Alexandraksidi - Alex

A little advice from someone studying extremist groups: if you’re in a social media environment where the daily ubiquitous message is that you have no hope of any kind of future and you can’t possibly achieve anything without a violent overthrow of society, you’re being radicalized, and not in the good way.

Nikos Engonopoulos, from Bolívar, a Greek Poem

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, there will be a tree outside your bedroom window. It is very important to romanticize this tree as much as possible.

i love you visible brushstrokes. i love you glue warped scrapbook pages. i love you awkward poems. i love you junk journal with faded receipts. i love you poorly composed journal layout. I love you unintentionally blurry photographs. i love you asymmetrical beading. i love you curling freeform crochet. i love you fingerprints on pottery. i love you reused materials. i love you improvised instruments. i love you mistakes. i love you bravery to make it anyway. i love you creativity that hasn't been wiped clean of every drop of humanity and sanitized and commodified.

It's all about connecting with others, is it not?

"Draw for yourself" is such bullshit.

Do actors act for themselves ?? No, they act for the applause. The validation. The encouragement. The feeling that they're doing a good job. The thrill of performing to people.

So why do artists get shoved in the box of not deserving validation ??

"Draw for yourself" is a terrible excuse. "Draw for yourself" indicates unwillingness to support an artist. "Draw for yourself" because I, saying this to an artist, am too lazy to boost their creations.

"Be okay creating for nothing". No. Entire capitalistic systems are beginning to collapse because people don't like doing shit for no reason. It's not even like anyone's demanding money ; just a pat on the head & a reblog here & there.

"Draw for yourself".

Why ??

Why not, instead ; "show your true colors, & we will appreciate them".

Sometimes, reading stuff about particle physics and quarks feels like reading about a magic system or smth. Anti-strange kaons? Charm? Up quark? Antimatter neutrino? Syncrotron? The God particle?? Abracadabra to you, too. Damn.