“Well, it’s sunny outside, but I didn’t want to go out and play. The next day it began to storm, and I was happy enough to choose to dance in the rain. I learned that happiness doesn’t have to be destroyed by circumstance! I can be happy and make the best out of it!”
— Juansen Dizon, Childlike
The collision between the Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy.
the grand showdown
Andromeda is a bit bigger than us. So when that happens, Andromeda’s black hole is gonna consume our black hole in a vicious act of galactic canabalism.
Which is an actual term used in astronomy apparently.
“Galactic Cannabalism” sounds like an electro/death metal fusion band.
Galactic cannibalism is one of my favourite astronomical terms, but it doesn’t beat the term used for the stretching out into a long thin tube that occurs when something falls into a black hole (spaghettification) or the term used for a rock thought to be a meteorite but which later turns out to be an ordinary terrestrial rock (meteowrong).
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE
this is why i can’t talk to people who don’t think space is the shit
this is just intergalactic beyblade
“Whatever happens tomorrow, we’ve had today.”
— David Nicholls / One Day
you know, life doesn’t have to be competitive. you don’t have to get in the very best university; you don’t have to get the highest paying career there is. you don’t need to compare and compete with everyone else in the world. you need to do what’s right for you. you need to relax, take a breath, and say ‘what do i want, for myself, to live as i want to’. and, if that involves high ambitions, then that’s fine. because you chose those ambitions on what you desire as an individual, and not on what is expected in order to succeed. let’s be ourselves this year.
okay woah needed this
“It’s been a year and the streets are a little brighter, and daybreaks are a little colder, and everyone seems a little happier. But forgetting has become way harder and longer, darling, and Novembers still feel like losing you. Prompt: November”
—
fail that test. get drunk and throw up. have your heart broken. burn your toast. be late to class. break a glass. kiss someone awkwardly. look like shit. walk into a pole. eat a pint of ice cream. lose a friend. fail, make mistakes, because that means you’re fucking living.
7|11|18 I‘ve studied latin all day long for my exam tomorrow. Not really excited because it‘s my worst class.
push yourself to get up before the rest of the world - start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. go to the nearest hill with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise.
push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable.
get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else.
stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything.
buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.
buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small.
strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. put a massive scoop of scented fabric softener in there and wash. make your bed in full.
organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle.
have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck.
push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dog’s behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog.
message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. push yourself to follow through.
think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything.
become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends.
lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. open your eyes. take small steps to make it happen for you.
This is all really good advice for dealing with long term depression and anxiety. It’s not gonna magically cure you, but I’ve pushed myself to incorporate a few of these things into my day to day routine and it helps
am i the only one that whenever reading this it inspires me to do everything on the list?!
About a two months ago I had a breakdown in psych class, I was so distraught and had such bad anxiety I felt like someone was kicking my stomach. It was a bit public and my peers saw what happened and I was so concerned about the people who saw me that I was venting to my mum about it and what she said to me in response was “Honey, you’re human.” That sort of put things in perspective for me and I was able to look back a few days later and realise that I’m not so different from the peers who saw me breakdown so why should I hold myself to such an un-attainable standard that I’m not allowed to not cope with what I’m feeling at times. Why should I always feel like I have everything together, that I’m the most productive 100% of the time, that I’m always trying my best at everything when I’m only human. I’m only keeping myself from experiencing life and setting myself up for failure by expecting the unattainable from myself. So in case you’re in the same boat I was in, I’m telling you what I needed my mum to tell me, Honey, you’re only human. It’s okay to not be perfect.
1. start studying a week before every quiz/test. seriously.
2. watch youtube videos/ted talks on the topics you are learning about.
3. get lots of sleep! sleep helps you process the day’s events, including what you learned.
4. write out your notes. it’s proven that handwritten notes help you learn better than typed out notes.
5. don’t just read what your professor gives you. find academic journals, books, etc. that correspond with your subjects.
