JUST SAYING: The Musings of the Next Generation

[justsayingmusings]

Dilemma

Say you're in a long term is relationship. Been together over a year and a half, you're both fairly successful adults or on the path to being so. Person A sees a future in this. Person B says they haven't thought about it. A has an issue with a recent life change B has made recently, but this change does not matter if there is no future for this. A asks if changing the perspective would get rid of the current tension. B says yes. The dilemma is: Should A still see a future and continue the tension in the relationship? Or should there be no future to seen which relieves tension, but then what is the point of being with someone you see no future with? Things to keep in mind: both A & B lead busy lives in different cities, so the effort to be together is already a lot of work.

[theartidote]

“I love being horribly straightforward. I love sending reckless text messages (because how reckless can a form of digitized communication be?) and telling people I love them and telling people they are absolutely magical humans and I cannot believe they really exist. I love saying, Kiss me harder, and You’re a good person, and, You brighten my day. I live my life as straight-forward as possible. Because one day, I might get hit by a bus. Maybe it’s weird. Maybe it’s scary. Maybe it seems downright impossible to just be—to just let people know you want them, need them, feel like, in this very moment, you will die if you do not see them, hold them, touch them in some way whether its your feet on their thighs on the couch or your tongue in their mouth or your heart in their hands. But there is nothing more beautiful than being desperate. And there is nothing more risky than pretending not to care. We are young and we are human and we are beautiful and we are not as in control as we think we are. We never know who needs us back. We never know the magic that can arise between ourselves and other humans. We never know when the bus is coming.” —Rachel C. Lewis, Tell The People You Love That You Love Them

painting by Scott Listfield

[theartidote]

Sometimes people use “respect” to mean “treating someone like a person” and sometimes they use “respect” to mean “treating someone like an authority.” • And sometimes people who are used to being treated like an authority say “If you won’t respect me I won’t respect you” and they mean “if you won’t treat me like an authority I won’t treat you like a person.” • And they think they’re being fair but they aren’t, and it’s not okay. —stimmyabby #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm ✨ Illustration by Koren Shadmi

[theartidote]

“I wish people could just say how they feel like ‘Hey I really don’t like when you do that to me’ or ‘Hey I’m in love with you’ or ‘Hi I really miss you and I think about you all the time’ without sounding desperate. Why can’t everyone be painfully honest and just save people the trouble.” —Unknown ✨ photo by @Witchoria

[theartidote]

“If you don’t tell them what you feel, they will find someone else that tells them what they wanted to hear from you.” —Anon #LateNightThoughts ••• artwork by Jaco Myrick

[justsayingmusings]

This is how I've been living my life. I just wish everyone else did the same.

[theartidote]

It doesn’t have to be wrong. It doesn’t have to be forbidden. It doesn’t have to be morally corrupted. It doesn’t have to be looked at like taboo. It doesn’t have to incite vulgar sneers from people. It doesn’t have to look abnormal, or disgusting or inhuman. Because it is beautiful. You are in the throes of passion, and for that moment you don’t care if the rain-forests are burning down, or your SAT scores are below average, or that your phone is ringing off the charts, or that the milk in the pan has over boiled itself and dirtied your kitchen counter. Its you and them and the fast beating of your hearts and the newfound excitement to touch an area of their skin, and feeling goosebumps erupt in the back of your neck. So what if its a grey area? For you it should be the prettiest, most artful and magical grey shade ever. Trust me, it doesn’t matter if they shame you or drag your name to the floor and beat on it with bats of verbal abuse - this moment of clandestine vulnerability that you grabbed on to, will never be a sore spot. It is a fantastic feeling to not be able to help yourself. Sometimes, when you skip responsibilities and throw caution to the wind, and just roll around in the beauty and absolutely terrifyingly pleasurable heat of the moment - it is the best thing ever. I could never help myself around him, always kissing, always eager to close the millimeters of distance between our skins. I was fucking fascinated with how bloody natural it felt. But he could help himself. And now he can’t, and I think that is the most satisfying thing that could ever happen. It pains me when people are scolded and apprehended for enjoying such utopian moments. If you don’t now, when will you? So many times people come so close to catharsis, and are yanked away by the long galvanized chains of authority and society and external opinion. It is so depressing to think about. How can anyone, anyone, allow themselves to stop someone else from being engulfed by such a lethally sweet phenomenon? So please, don’t listen to them. Don’t think about what he said or she said or what they will say. Its okay. We’ll work things out. Kiss them.

