Self-Love

Ten places to rest for a hundred years

Abandoned Castles, truly a classic, everyone loves castles, if there are none nearby Manors work just as well

Forest floor, another popular choice, especially if there’s moss, would not recommend if your scared of bugs, and you might get stepped on

Seaside Caves, sounds from the ocean, the light reflecting off the water is truly beautiful, but you might run into a problem with The Tide

Hollow tree/Stump, might be difficult to find the right spot but once you do it’s really cozy, again would not recommend if your scared of bugs

Catacombs, a very gothic choice, a good place if you need it to be dark and quiet to sleep, not great if your scared of dead things

Under a Lake / in a bog, obviously it’s not for everyone but it’s beautiful, it’s quiet, and your not disturbed as much as a forest floor

Any caves, it can be easy or difficult to find you, for the most part it’s dark and quiet, you aren’t disturbed, Claustrophobia might stop you

Become a statue, if your able to do it I would recommend you do it at least once, maybe not for your first time though

Trapped inside objects, it could be jewelry, lanterns, Weapons, crystal balls, candelabras, all easy to store and travel with

In the middle of a labyrinth/Maze, your undisturbed, there’s room to add fun little traps and tricks, truly underrated 

౨ৎ ⁺ . my bedroom cleaning formula .ᐟ 🎀

📧 -> to get me motivated before cleaning, i like to imagine that I've invited a really hot person to my house and they're going to see my room. works like a charm.

this is a guide for people who struggle to get motivated when cleaning their room, or for people with ADHD like me who get side-tracked and easily bored!!

step O1 -> clean up any dishes 𝜗𝜚

you don't have to wash them right now, just get them out of your room!

step O2 -> throw out any visible food-related trash 𝜗𝜚

food packets, scraps etc.

step O3 -> pick up and put away anything red 𝜗𝜚

i get bored easily when cleaning, so i like to split things up by picking up colour-coded things too! this has helped me the most when keeping a tidy space.

step O4 -> throw away any makeup related trash 𝜗𝜚

make up wipes, q tips, makeup packaging, etc

step O5 -> pick up any makeup products 𝜗𝜚

put them back on your dresser / wherever you store them!

step O6 -> pick up anything orange 𝜗𝜚

step O7 -> pick up any paper, cardboard, etc 𝜗𝜚

loose sheets of paper, cardboard packaging, etc. put it in the recycling!

step O8 -> pick up any dirty washing 𝜗𝜚

you don't have to wash them right now, just put them in the washing basket!

step O9 -> pick up anything yellow 𝜗𝜚

step 1O -> pick up and put away any clean clothes 𝜗𝜚

make sure to fold them !!

step 11 -> pick up any craft materials / stationary 𝜗𝜚

pens, pencils, erasers, markers, etc

step 12 -> pick up anything green 𝜗𝜚

step 13 -> pick up any accessories 𝜗𝜚

jewelry, hair accessories, hats, scarves, etc

step 14 -> put away anything beauty related 𝜗𝜚

skincare, nail polish, hair brushes, perfume, etc

step 15 -> pick up anything blue or purple 𝜗𝜚

step 16 -> make your bed! 𝜗𝜚

a clean bed is a literal game changer. makes your whole room suddenly look neater.

step 17 -> put away any entertainment 𝜗𝜚

books, cds, toys, games, etc

step 18 -> pick up anything pink 𝜗𝜚

step 19 -> pick up anything monotone 𝜗𝜚

white, grey, and black !

step 2O -> rearrange things! 𝜗𝜚

neaten up your bookshelf, dressing table, desk, wardrobe, etc

Now you're basically done! things should (hopefully) seem a lot less stressful now that everything's where it should be. 🫧🧁

the last step is just to vacuum, dust, and wipe down any surfaces!

Imbue your art with magic and intention 💖🌌🌈

how to start reading again

from someone who was a voracious reader until high school and is now getting back into it in her twenties.

start with an old favourite. even though it felt a little silly, i re-read the harry potter series one christmas and it wiped away my worry that i wasn't capable of reading anymore. they are long books, but i was still able to get completely immersed and to read just as fast as i had years and years ago.

don't be afraid of "easier" books. before high school i was reading the french existentialists, but when getting back into reading, i picked up lucinda riley and sally rooney. not my favourite authors by far, but easier to read while not being totally terrible. i needed to remind myself that only choosing classics would not make me a better or smarter person. if a book requires a slower pace of reading to be understood, it's easier to just drop it, which is exactly what i wanted to avoid at first.

go for essays and short stories. no need to explain this one: the shorter the whole, the less daunting it is. i definitely avoided all books over 350 pages at first and stuck to essay collections until i suddenly devoured donna tartt's goldfinch.

