Motivation - Blog Posts
muva 👄 and mother 👩🏾🍼 ᴏɴ ɪɴꜱᴛᴀ
I can't express myself like I want because of fear. I want to loose this fear and I will.
"you can't always stay the same. trauma and happiness will change you, for better or for worse. stop clinging to what used to be, and accept the future with glee."
-OBR
bitches will love magic systems and then dread studying stem because its hard. Like, your mind IS the magic! Physicists, biologists, and chemists are literal wizards. They can transmute substances and cure diseases and predict the future. Engineers have made structures that stand for millennia and rocks that think and enchanted clothes and wonders we can barely imagine. Mathematicians are eldritch creatures that can peer into the fabric of reality and will reveal what they see if only you learn their language.
So yes, stem is difficult and esoteric and maybe can’t be mastered, but its literal magic and its everywhere and if you can’t appreciate that, I don’t even know how you get through the day.
this is also a reminder to take care of your mind. Magic runs on your mind and sheer willpower. If you’re studying late and getting drowsy, go to sleep. Consider meditating if you’re stressed out. Exercise regularly. It’s definitely not easy, but the benefits are real.
Please tap the image to read it better (or check the alt text). Every weekday morning, I write and share one of these gentle reminders on my Purrtreon. 🐈⬛🤍
If you’d like to support my work and access this kind of daily content and other exclusive things, please join my Purrtreon (link in my profile).
You all need to hear this:
1. You probably dont suck at your craft as much as you think you do, I bet a lot of people are amazed at what you can make, and
2. If you actually are the Literal Worst In The Whole Wide World at your craft... who the fuck cares? What are they gonna do, call the police on you? Keep making your shitty little things, youre the boss of you, fuck the haters.
Hii, I’m 18 female , still in high school and about to go to college.
Requirements/ preferences:
16+ (adults are fine) , male or female/nb, can live anywhere
I need someone to help motivate me to stay on track and I can do the same with them. Someone to hold me accountable. I binge at least once or twice a week and it completely ruins my progress. We don’t have to have the same ultimate goal, just the same mindset. I used to want to be a tiny as possible and be invisible to others but in the time that I’ve been struggling, my goals have changed a lot. I’m trying not to completely starve but to cut a lot of unhealthy foods out of my life. I’m trying to get as lean as possible which requires me to still eat lots of protein but still eat as little as possible.
Weight isn’t what I’m mainly focused on, more how comfortable I feel in my body and strength.
Height - 5’3 / 63 inches
Cw - 128 Ib / 58 kg
Hw - 132 Ib / 59 kg ( start of freshman year)
Lw - 107 Ib / 48 kg ( four years ago /end of freshman year)
Gw- 118 Ib / 53 kg
Leave a comment or message me privately. We can talk somewhere else!!
mindset shift that changed my perspective on the journey to reaching my goals
1. words have power instead of seeing your efforts as strict discipline, begin to view them as acts of devotion to yourself and your dreams. your goals are a labor of love, not a chore. you don’t NEED to be disciplined, you need to be LOVINGLY devoted to yourself.
2. honor your goals devotion IS love and when you are devoted to something, you care deeply about it. applying this to your goals means you are treating them with the proper respect and love, not just as tasks to be checked off. it is not hard work, it is self love.
3. stop trying to follow others their path isn’t your path & what worked for them probably won’t work for you. cater your daily goals to YOU. don't follow their exact diet & add your favorite healthy food to it, eat it in your favorite plate, make a ritual out of it. honor it.
4. embrace failure have ambitious goals but don’t punish yourself for not achieving them. aim high, and if you fail, reflect on why. adjust what didn't work. failure is a part of the journey, not the end of it. with devotion, you see failure as a step forward, not a setback.
5. taking accountability instead of punishing yourself if you ruined your diet today, sit with your actions and allow yourself to feel those emotions, including any shame. but then, be kind to yourself and move on. stop fearing that you will fail again and trust yourself.
6. believe in yourself. this method works because it builds self-confidence. the more you practice & succeed, the more you trust yourself. by being devoted to your life, things just fall into place. *i’m not afraid of failure bc i know that, in the end, i will succeed as I always do.*
7. doing the hard things isn't hard do the hard things because your future self will thank you for it. be a gentle caregiver to yourself and give yourself the best. facing challenges that lead to rewards isn't just difficult, it's simply what you deserve for your devotion.
