5rzefona - Untitled

how to live life like a ghibli film

1. go out in nature more. every studio ghibli film has some aspect of nature intertwined with the storyline. sometimes its hard to get the energy to go outside, but just going out on your deck or opening the window in your room or taking a walk around the block is enough. if you feel like it, go for a hike! go into the woods and look at every flower, and every tree. look at the mushrooms and streams and notice the beauty of them. look at nature like you’ve never seen it before. wake up at 4 and watch the sunset. put plants around your room. realize how beautiful the world is around you. appreciate it. 

2. get a hobby! this step is certainly easier said than done, but its so worth it. struggling with mental illness makes it especially hard to get a hobby, but its very important that you don’t spend the majority of your time on social media. Start small. If you want to start drawing get a coloring book and fill in a picture with beautiful markers! If you want to write find a random prompt online, give yourself 30 minutes and see what you can come up with. Want to try baking? Start with an easy recipe, like chocolate chip cookies, and share them with your family or friends, or just yourself! Try out a bunch of hobbies, and see what you like best. Maybe you like making jewelry or writing poems or creating digital collages or making video edits or decorating your room or riding a bike or sewing or reading. The possibilities are endless, and getting a hobby you enjoy is very important, and fun.

3. start appreciating small things and noticing details. I don’t know how to explain this step, but in studio Ghibli films, small things always stick out. There are beautiful tiny details that make the story so much more magnificent. small details make the studio Ghibli films what they are. maybe on your way to school/work the sky was a really pretty color. Or the tea you made in the morning was perfectly steeped. appreciate small details of life that you don’t normally notice.

4. appreciate food. Pay attention to your food. If you can, try and make/bake your own food! But if you can’t, just be mindful of your food. Try not to eat while you’re on your phone. Dedicate times to just eating. Appreciating the food in front of you. Make yourself the ponyo drink with milk and honey, or ponyo ramen! Make yourself your own blend of tea like the Baron!

5. be kind and help others. Being kind doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, it can be smiling and waving at a baby in a café, or helping your mom finish the dishes, or paying for a friend’s coffee. Small gestures not only put good out into the world, but they also make you feel better. When you can, help others. Try volunteering at an animal shelter, or babysit for your aunt without charging her, or just listen to your friend when they’re going through something and be there for them. In every Ghibli film, the main character is always helping others, and being kind. Try to be like kiki, when she returned the pacifier to the mother who forgot it, or like chizuru from the cat returns, who risks her life to save a cat. Kindness comes in all shapes and forms, so just try your best to do what you can!

6. be your most authentic self. Stay true to who you are. dress how you’d like. Cut your hair like you’ve always wanted to. Stay confident and true to yourself. We all feel insecure sometimes, but we need to remind ourselves that we are great. Don’t try and force yourself to be someone you aren’t. Kiki felt insecure in her abilities as a witch, but she stayed true to herself, and believed in herself, and it paid off. Love and appreciate yourself, just the way you are.

7. (not really a tip but a fun suggestion) start collecting something! This is just an extra step that I wanted to include because I think its nice. But start a collection of things that interest you. It could be anything! Candles, stamps, teacups, antique figurines, 19th century photos, lip balms, books, key chains, flowers, hats. The choices are endless.