6. read the news! especially in the social sciences/humanities, connecting concepts with current events helps you understand and process more easily.
7. exercise! this doesn’t have to be going on runs or lifting weights, it could even just be going for a 20 minute walk. just get your blood pumping, it’ll help you focus.
8. study at your desk. it may be tempting to study in bed, but your brain connects your bed with sleep, so you’ll get tired more quickly.
9. reviewing notes doesn’t have to be something you sit down and do for an hour. skim through them and test your memory while eating breakfast!
10. expand your study time throughout the day to avoid burnout. for example, rather than studying for 5 hours straight, study for an hour here and there in between your activities.
11. make your notes organized and easy to read, but not distracting. bright colors and flashy notes may seem better, but can sometimes distract from the purpose of the notes.
12. use apps such as quizlet. this way, you can go through definitions while waiting in lines or walking to class.
13. it’s more important to know concepts rather than facts. for example, you should be able to take what you know and apply it to different situations, not just the situation the textbook gives you.
14. just because the professor doesn’t require you to read textbook, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. it helps explain concepts in a different way than your professor, and a lot of times hearing two different explanations for the same concept helps you understand it.
15. read in advance. read the textbook before your professor begins going over the chapter, so when he/she does, you can easily follow what they are saying.
16. do any extra credit work that comes your way. even if you don’t need the extra boost now, you might later.
17. go to class!! if you always skip class and show up at office hours completely lost on the concepts, they’ll laugh in your face. they’ll take you 100x more seriously if you show up.
18. however, if you are sick, take a day off. it’s more beneficial to you in the long run.
19. learn how to say “no”. if you have an 8 am the next day, don’t stay out until midnight with your friends.
20. don’t stress too hard over quizzes. if you expect them to go horribly, they will. you got this.
once you stop fantasizing about that ideal version of yourself and start working towards becoming that person by setting your alarm clock earlier and actually going to the gym and actually volunteering at places and actually eating healthier and not procrastinating and working just a little bit harder you’ll realize that it was so easy all along. becoming your ideal self will only ever exist in your mind until you make the decision to work towards becoming that person. get up!! get going!! it’s now or never!! there is no light at the end of the tunnel!! get that flashlight and pave your own path bitch bc no one else is going to do it for u!!
“Get that flashlight and pave your own path bitch” is absolutely my new life motto
Anti anxiety.
As someone with crippling anxiety, this shit WORKS.
you’ve gotta stat romanticizing your life. you gotta start believing that your morning commute is cute and fun, that every cup of coffee is the best you’ve ever had, that even the smallest and most mundane things are exciting and new. you have to, because that’s when you start truly living. that’s when you look forward to every day.
live your life like a ghibli movie where literally everything is charming and beautiful
Good advice
Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with the insatiable desire to learn. To know astronomy and geography and language and architecture; to recognize each constellation, planet, and star; to speak and understand all languages, be able to decipher ancient Greek and Latin text; to grow my understanding of how the human body works; study the differences and similarities of each religion; recognize the use for each herb and seed and sapling.
I want to better myself, not for fame or recognition or power. I just want to understand.
it takes years to develop your craft. do not romanticize the idea of an ‘overnight success’. be a student. grow organically. get really good. hate your work. start over. find new ways to express the same ideas. the student becomes the master. your time will come.
Please, keep looking. Not for a person, but for your passion, your love, your courage, your goals, your dreams, your happiness, yourself. Keep looking. Explore yourself before you explore another. Know your worth, know yourself. Only then will you know what you need over what you want. You need yourself to become your own.
need this
reminder: you can start over at anytime. your day is not ruined. your world is not over. take a deep breath. start over.
Just a reminder, but you do not need to “earn” being tired.
You’re allowed to be tired, even if you haven’t “done” anything and you’re allowed to be tired even if you did less than someone else.
Being tired is a normal thing your body does for a whole plethora of reasons, and is a basic bodily function. You don’t need to “earn” basic bodily functions, no matter what anyone else tells you.