8. start implementing things you love into the hard things. don't like going on a walk? find something that you like about the place you go to. i personally pick flowers for my room. go visit a monument. go shopping. instead of feeling guilty about enjoying a non planned meal, allow urself to enjoy it by making an event out of it. go to a beautiful place, eat it & get something productive done. replace the guilt w/ productivity.
9. reflect on your progress after succeeding realize that the thing you dreaded doing has become a pleasant activity that you now look forward to. keep doing it. watch yourself become the person that you have always wanted to be.
10. research goes a long way. when studying a particular subject that isn't of your particular interest at the moment start reframing it as working on your own self concept and self mythology. knowledge is power. become interested by it, everything has value. and make the space you study in beautiful.
"When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel
Preach🙌
- Embeccy
Don't be a coward who thrives on other's imagination ;live your life ,decide for yourself ,live for yourself ,commit to your commitments and lastly live your life in your own terms because it's your life and not their's-)RB
Ellie’s (lack of a) character arc & why the result is an unsatisfying story
Let’s state the obvious: Ellie does not have a character arc in The Last of Us Part 2. A character arc is defined as a gradual transformation or inner journey of a character in response to changing developments in the story. And you may argue that Ellie from the beginning of the game is not the same as the one at the end of the game, and I would agree with you. She went from a woman consumed by revenge (not really but we will stick with that for now) to a woman able to forgive her aggressor and move on. However, there are problems with this supposed inner change on multiple levels. a) the change is not gradual b) the change comes out of nowhere c) the change is not informed by anything I don’t think there’s any need to thoroughly explain the first statement. Ellie has the same goal from the beginning to the very last second before attaining her goal. At no point in the story is she self-reflective, questions her methods, there’s no moral dilemma for her, no inner conflict, no doubt that causes her to put her own actions into a new perspective and possibly change her motivation. From beginning to end she believes to be 100% justified in her goal to kill Abby. Subsequently, if Ellie were actually consumed by revenge, the only logical conclusion to her story would be for her to eventually drown Abby.
Which neatly leads me to the next point: her change comes out of nowhere. The decision to let Abby go, as is implied by the narrative, is triggered by a random, arbitrary flashback of Joel. First of all, the timing here is outright comical. For what reason is she having this specific flashback at this very moment? Sounds like contrived, convenient bs to me to give the appearance that her decision is informed by something (which it isn’t, and we'll get to that in a moment). Second of all, getting a flashback to the most important person in your life that has been brutally murdered in front of you, seeing an image of what could have been and what was unjustly taken from you, is not gonna inspire you to forgive your aggressor. If anything, it would make you more determined and sadistic. And third of all, I hear you all yelling "but it was a flashback to their conversation about forgiveness and that inspired her to forgive Abby." And I have multiple qualms regarding this line of thinking. Number one, forgiving the person you love most in this world for having lied to you cannot be compared to forgiving the person who brutally took said person from you. This actually further accentuates my previous point, this is the person that robbed you of your opportunity for reconciliation. Implying that Ellie's thought process here is „I wanted to forgive Joel, but this person robbed me of any opportunity to, so I have to forgive her” is muddled, nonsensical and quite frankly unrealistic. And number two, is the implication here that this is the first time Ellie has thought back to that conversation? That’s a whole new level of nonsense. She will have reflected on all moments with Joel, including this one, and yet at no point prior to this moment had she considered even the possibility of forgiveness, as I have illustrated earlier. So why now? Very obviously to get a payoff, which was neither set up nor properly developed. And moving on to my last point: it is not informed by anything. I know a lot of players didn’t want Ellie to kill Abby, and even I felt that way at first, albeit presumably for entirely different reasons (I was so drained and removed from the narrative by that point that I only thought to myself "just go home, you psychos"). But upon reflection, I concluded that that would have been an unsatisfying conclusion narratively speaking. Nevertheless, Abby seems to have grown dear to many players. After all, they have spent several hours with her, they have seen her struggle, overcome her obstacles, fight for what she believes to be right. Their feelings towards