LET’S GROOVE! an ode to unsettling dance scenes

“Nevertheless, although the way the Bathhouse is staged recalls a megalopolis, Miyazaki did not choose to show it from a futuristic angle, in contrast to Tezuka Osamu. The references are more ninetheenth and early twentieth century: the forge, the apothecary’s cabinets, the tatami room, the tasuki sashes, the old-fashioned elevators, the curtains and wall hangings in the old woman’s apartments, as well as her hairstyle, and so on. It is the world of bourgeois order. The old woman’s face, her Victorian bun, and the way her rooms are decorated all suggest it - at the very top of this closed and vertical universe lives an Anglo-Saxon-looking witch. However, neither the Japanese people nor Japanese culture (starting with the public-bath tradition) are entirely remote from this world. In fact, they are completely taken with it and are confirmed stakeholders in it; one of the more obvious reminders of this is that the outside of the Bathhouse clearly brings Sino-Japanese architecture to mind. But it is not an ancient architecture recalling a specific style. It is a hybrid building, almost a pastiche; it is made not of wood but of conrete painted and decorated in the 1930s style known as Imperal Crown, like the Tokyo National Museum. Miyazaki thus evokes the Rokumeikan palace, built in 1883 by the Japanese government to welcome Westerners, and the salons of Gajoen and Meguro, popular spots for bourgeois weddings.”

“[…] Even though allusions to the West are the most pronounced, it is interesting to note that there are also references to Buddhism, a religion that in Japan is consistently described as a foreign creed. There are at least three allusions to Buddhism, each of which could plausibly be accidental but collectively leave no room for doubt of their working together. The first is in the name borne by the witch’s son, Bôh, a word often used in Japanese to mean just “boy” or “kid” but that primarily means “monk”. The second occurs in a quick scene that takes place on the banquet level, where we see a small sign that says “Pure Land” (Jôdô). And finally, the big mole on the witch’s face is placed where one might usually find the “third eye” in Buddhist iconography. Buddhism is thus clearly associated with the upper spheres of society, with power and money. Beyond socio-historical criticism, however, the allusion to Buddhism indicates that the vertical world is first and foremost one of eschatological promises.”

“The possibility of reaching the world of horizontality is granted to Chihiro thanks to her resistance to the laws of verticality - she never espouses the system of mimetic desire. Not only does she refuse the gold that Kaonashi offers her, but she refuses to give in to her new friends’ desire for wealth. Her attachment to people, beginning with her parents, is sincere and unwavering. She does not, however, have just one thing in mind (restoring her parents to human form, for example), which would amount to a form of fantasy. She handles situations in real time, based on circumstances, and solves problems as and when they occur. This is why she gives the antidote that could have saved her parents to Haku and Kaonashi, who need it immediately. She also avoids being reduced to the object of other people’s desire while still remaining sympathetic and compassionate, as we see from her relationship with Kaonashi.”

“In short, Chihiro is driven by the power of her heart, which also dictates her moral sense. She is quite willing to imitate the way poeple look or act (she has no problem dressing like a servant and does her best to wash the floor like a practiced hand), but she does not adopt their aspirations. She can therefore have genuine relationships with people. She forges strong and lasting bonds, as symbolized by the tasuki - the white sleeve ties that she wears in the film’s poster. Miyazaki thus contrasts the fake depth of the Bathhouse, which is of Western origin (but into which modern Japanese culture has been completely absorbed) and which keeps individuals in a state of severe and ridiculous anxiety vis-à-vis death, with the real expanse, the real depth, which is an awareness of the bonds that link people to one another under any set of circumstance and in real time, and that link mankind to nature.”

Imitation and Creativity in Japanese Arts; from Kishida Ryūsei to Miyazaki Hayao, Michael Lucken, 2016.

the signs as aesthetics

aries - dirty high tops, varsity jackets, sunrises, graffiti, pins and patches, lightning, live concerts, wide grins, lollipops, skinny jeans, matches, the moment before the drop on a roller coaster

taurus - flower crowns, oversized sweaters, mom jeans, mugs, leather, log fires, sunlight peeking through the window, leaves, succulents, journals, sleeping in on the weekends, messy buns

gemini - bright eyes, bicycles, overalls, new friends, art museums, iced coffee, infectious laughter, pastel colors, bubblegum, new books, speakers, yellow highlighter, singing in the shower

cancer - the beach, hair blowing in the wind, bath bombs, conch shells, balloons, the moon, soft serve, the sound of raindrops against the window, knee high socks, running barefoot, inspirational quotes

