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June 2nd, 2024

Coffee in front of my huge painting from last night. Notes on my desk but not in my mind yet...

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If you're lamenting the fact that you used to be able to shoot through a 500-page novel in like a day when you were in middle school and now you can't, it's worth bearing in mind that a big part of that is because when you were in middle school, your reading comprehension sucked. Yes, mental health and the stresses of adult life can definitely be factors, but it's also the case that reading is typically more effortful as an adult because you've learned to Ponder The Implications. The material isn't just skimming over the surface of your brain anymore, and some of the spoons you used to spend on maximising your daily page count are now spent on actually thinking about what you're reading!

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if you’re struggling lately, i hope this reaches you.

we will be okay. you will be okay. you will grow and evolve and heal. you will enjoy life again even if it’s not the same as it was the last time you were happy. you will live your life not feeling stuck. you will do more than survive. you will thrive.

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guess I do have favorites after all 📚

reblog is ok, don’t repost/use

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per aspera ad astra

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Solitude, Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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if you’re struggling lately, i hope this reaches you.

we will be okay. you will be okay. you will grow and evolve and heal. you will enjoy life again even if it’s not the same as it was the last time you were happy. you will live your life not feeling stuck. you will do more than survive. you will thrive.

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4.05.2024 // an overview of my april'24.

I've been trying to keep a track of how I spend my days. It is hard to not be harsh on myself when I see how many 'break' days I took, but then I have to remind myself that I took those days off for a reason – be it to travel, to explore the city, to do chores or simply because I knew that I wouldn't be productive that day. I started off with a simple tracker but I hope to gradually build on it and adapt it in an useful manner.

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after four years i've finally taken a few days to rest. as a phd student - always trying to do more and better and read and write and edit and research on repeat, dedicating time to rest is extremely hard for me. not just because you feel you should not waste your time, but because - i've just realised, i've forgotten how to. to go to random tasks and activities as they arise in your mind, or just be and do nothing particular, is so liberating, so healing. and i kind of new that, people are talking about it all the time. however, it is hard at first. now, after few days, i feel so much better in both my body and my mind. i wish i can do this longer; maybe then my burnout will recede.

i do realise that i'm privileged, because i can allow myself this, and not everybody can dedicate a week just for rest. but as someone who had this opportunity for four years and did not use it, i implore you to try to take rest if you can - but truly rest. do not use your computer, put it away. allow your body do relax, do not overthink, breathe, read if you like, cook tasty meals, go for a walks, nap a lot. i promise, you have enough time, you will do your tasks a bit later. and you will do them better when you take care of yourself.

#personal #burnout #academia #phd life #rest #reading

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#personal

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starting a new book today, wish me luck with this beast. honestly excited to dive into Chinese literature: the book is Chin P'Ing Mei.

#book #books #literature #classics #chinese literature #chinese classics #read #reading #personal #reading nook #cozy #world literature #Chin P'Ing Mei

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— The Hogwarts houses in the style of the founders —

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Overthinking will not only kill your mind, but also your heart, your soul, your mood, your magic and your love. It is the most subtle yet most effective form of self-destruction.

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What to Read After Dracula

If you want to read more Stoker: Dracula’s Guest and Other Stories by Bram Stoker

If you want more foundational genre-defining gothics: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

If you want homoerotic vampirism that’s both intriguing and problematic: Carmilla by J. Sheridan le Fanu

If you want a gothic heroine fighting against the villain trying to possess her: A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott

If you want a protagonist entering an extremely fucked up old money home and fighting for their freedom: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia

If you want basically the same plot as Dracula but a lot more batshit and can put up with 1800s racism: The Beetle by Richard Marsh

If you want a modern take on Dracula that acknowledges the sexual assault subtext: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (note: this one is very hit or miss, people either love it or hate it)

If you want academics fighting ancient evil and an actual implied cameo by Dracula: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft (my personal favorite Lovecraft!)

If you want morally ambiguous mad scientists: The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson (and read the rest of the stories in it while you’re at it!)

If you want rootin’ tootin’ Americans fighting gothic monsters: Pigeons from Hell by Robert E. Howard

If you want a gothic mystery with a spooky villain: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

If you want an implied polycule where a nerdy lady does all the real mystery solving: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

If you want the kind of vampire romance Dracula has become in pop culture: A Taste of Blood Wine by Freda Warrington

If you want something campier: Haunted Castles by Ray Russell

If you want something sexier: The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

If you want something weirder: Blood 20 by Tanith Lee

If you want to read foreign bootleg Dracula: Powers of Darkness or Dracula in Istanbul, both creatively mistranslated from Bram Stoker

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#personal