Abby are informed by the person they have seen her to be and by the experiences they went through with her. Yet Ellie is missing all of that context. She has not been with us throughout our three days in Seattle, she doesn’t know Abby outside of her having horrifically killed Joel and she has not gained any new information that would lead her to change her opinion about her. And so, we have another example of the story making characters do things that are not informed by anything, for the sake of a poor payoff. And since we're talking about characters acting nonsensically, let's talk about the roughly three minutes leading up to Ellie nearly drowning Abby, shall we? Ellie approaches the beach absolutely determined to find and kill Abby (repeatedly murmuring Abby’s name to herself). Yet when she reaches the pillars, she cuts Abby down, letting her free Lev and follows them to the boats, indicating that Ellie has changed her mind, showing pity/empathy upon seeing Abby a mere shadow of her former self. And yet again, we have Ellie acting in a way she never has before. She didn’t have pity for Nora who was coughing her lungs out, or for Jordan who had advocated for letting her live, or for any other innocent WLF or Seraphite that came in between her and killing Abby. But the one person she holds a grudge against to the point of killing hundreds of innocent people without batting an eye, that is the person she is suddenly capable of feeling pity/empathy for? Is it really that surprising that Ellie's actions here feel forced, uncharacteristic, and illogical? But it actually gets worse. In an additional display of Druckmann not knowing how humans work, we have Ellie putting her backpack with all her gear in the boat, looking at her bloody hand and then remembering "Oh yeah, that's the woman who killed Joel. I almost forgot.” And at this point in my playthrough I was laughing out loud. And so, we have Ellie all of sudden determined to kill Abby again, so much so that she is willing to threaten an innocent child’s life (this by the way was the final nail in the coffin for me, they thoroughly obliterated Ellie’s character throughout the entire game, but this goes against the very core of her being). And we know the rest, they fight, Ellie nearly kills Abby but eventually lets her go. To summarize what happened in the three minutes before our big emotional payoff to our 25 hour-long journey of playing this epitome of misery porn: Ellie has 3 - count them 3!!! - changes of heart. Her motivation does a perfect 180 almost every minute. This is not how people work! That’s lazy, contrived beyond believe, and borderline comical levels of writing, because Druckmann prioritized having a final boss battle on a beach over organic, coherent, and logical storytelling (but I guess it was worth it for the goddamn visuals). However, what’s most infuriating is that there are such easy fixes if one only thinks about it for more than two minutes that could erase nearly all for the major issues I just illustrated while maintaining the plot points of the two fighting on a beach and Ellie letting Abby go. If we have Ellie walk to the beach immediately, finding Abby there untying the boat (Lev nearly passed out in the boat, Ellie not seeing him) and she then attacks Abby, immediately we have erased two of Ellie’s changes of heart, she remains consistent in her goals/motivation, not jumping back and forth between two extremes. The two women fight much like we see it in the game, and then as Ellie is about to finish it, we hear Lev calling out to Abby. And there we have our motivation for Ellie to not kill her. Not because she gets a random, convenient flashback, not because she forgives Abby (Abby has done nothing to earn Ellie’s forgiveness), not because Abby has earned her redemption, but because Ellie cannot find it in her to put an innocent child through the pain Abby has put her through. Because at the end of the day, Ellie’s hatred for Abby does not outweigh her capacity for compassion and empathy for those deserving of it (a core characteristic of hers that was established in the first game). Because Ellie would rather let an individual live that is undeserving of it than cause the same pain she was put through to an innocent child that is undeserving of it. Granted, if we were to go with this ending, we would still have to build towards it properly and therefore would have to tweak the rest of the game, mainly by showing Ellie being self-reflective, merciful towards innocents, and even doubtful about her goals at times to make her final decision informed by prior developments in order to have the character arc actually be a gradual transformation leading to a logical conclusion. I have been a writer for nearly 4 years now, which means I am in no way an expert, or the most creatively talented person around and yet I would argue that this ending would be much more satisfying to most players than the alternative we were presented with. Because as it stands, none of our actions or decisions (and yes that is something important to consider when we are working within the medium of video games), or Ellie’s for that matter, lead up to this conclusion. The conclusion to this story, the final moment, the