leo - gold stars, sparklers, mascara, romantic poetry, mirrors, sunflowers, running through a meadow, glitter, fairy lights, hot baths, monarch butterflies, sunny days, bright eyeshadow

virgo - french braids, calligraphy, bookstores, collared shirts, to-do lists, teacups, watercolors, mason jars, dainty hands, cuffed pants, fresh linens, classic literature, potted plants, bullet journals, clear aviators

libra - cotton candy clouds, bubble baths, cherry blossoms, lace, lip gloss, ferris wheels, gentle eyes, holding hands, pink lemonade, candy hearts, novels, birds chirping, strawberries, vintage cars

scorpio - sunsets, midnight conversations, driving on an empty highway, listening to the radio, rainy days, crescent moon, tv static, all-nighters, white sheets, the ocean

sagittarius - road trips, beanies, doodling, maps, getting lost, stargazing, forests, fireflies, polaroids, cameras, paint-stained jeans, light bulbs, messy ponytails, traveling the world

capricorn - architecture, silhouettes, sheet music, mountains, old books, coffee shops, high ceilings, history museums, skylines, nude lipstick, spiral staircases, neat handwriting, cobblestone

aquarius - combat boots, neon signs, geodes, starry skies, pool water, song lyrics, bulky headphones, space, telescopes, multi-colored fairy lights, smoke, activism, 24-hour gas stations, dyed hair

pisces - daydreaming, umbrellas, finger paint, sketchbooks, getting lost in your thoughts, ice cream trucks, earphones, leggings, sweatshirts, paint chips, swing sets, daisies, milkshakes, bubbles, scented candles

libfem vs. radfem solutions

many have said it before me and probably better than me but i just feel the need to shout into the void:

my problem with liberal feminism is that it tries to solve the branches of the problem instead of addressing the root of the problem.

problem: gender is constrictive and enforces oppressive societal roles

libfem solution: make more genders so that people feel more comfortable when gendered stereotypes don’t fit them

radfem solution: understand that gender doesn’t define who you are and how you can express yourself /and/ eliminate the concept of gender completely (keeping in mind the importance of biological sex because women and men are medically different and need different treatment or present different symptoms for the same conditions, etc.)

problem: sex industry is harmful to society and more importantly it’s abusive to women in the industry

libfem solution: “ethical” porn

radfem solution: get rid of porn and ban prostitution NOT to criminalize workers but to protect them (and put in place other safety nets so that they can still make money and live) /and/ understand the social harm that comes from filming and making money of off rape. (we can all agree that consent through coercion is not consent, right? begging or guilting someone into saying yes is not consent so why is ‘paying’ (bribing) someone with money any different?)  

problem: beauty standards are damaging and make us insecure

libfem solution: expand beauty standards to be more inclusive

radfem solution: understand that beauty isn’t a measure of your value /and/ accept that physical appearrance doesn’t matter. no matter how inclusive beauty ideals are there will always be someone that doesn’t meet the criteria (i’m not trying to downplay insecurity, it hurts believe me i know. but if you consistently strive to be 'beautiful’ there will always be something to nitpick and find wrong with yourself. 'you don’t need to be beautiful’ is my new mantra to try and fight that)

all of this is an oversimplification of a lot of difficult and complicated issues but i hope if you’re reading this you consider a radfem’s perspective. also i do NOT speak for everyone lol. feel free to discuss politely in the notes

Sick bitch

Soo ...um hi. This is an update from my previous depressed pissy post. We could say that life can sometimes be a movie? I honestly thought I threw my future in the trash with how I "acced" my matura exam. But ...here's the catch-the whole generation flunked too smh. Who would've guessed? Amirite. Anyway I got accepted in the university I wanted. Im a pharmacy student now. And a top of that I found a summer job after a two day search. Its 3 bucks a hour , myb it doesnt sound much to some of you but believe me in my country I rlly couldnt find a better paying job. And thats dat. After the rollercoster of feelings i put myself tru Im feeling rlly relieved now but not exilarated more ...meh. Dont get me wrong it couldnt turn out better . I wanted to finish this journey(lol) and myb give hope to idjits like me out there.you'll have a looot of though times,rough patches in your life but things will somehow get better and dont lose hope hoes. Peace out

MY study tips!!!

