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.
ambition is devouring her,
cracking and bending,
heart clenched and dripping
with poison greed and silver blood
the 3 am thoughts they say
are the truest a mind can form
her 3 am thoughts just say
when will I prove them all wrong
[ ode to slytherin ; r.c.s.]
•classical music to sip tea to while contemplating philosophy and the next marble bust you’ll buy
•stealing books from the Oxford library with friends you never thought you’d find, in the snow, yelling about Ovid, lighting candles
•folky music for sitting on your front porch in the lazy evening sun, surrounded by your closest friends, gazing at a wheat field and singing along with a guitar in your arms
•feeling listless; like you’re walking the world alone, wandering with no destination, held in the arms of the earth and happy with that
•songs to sing LOUD in the car on a road trip going nowhere in particular
•staring out the window of a quaint coffee shop, watching the raindrops cling to the glass and thinking of all the poetry you’re going to write for that lover you left behind
•looking back on a long relationship and realizing all the ups and downs you’ve had as one, suddenly seeing it all in slow motion like a silent film
•laying back on your bed, smiling uncontrollably, thinking of all the beautiful, bucolic times you’re going to have in the sun with that person you can’t stop thinking of
•a rock in your rib-cage, sobbing on the floor, feeling empty; things are coming to an end and you can’t bear to see them go
•the first day of summer – sprawling yourself in the green & vivacious grass, heart shaped sunglasses perched on your nose; youth in all its glory
•songs that bring back days of your old glory, reliving your childhood and your golden days, tracing over the old scars and remembering how you got them
•the smell of old books, melancholy, songs that are so potent with a sort of wild and tragic longing that they’re almost dangerous
•looking out a car window; letting your eyes cling to weeping trees and then letting them snap back again. feeling self centered and tragical.
•literally just songs that remind me of Oscar Wilde and Bosie Douglas
•stuff that i’m listening to right now! always changing, songs that i’m playing on repeat
me: *wailing dramatically in a long Victorian dress with a lit candelabra down one of the many dimly lit corridors of my gothic mansion at midnight*
my spouse: *turning on the hall light* we fucking talked about this
Detail: La Lutte de Jacob (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel). By Léon Bonnat, 1876
“I’m 24 years old and play this game with myself: buy myself something delicious for the weekend, blueberry muffins or flaky croissants, and forget it by Friday. Saturday morning comes and I am lucky to know me. I wasn’t born knowing how to love me, but I’m learning now; catching up for lost time between us. I keep the windows open. I play oldies throughout every corner of my apartment. I tell the dog how good it feels, at least for today, at least for right now, to be alive.”
— Schuyler Peck, Can’t Get Enough Of My Love (via schuylerpeck)