Literature Academia - Tumblr Posts
Books are the mirrors of the soul.
Virginia Woolf
Library aesthetic
Dark academia style
Notebook aesthetic
~Source Pinterest~
How to Study History & Why I Love It
How to Study History (my way):
First, understand the cold facts - such as dates and context - what’s going on and why?
Imagine history as a roadmap you are creating in your mind as you study events and movements.
Try to imagine historical events as a drama. That way it’s easier to digest as a subject
Understanding context and why is the foundation of writing an argument, creating a comparison, seeing what changed and what didn’t, and allowing you to connect and feel history more deeply.
Truly be invested in how historical events have helped shape the world and the innovations around us.
Why I Love History as a Subject:
History allowed me to become more eloquent in speech and writing by allowing me to take rigorous humanities based classes.
If the teacher is interesting, it becomes a great class discussion with emphasis and thought-provoking ideas and arguments.
It has helped me see both the beauty of the human mind and the horrors of humanity.
It gives me hope that though change is slow (and sometimes unlikely), a better world and future is possible if we work together.
It has given me confidence as a student to achieve great things while thinking of each and every consequence an action may have.
How to Study History & Why I Love It
How to Study History (my way):
First, understand the cold facts - such as dates and context - what’s going on and why?
Imagine history as a roadmap you are creating in your mind as you study events and movements.
Try to imagine historical events as a drama. That way it’s easier to digest as a subject
Understanding context and why is the foundation of writing an argument, creating a comparison, seeing what changed and what didn’t, and allowing you to connect and feel history more deeply.
Truly be invested in how historical events have helped shape the world and the innovations around us.
Why I Love History as a Subject:
History allowed me to become more eloquent in speech and writing by allowing me to take rigorous humanities based classes.
If the teacher is interesting, it becomes a great class discussion with emphasis and thought-provoking ideas and arguments.
It has helped me see both the beauty of the human mind and the horrors of humanity.
It gives me hope that though change is slow (and sometimes unlikely), a better world and future is possible if we work together.
It has given me confidence as a student to achieve great things while thinking of each and every consequence an action may have.
Where dark academia and history share a dance:
Evermore - The “Red Wine” Album
"I made you my temple, my mural, my sky Now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life" (Taylor Swift, "tolerate it")
Evermore has always been the slight lean on needle for me when it comes to the sister albums, Folklore and Evermore. Not to say that Folklore is any less or is missing any component that’s not on Evermore; it’s how those components are implemented that makes the thin distinction for me.
There is comfort and closeness in Evermore, where you can sip on some coffee while reading the morning newsletter. Or you can be sitting near a desk, working while the lyrics float around your room and the dark shades swirl around your eyes. Perhaps as droplets fall onto the page as you take in the day that has passed. Shelving away the chronicles of films you lived to act day to day
It’s knowing what betrayal feels like after a long day of trying to make amends, learning how to move on without their side of the story, knowing when you’re the one who made the curtains fall inadvertently, standing up for yourself and others, remembering those from a faded recollection, learning how to grieve the person you cherish so much but feel unfulfilled with, and learning to try and open up again to others. It’s an album of self-reflection, an album that you can sit with and watch the world with autumn lighting on it.
Evermore is the cinnamon—the bitter mahogany carpenter life—streams into the ears nicely and hits the heart with a fluorescent wave of every emotion on the spectrum. And I, for one, love cinnamon. I also like to think Evermore is dark chocolate while Folklore is white/milk chocolate, and while I do love white/milk chocolate, dark chocolate takes my heart every time. The sweetness, sourness, and bitterness of Evermore make it so much more engaging for me. I love it, especially as an Evermore girlie.
Another month wasted. Another day another week, and I think to myself. If all the time I've spent living is wasted, then will I ever truly be happy? My mother calls it ambition, my father drive, but I? I call it unhappiness. My mother also often talks of how to be smart is to be sad, and to be dumb is to be happy. I wouldn't trade my smarts, my tongue, my brain for anything but if that is how one is truly happy, is it worth the price? If I'm smart and aware of the world's dangers and problems, then how can I ever be truly happy? What is it to be truly happy? To be happy must you not be aware? I do not know. All I really know is another month has been wasted.
-C.
