindless zombies; I think the only reason I haven't died is because of the internet. To normal people it's a curse that makes humanity fall to its lowest. To me it gave a purpose, a want and a direction to live for.
The Internet isn't the evil mastermind to me, it's a necessity that has kept me alive and not succumbing to the fact I have no one to talk with.
Internet to me isn't Instagram, Snapchat, Discord,Twi--X (someone stop Elon Musk from cooking), it's the "quirky" apps like Pinterest, Tumblr and Reddit as well as the depths of content that is YouTube. It's the places where I found "my" people who understood me, who accepted me, who appreciated me. Growing up I had no one to talk with, even my own family wasn't understanding, let alone my friends.
During my school life I had always been surrounded by friends or as I like to put it, people I can talk to and have lunch with during school hours. That's what it was, nothing more than that. My idea of friends was just different from others, I didn't want emotional connection or people to hang out with. I wanted friends who would listen to my ramblings and be able to debate and discuss things with.
I don't want to seem pretentious or snobbish and definitely not above others in any way. But....when I am surrounded by so many frustratingly stupid people, I don't have any other words to describe them than "not good enough for me". They may be wonderful people, who are warm and lively. I do not care about being around such people. I am someone that watches video essays on morality, ethics, philosophy and analysis of movies and TV, in comparison to the people I know I am just more perceptive and thoughtful and that alone makes me seem like a stranger to them (INTPs are weird in short form). My dad told me smart people have it hard to make friends because of this exact nature, I wouldn't call myself incredibly intelligent but I know I am far more capable in thinking than my classmates who watch reality TV shows and Tiktok dances. Sometimes I cannot even comprehend how people can even get satisfaction and happiness from something as simple as that and that's when I understand: it's okay to be different than that and it's okay that they are "normal".
I feel like I am Lain from "Serial Experiments Lain", as if my existence is given meaning by the internet and I was born from it. My lack of social interactions in person can be explained by that, but it's the thought of talking with other people that often scares me. I am used to being silent, so much so that even on the internet, I remain quiet, not interacting with people who might understand me. Being afraid of not being understood has stopped me from even trying to make connections when there's people ready to do that.
I don't even reply to comments on my posts, unless I have to and I don't talk with anyone on the internet itself. I just watch and be happy at other people's interactions and feel a sense of belonging.
For some days I decided to stop doing that, to stop the vow of silence. To let people approach me and approach others myself. I want to be friends and it's the only thing that I have ever considered as something I couldn't achieve.
Loneliness isn't as pretty as the movies and books tell you. It's more of a psychological thriller than a show like Euphoria and Skins where these stylised depictions make my depression and loneliness appear cool. It's cool to be alone, to have my own space and not cross boundaries but it's not cool to let the loneliness that shields me, devour me.
"The world would be a better place without me, which is exactly why I will keep on living"
"Even when the world ends, even when the artist is the last person alive on earth, even when there is no one else to give their work a recognition, the artist will still be crafting art, because thats what we do"
~from YouTube
