Subtitles From Science Gossip, 1900

Of chess, it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not chess.

-William Napier

Sometimes it’s absolutely scary to do something just because you care so much, and if it goes wrong, the disappointment can feel crushing. But trying is better than being paralyzed. There is more regret in inaction than in making a bad choice. It’s not too late to do something you’ve been putting off out of anxiety. You’re more than capable of doing this. Let’s try to think more about realistic future scenarios instead of catastrophic ones. Yeah, life is not always perfect, but you don’t have to be either. You are good enough as you are, keep going. You deserve to try. There is more to life than the awful scenarios anxiety comes up with and tries to protect you from. Just remember that isolation and inaction are cutting you off from the world, and it’s hurting you on the long run.

You are so much more than anxiety, than catastrophe, tragedy or failure. What matters most is that you keep trying, not that you do everything perfectly. Take slow steps. Do it at the best of your abilities without burning out. Each day at a time. You’re not alone in this. 🌱

Took me until about halfway through college before I realized “study” means “play with the material in a variety of ways until you understand it” and not just “read the assigned chapters and do the homework” and I think that probably should have been discussed at some point prior to that.

red on white

My aesthetic is like dark academia but the medieval Iranian / Islamic golden age version

happy september to everyone! 🍂☕️

one thing i need to start living by is “become the thing that you want” if i want friends who throw themed parties maybe i should start throwing those parties. if i want someone who writes me love letters maybe i should start writing letters for the people i love. if i want to hang out at museums and pretty cafes maybe i should invite my friends to these places. and maybe even then i won’t find the kind of people i want to be around. but then i would have become the exact person i want to be around. and maybe that’s good enough.

some things i’ve learned while studying in quarantine

drink more water instead of more coffee.

weekly goals are bullshit. set yourself 3-day goals. you’ll be less laid-back.

don’t just mindlessly stare at words. before you start studying, know your approach to it. have a plan.

summarizing the concept in your own words is the key part of taking notes. don’t just copy things down, convert them into your own way of talking, your own vocabulary, no matter how dumb and unprofessional it sounds.

don’t let the “studyblr aesthetic” fool you. studying doesn’t have to be pretty. summaries and notes can be messy as long as they’re comprehensible. you can always rewrite and reorganize them later. (honestly, you better do. and you better keep them.)

don’t throw away the papers you’ve solved your problems in. staple them to the fucking textbook. you need to see them constantly. cause you’ll need reminders of how far you’ve came, when you’re feeling discouraged.

don’t be an armchair analyst for your issues. if you have an idea then act on it.

remember: the exact point where it becomes difficult, is where your growth begins. take a deep breath, and try to focus on the paragraph in front of you.

get off your high horse and understand that if you’re a zero, you won’t go to 100 in a couple of days. first, you’ll need to reach 30, then from 30 to 60, and then from 60 to 90. nobody is 100 everyday. that happens very rarely.

you need to have fun everyday. you need to have peaceful time every single day. even on exam night. especially on exam night, actually. so make sure you’ve studied enough so you can have some time to yourself.

once you’re on a roll and in need of some challenge to stay on track, start writing down your studying hours. tell yourself you’re not allowed to do less than 80% of what you did yesterday. whatever the hell it was, even just one hour. so if yesterday you really studied for like, say 8 hours, today your goal is to study for at least 6 and a half hours. if you can’t keep up with that, make it 70%, or 60%. 

be forgiving of yourself. be kind to yourself. even if you bounced back and lost your streak. start again. as slowly as you did before. take your time. it’s okay, you were there once you can get there again.

What is dark academia, if not studying late into the night on dangerous amounts of caffeine

The birds have vanished into the sky

and now the last cloud drains away

We sit together the mountain and me

until only the mountain remains

~ Li Po