big emotional payoff hinges on a random flashback, not on any other developments that previously occurred in the story. Subsequently rendering all of the 25 hours entirely pointless, none of it had an influence on the finale, none of it mattered narratively speaking. So, is it even a surprise that many found this to be dissatisfying? I noticed a few people who are fond of Abby accusing people feeling differently of having too much of an emotional bias or even going as far as to say they are less emotionally intelligent. This is problematic for two reasons, a) different people have different reasons for disliking Ellie’s final choice. Some still hate Abby as much as in the beginning, others feel drained and indifferent, and others still feel similarly to how I feel in that it’s mainly narratively dissatisfying. And b) the same story can have a different effect on any amount of people (otherwise, we would have settled the discussion about what the greatest movie all of time is long ago). My point being, that no matter how you feel about this particular story you are 100% justified in feeling this way, and yes that includes people that by the end of the game still hate Abby just as much as they did the moment she bashed Joel’s skull in. That does not necessarily have to be personal bias, more often than not it’s the ability to see through the storytelling techniques used, rendering them mostly ineffective for these people (and I include myself in this). I wanted Ellie to kill Abby not because I was unable to empathize with her or couldn’t see past my own personal bias, but because that would have been the logical, narratively satisfying conclusion to this specific story.
i love having the hubris to go 'sure i'll try that, how hard can it be' about every creative skill under the sun. jack of all trades master of shit fuck but who says you have to be a master??? maybe i want to sew a mediocre plushie and code a janky mod and write a bland song. im having fun. im in my lane. im learning and im thriving.
*watching a friend play celeste* hey.. you know what goats do.... climb mountains
I find my courage in each small step forward; my motivation grows with every challenge I embrace, turning hurdles into stepping stones.
Old dogs CAN learn new tricks!
It's fun. When we're young we get shoved in many directions by those who are supposed to be "teaching" us. We don't realize just how broken most of those folks are and to be fair, they usually don't have a clue either. As we grow and experience life, we get shoved around by reality and forced to play by certain rules because well, things don't slow down long enough in many cases to realize there are other options. Here's where I giggle and say again... broken humans creating broken humans. But, if we're lucky... there comes a point where we can take a breath, look around, see just how twisty things, situations, and people really are.... and begin to rethink how we want to navigate our way through the chaos. That's where I'm at. It's messy. I make mistakes. I wander around clueless a lot. I flop onto the floor and just wait for things to give me less of a headache. I try new things. I laugh and cross some things off my try, or try again, lists. And sometimes... I squeal like a hyper six year old and giggle bounce trying to show anyone who will pay attention my most recent accomplishment... even if sometimes it seems MUCH bigger to me than it would to ANYONE else. hahaha The important part here is that I'm learning a LOT about who I am, who I was sort of forced to pretend to be, and how the actual me can function more smoothly in the world of twisty humans. I'm beginning to understand glitches, adjust my priorities, find new ways of seeking the options I want, and having plenty of fun in the process. I really wish I could have done this when my brain and body were a bit more... cooperative but hey... take it when ya get it right? heh Anyway... I've shared. I hope you're having some fun in the little glimmery moments of life. Laters.
“Listen to people who know more than you do. Then do it your own way.”
— Alan Parker
Hey ! First of all, happy new year. I hope you’re all going to spend a very successful year ! I don’t know if you know focumon, a great and very cute website (and app,I think ?) to stay focused and work towards your goals.
If someone wants to progress with other students to stay motivated to study, you can check out my party : https://www.focumon.com/parties/466-the-study-party
I hope you can all manage to find motivation, focus and do your best this year. I believe in you. Good luck to everyone !
Happy new year 2025 !
Morning view on my way to work
“I wish they would take me as I am.”
— Vincent van Gogh
Soft drizzles outside, cup of coffee on the side, wearing cozy clothes, reading a book, notes scattered all over, soft songs playing in the background,being delusion, and there's some sort of peace in the room....probably this is what it means to live in the present.
romanticize studying 📖🪽
• create a cozy study environment for yourself, no specific type of aesthetic setting but whatever makes you feel comfortable and motivated. It could be your room full of candles, a cute cafe, a garden, whatever works for you the best.
