By: 大地の風景

Summer ~ 1895 ~ Walter Crane (British artist, 1845-1915)

Moonlit mountain scenery with people standing at a river by Georg Emil Libert (Danish, 1820–1908)

healing happens in circles, not lines. you will return to old places with new eyes.

i hate this popular sentiment that's like "nobody cares about your baby" "nobody cares what you had for dinner" "nobody cares about your spotify wrapped" like ok why are you on social media following people whose lives you don't care about. there's an easy fix for that

Jami Nakamura Lin, The Night Parade

Mahmoud Darwish - “Memory for Forgetfulness” 

i went on a walk today again and i kept thinking about how the more you try to control what happens in your life, the more unhappy you will be with it. at least up to a certain point. the more you think you know what you want, the unhappier you will be once you get it and realize what the reality of living with it is like.

society is so fixated on finding your purpose, reaching goals and achievements but that's mainly because we're scared of dying and realizing how miniscule our existence really is in the grand scheme of things. that's one of the main reasons why so many people wanna be remembered for something. and there's nothing wrong with wanting that but there's also nothing wrong with not finding your purpose, or just achieving things that society deems "small" or "unimportant". if it's important to you then it matters. our baseline purpose is to just live our lives and exist. anything else on top of that is a bonus, but not necessary.

if i learned one thing in my almost 30 years of existing, it's that during the course of your life you will realize the ways in which you will reach your goals or find your purpose will be different than you imagined. the less you resist that truth, the less you will be worried about the future and the more at peace you will feel with your existence.

people want instant gratification in everything meaningful these days and it's a major reason why a lot of people feel lonely all the time.

it's not just the aftermath of the pandemic it's also the general prevailing mindset these days, fueled by unrealistic expectations that are created when we rot in front of our screens for too long. the system is set up against us but at the same time we have to realize we still have control in not letting it get to us.

it takes a lot of time to build meaningful connections with humans. you're not gonna make any friends if you don't go out there and make experiences and meet people just for the sake of it, without expecting someone to be your bestie after a couple weeks of knowing each other just because you like them. and you're not gonna have a fulfilling longterm relationship by swiping a couple times on an app or trying to get into somebody's pants after meeting them a couple times. going into socializing with a transactional mindset like that is why "nobody knows how to talk to people anymore".

every single meaningful relationship in my life was built with patience, mutual understanding and time. the people who i decided i want to have in my life wanted to genuinely know me, not just collect me like an experience.

what's even more important is that you also have to know how to be by yourself in this world confidently and i'm not talking about "embracing being single" or being a loner/going monk-mode or whatever the fuck people call it these days.

i'm talking about being in touch with the world when you're outside, soaking in the small things, the little interactions, the quips and quirks of your home town and whatnot. just go out and live for yourself for once. how often do we really feel connected to what is happening around us when we're walking down the street to grab a coffee? there's nothing more important than to get to know yourself and know how to have fun by yourself or at least know how to feel at peace when you're by yourself.

what i'm trying to say is, it takes a bit of an effort to be friends with yourself and with other people and that's okay. and this comes from an introvert who used to suffer from extreme social anxiety and was never popular or had a lot of friends in school. the friends i made i'm so grateful for, but i made them over the course of almost 30 years. not in a couple months or days.

as always, nobody has to agree. just felt like putting these thoughts somewhere.

Time to post my favorite image