remember it's okay not to finish. i was one of those people who finished every book they started, but not anymore! if i pick up a book at the library and after a few chapters realise i'd rather not read it, i just return it. (another good reason to use your local library! no money spent on books you might end up disliking.)

analyse — or don't. some people enjoy reading more when they take notes or really stop to think about the contents. for me, at first, it was more important to build the habit of reading, and the thought of analysing what i read felt daunting. once i let go of that expectation, i realised i naturally analyse and process what i read anyway.

read when you would usually use your phone. just as i did when i was a child, i try to read when eating, in the bathroom, on public transport, right before sleeping. i even read when i walk, because that's normally a time i stare at my screen anyway. those few pages you read when you brush your teeth and wait for a friend very quickly stack up.

finish the chapter. if you have time, try to finish the part you're reading before closing the book. usually i find i actually don't want to stop reading once i get to the end of a chapter — and if i do, it feels like a good place to pick up again later.

try different languages. i was quickly approaching a reading slump towards the end of my exchange year, until i realised i had only had access to books in english and that, despite my fluency, i was tired of the language. so as soon as i got back home i started picking up books in my native tongue, which made reading feel much easier and more fun again! after some nine months, i'm starting to read in english again without it feeling like a huge task.

forget what's popular. i thought social media would be a fun way to find interesting books to read, but i quickly grew frustrated after hating every single book i picked up on some influencer's recommendation. it's certainly more time-consuming to find new books on your own, but this way i don't despise every novel i pick up.

remember it isn't about quantity. the online book community's endless posts about reading 150 books each year or 6 books in a single day easily make us feel like we're slow, bad readers, but here's the thing: it does not matter at all how many books you read or what your reading pace is. we all lead different lives, just be proud of yourself for reading at all!

stop stressing about it. we all know why reading is important, and since the pandemic reading has become an even more popular hobby than it was before (which is wonderful!). however, there's no need to force yourself to be "a reader". pick up a book every now and then and keep reading if you enjoy it, but not reading regularly doesn't make you any less of a good person. i find the pressure to become "a person who reads" or to rediscover my inner bookworm only distances me from the very act of reading.

a story in 3 parts

Truly underappreciated library resource: Kanopy!

It's a movie-and-tv streaming service that many libraries offer. If your library supports it, you can get a free account with your library card!

It works similarly to Hoopla, with monthly checkout limits, but the amount of movies and tv they have is astounding. They focus on indie movies and documentaries, but they have an impressive variety. A few days ago, some friends and I watched an experimental Afrofuturist queer surreal-cyberpunk musical movie just to try it, and it was a strange and fascinating experience that I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else. (Neptune Frost, by the way. It's interesting!)

Kanopy has animated movies like the French/North African The Rabbi's Cat (Le chat du rabbin), popular indies like The Secret of Kells, up to well-known ones like ParaNorman. It has popular quirky successes like Everything Everywhere All at Once, But I'm a Cheerleader, and Lady Bird, award-winning dramas like Moonlight, classic movies like The Graduate, Dial M for Murder, Roman Holiday, Rashomon, and Seven Samurai. It's got Charlie Chaplin. It's got some classic musicals, like Oklahoma! and Guys and Dolls. It's got classic horror like Suspiria, Nosferatu, and Night of the Living Dead, and a plethora of modern horror as well. It has cheesy old-timey sci-fi from the 50s and 60s, genuinely good classic sci-fi like The Boys from Brazil, cult classics like Donnie Darko, modern feel-good quirky sci-fi like Jules, and just, a WHOLE lot of super interesting creative modern indie sci-fi to browse. It has documentaries. It has quite a lot of PBS and BBC series. It has anime. It has all of Farscape for some reason. It has a really impressive collection of LGBTQ+ film from around the world.

See if your library offers Kanopy, and browse the genres you like - you are sure to find something fascinating that you had never heard of before!

always thinking about the production of hamlet i saw at the pop up globe a couple of years ago where everyone was costumed in typical shakespearean dress and the set was fairly minimal BUT! they gave polonius an iphone. it was like a running gag that his ringtone kept going off when hamlet or claudius were trying to speak and they would get more and more impatient with him every time. the cast had perfect comedic timing and it was such a perfect modernisation of typical shakespeare humour

but oh my God. the nervous laughter that rippled through the audience when his phone went off behind the tapestry. the heavy silence that followed, interrupted only by the incessant chime of polonius' ringtone and a muffled "shit, shit!" while he tried to decline the call. it keeps ringing even after hamlet has already put his sword through him. hamlet picks it up in his bloody hands and ends the call, puts it back in polonius' grasp before turning back to face gertrude.

hands down the best set up and pay-off of any addition to a shakespeare play i have ever witnessed

frog machine

Credit to @ArtFromRachel on Twitter

Agneta and the Sea King from the Scandinavian folktale