Virginia Woolf, A Writer’s Diary, August 1921
I notice that Autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Frog and Toad; Tales of a simpler life
Hello. This is my first essay post - maybe I'll make a masterlist, maybe I won't.
''Frog and Toad'', a short book series written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel in the 1970s, is a collection of tales about two friends - Frog and Toad. They both live in the forest and go on many adventures together. Every time my mind reminds me of the existence of the duo, one word comes to my mind - Home. Frog and Toad is a cozy sort of series, and every tale has a comforting feeling attached to it. In this post, I'd like to address the philosophy of Frog and Toad - Simple living.
• Most Frog and Toad stories have a similar premise - one of our two protagonists has an everyday issue he has to face and the other helps him overcome this. When we think about everyday life, we think about moving forward - getting promoted, making more money, moving away, getting fitter - always an additive, and fast. A great example for this is hustle culture - the glamorization of putting all of your self into your line of work. I personally strongly dislike hustle culture - as a communist I believe that the improvement of the self should not be calculated with money, but with health and happiness, and that instead of success being isolated to an individual, if someone succeeds it should benefit their surroundings. "Frog and Toad" doesn't fit with those sort of ideals of hustle and constant improvement. The duo's problems are, well, very simple.
• Arnold Lobel describes himself as a domestic kind of person ;
"I'm really not much of a traveler or wanderer or adventurer and I think that feeling certainly comes into my books. I notice that all of my books are rather homebound"
He is certainly right. In his writing and illustrations, Lobel creates a very welcoming (ahem cottagecore ahem ahem) atmosphere - his language is simple and inviting and his coloring style consists of warm earth tones. Even the protagonist's houses have this feeling, consisting of wooden furniture and warm, fluffy pillows. (I'd like to add Frog and Toad are both very middle class, and these stories are affected by their privilege). Although they don't own many possessions - honestly, the most common item you'll see that costs any money in the Frog and Toad series is the protagonist's bed - Frog and Toad find their place in moments and people.
• Allow me to give an example (my favourite personally). The story "A list" follows Toad - a usually anxious and worried type. He wakes up and realizes he has many things to do, and so he writes a list of the things he wants to get done that day;
- wake up
- eat breakfast
- get dressed
- go to frog's house
- take (a) walk with frog
- eat lunch
- take (a) nap
- play games with Frog
- eat supper
- go to sleep
Before the story even starts, we can see Toad doesn't really have many things to do that day, and yet he puts heavy emphasis on what he does have. That is one of the building stones of simple living - the silent agreement to enjoy every minute you get out of your life.
As the day progresses, Toad crosses out what he accomplished, until he takes a walk with Frog. As they are walking, a gust of wind blows over his list, and he is frozen in place. Frog starts running towards the list, while Toad stays back, claiming that running after his list is not on his list, and thus not something that he should engage in.
• Frog didn't manage to catch Toad's list. Toad claims "I cannot remember any of the things I wrote on my list of things to do. I will just have to sit here and do nothing." In this instance, Label criticizes the close minded way people who are only interested in 'the grind' (Jesus Christ I can't believe I just wrote that) think - they only see the things they want to achieve as goals worthy of energy, and nothing else. Toad may have wanted to play games with Frog to strengthen their bond, but the intention or the way didn't matter - it was the goal that did.
• Frog and Toad sit around all day. After a lot of nothing, Frog says "Toad, it is getting dark, we should be going to sleep now". Suddenly, frog realizes that was the last thing on his list, to sleep, and they both slip into unconsciousness. I think this ending really clears out they way Label thinks about always moving forward - sure, maybe they weren't on Toad's list, but there were many activities he and Frog could have partook in he skipped out on out of sheer stubbornness. Instead of trying to make the most out of his day, he wallowed in his own sadness over not achieving every goal he had, and let a whole afternoon slip by.
• to summarize, Frog and Toad are friends. They are friends and they enjoy each other's company. They prefer to have a cup of tea instead of building a bigger house, and they'd never call each other on the telephone, if they want to talk to each other, they simply walk over to their friend's house. I personally have started to pick up some of their habits - I now drink my morning Tea or coffe without any distractions, I spend more time outside, and I try to not get hung up on every little detail. As a perfectionist this is a... Hard task, at the least, but it's worth it. I have calmed down. I have become more at peace with less.
Thank you for reading - Stay yourself, stay curious.