I think it’s time to share with you what I actually do when I study. Here’s a list (non-exhaustive) of the main tools I use before an exam. Enjoy! 

I read my notes consciously, then I hide them and try to write down everything I remember. Then I’ll take my notes again, and look for what’s missing. Not only it permits me to see what I still don’t know, but it also consolidates what I already know. This one really works if you have to learn pathways, key concepts, etc. Re-write as it comes to your mind, make a mind-map, use arrows, etc.

Once I identified what I don’t know, I’ll just put a mark on my notes, so I know that this specific part needs to be more reviewed.

When I feel overwhelmed by all the stuff I have to review, I’ll just divide it into sections and create a study plan! 99% of the time, this makes me realize that it’s not that terrible and I can get through this! I feel much better then!

The Forest App. I don’t use it systematically but it really helps me keeping distractions away (AKA my phone) and in the end, I can have a little peek view of my study session!

Whenever I’m reading something important that I know I won’t automatically remember, I write it down on a piece of paper. Indeed, I always use a bloc-notes when studying, so I just write down important points. By doing this, I become more active when learning and actually remember better! And sometimes I keep those pieces of paper so I can re-read them just before the exam.

I try to stick to a memorization routine. For example, if it’s the first time I read a specific topic that I have to memorize, I’ll re-read it 3 days after, then again a week after, then 10 days after, etc. This is the best way to memorize: « repetitio est mater studiorum » as my anatomy teacher says.

When reading your notes, always try to think about what could be the possible questions that are “exam askable”.

If you have any specific topics to learn about the same main subject, try to summarize each topic on only one paper sheet. It’s been proven that we tend to memorize more when we see the information only on one paper than many. For example, I’m currently preparing my microbiology exam, so I did a sheet for each virus or bacteria and put them in plastic sleeves and store them in a binder. By doing this, I’ll be able to re-read them all the days before the exam and retain the most important information! 

The textbook is cool, but sometimes I’m in a rush and summaries made from previous years students will do the job. Of course, I make sure there’re no mistakes inside. And it can actually help with difficult subjects. 

I only use flash cards for vocabulary (my dear Spanish!) or pharmacology. They are the PERFECT way to memorize some things by heart!

I multitask intelligently. For example, when I workout I listen to audiobooks or watch medical-related videos on youtube while walking on the treadmill 

I test myself. I take online quizzes, I ask some friends or my boyfriend to interrogate me so I train my brain to see the problems differently and learn more! 

STUDYGRAM 

i completely understand what you’re saying but as a person with a low self-esteem issue and imposter syndrome, as someone who always feels she’s lacking, i cannot express to you how incredibly satisfying it is to watch or read a well-written “chosen one” trope , specially if it’s a female protagonist 

there are so many movies and books which use the chosen one trope and i can’t get enough of it.

Moana? Hit me with that puro. Princess diaries? Slap me one of those. Harry freaking Potter? not a female protag but damn what a series. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett? Yes please! Kung Fu Panda? uh? HELL YEAH

Like, as a writer, I get why writers think it may not be the best way to tell a story, but as an audience member and a reader, I straight up love that shit. I love seeing someone who is seemingly extremely bad for the job be the only one who can actually do the job, I LOVE to see them struggle with their self-doubt, fumble through all the things they have to go through despite being massively underprepared, question their abilities and be all like “But you’ve got the wrong person” and all the while their destiny is telling them “You stuck up bitch, you ARE THE ONE.” 

It is simply gratifying to feel that no matter how unequipped and incapable i think i am, there’s something bigger than the material world, who thinks i am fucking meant to get this job done

Saw this tweet today and it’s perfection

Viktor and Yuuri before the Halloween Ice Gala 🎃😆