• find a playlist that motivates you and clears your mind during your study session: a vampire studying in a castle during 1800s, an animal crossing study call, a window view with rain, the lofi girl, etc.
• take the time to be proud of yourself. You studied today, even if it's less than what you scheduled, you should be happy about it, you prioritized your dreams and did your best, celebrate it.
• live what you are studying. In my opinion/experience reducing studying to a daily activity like another kills motivation. It shouldn't be something that you do, it should be something that you live and breathe.
• create a vision board of what your dream life should look like, how magical everything will be once you achive your goals. Having a clear vision is important to remember that you're not sacrificing your free time, you're investing it.
• find a study buddy. I never succeeded in this unfortunately but I'm aware of how much it can help to stay on track and feel less anxious. I see my brother studying on video call with his friends all the time, they go to the lectures together, to the library, discuss exams, give each other tips, exchange notes and find strength and motivation in one another.
• try as much as you can to see it as a beautiful game that you will ache. Keep in mind that studying is a privilege, it can be exhausting and make you feel burn out sometimes because of the school system but it is not a burden. You are seeking knowledge, you are doing something amazing, don't forget it. 🤍
happiness doesn't have to be loud, regular days are so pretty 🤍
Today is my birthday, I didn't do anything special, I made up a pretty set to blew my candles at midnight and I took some cute pictures, only my mom and 2 of my siblings were there but it was a really sweet and happy moment. This morning I ate cake for breakfast, I did a birthday cake face mask, received a cute plant from my dad , found a beautiful forgotten chandelier at home and my mom made me a special dinner with pink napkins.
it was a peaceful day, calm and pretty I would say, not the mainstream type of fun we consume everyday on social media, and I found myself thinking about how 3/4 years ago I wouldn't have been happy about it, I would have been there sad and frustrated because that was not what my birthday should have looked like at this age, but now I can see that would have been so so wrong.
Happiness or fun don't have to look a certain way to be legit, the media want us to think that there's only one aesthetic type of fun, that you need a certain setting to be happy. A lot of times you wouldn't even actually enjoy those things if you had them but they show to you that type of life so persistently and violently that it becomes almost impossible for you to believe something else.
Your type of fun, your type of beauty, your vision of what a perfect day should look like, your aspirations and dreams......everything gets roughly replaced by some empty ideas that don't belong to you at all and that wouldn't have crossed your mind in a thousand years if you had not been fed them every second of every hour.
All of this will probably sound obvious for some of you, and I'm really happy about it, but I know that a couple years ago these words would have helped me a lot and sometimes I still need to hear them. Mindlessly consuming perfect feeds and endless loops of tiktoks can make us think that our life is too empty, we see people younger than us "living the dream" and we feel behind, we feel left out, we begin to hate our regular days because they feel muted in comparison.
But all our days are beautiful and important, don't spend your time wondering if you are actually "living life to its fullest", just do what makes you feel good (as long as you're not harming anyone lol), and if you can't do it yet enjoy everything you can and live your days to their max potential, even when the max potential is good weather, enjoy the process as much as you will enjoy the outcome and be grateful for your imperfect little life.
🤍
Summer Exams 📖
leaving here the dates of the 3 exams I want to take in summer session, I hope I can do better and add another one (so that I only have another one to take in September), but let's start with 3 🤍.
19/06/2025 Languages of music and of sound communication
09/07/2025 Contemporary history
(the third one is still unsure, will add later)
Daily reminder from your bestie
You are not behind, you are exactly where you should be. Keep working, keep improving, keep moving, you're time will come and it will be amazing <3
🌸 May Plan 🌸
May is about to start and it is a crucial month for uni, this is the last month to study and plan exams before the beginning of the summer session (June/July) 📖 and I'm locking in 🤍
📖 organize a solid study routine and try to implement it as the days go by
📖 pick the dates for the exams
📖 build up a routine that allows me to be productive without burning up
📖 try to sleep as much as possible
📖 reduce sugar intake
📖 reduce screen time, no more scrolling
📖 try to walk at least 1 hour a day
📖 celebrate every tiny victory
📖 romanticize study
📖 don't forget fresh air and sunshine, a rotting brain will never work at its best
🤍 stay focused 🤍