—submitted by Akansha Borthakur (artist yet unknown)

[theartidote]

“Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love and love cannot be killed or swept aside.” —Lin-Manuel Miranda painting by Gaetan Henrioux

[theartidote]

Don’t believe everything you think. #NoteToSelf ••• painting by Nigel van Wieck

[justsayingmusings]

Paranoia

This is something we all have. Whether we're extra 'crazy' with it or not, the human brain tends to wonder about things. What if the world ends? What if he/she is doing me wrong somehow? What if the waiter messed with my food? Most people are pretty good at handling their paranoia. They don't let it get to them as much or as often. But some days, much like with everything, are harder than most. If today is one of those days for you like it is for me right now (bad dreams man... My brain just mindfucks me all the time), just try your best to do something soothing that takes your mind off it a little and breathe through it. Your paranoia might be right or it might be wrong or it's both because what your paranoid about might just be a tad bit off of what you thought was happening but what is really happening still warrants the same amount of paranoia... I digress. Point is, there probably isn't much you can do but to enjoy the present (paranoia and all) and remember, at the end of it all, you can only control yourself and how you react to whatever it is you're thinking too much about. If you can manage yourself, most of the time, everything else doesn't end up quite as bad as you thought it might.

[theartidote]

“My problem is that I fall in love with words, rather than actions. I fall in love with ideas and thoughts, instead of reality. And it will be the death of me.” — Unknown artwork by Pawel Piekarski

[theartidote]

“When you start to know someone, all their physical characteristics start to disappear. You begin to dwell in their energy, recognize the scent of their skin. You see only the essence of the person, not the shell. That’s why you can’t fall in love with beauty. You can lust after it, be infatuated by it, want to own it. You can love it with your eyes and your body but not your heart. And that’s why, when you really connect with a person’s inner self, any physical imperfections disappear, become irrelevant.” —Lisa Unger, Beautiful Lies

gif art by Eno Swinnen

[theartidote]

November 19th, 2013, ‘Selfie’ was named the Word of the Year by the Oxford Dictionary Pseudo-intellectuals everywhere cried about the ‘death of the English language’ Because God forbid modern colloquial speech be recognised as valid. Time Magazine refers to ‘millenials’ as the ‘me me me generation’ Selfish, all we care about is personal gratification Lazy, entitled, shallow narcissists. A picture of a girl taking a selfie on her phone is used for the cover Because our selfishness can be summed up in the fact that we like how we look enough to document it. We are consumed, they tell us, with our self image. Everything is about us. Me-me-me. With the addition of every word to the dictionary, ‘Hashtag’. ‘Perf’. ‘Sexting’. ‘Totes’. ‘Selfie’, The ‘me-me-me’ generation continues to make it all about ourselves, And we should, they tell us, weep, We should weep because we are entitled, Because all we care about are selfies and parties and Instagram, Because this is the generation that will one day run the world, And for that, we should weep, Because all we are is ‘me-me-me’. Let me tell you something. Every year, university tuition will be 2.3% more expensive for MY GENERATION, MY GENERATION reports the highest levels of anxiety and depression than ANY other generation, 15% more of US than YOU will go to university, But 46% of MY GENERATION won’t find a job until over a year after law school, MY GENERATION, on average, is $47,628 in debt. 58% of girls in MY GENERATION feels like they are the wrong weight, 95% of people with eating disorders are part of MY GENERATION, And MY GENERATION has a million dollar industry telling us that we are not good enough, That we are ugly, lazy, and entitled, And anything we do to be financially successful, Or less stressed, Or beautiful, god dammit, Is in vain. So pick up your phone, Pick your favourite filter, And take a goddamn selfie. You deserve it for having to grow up in these times. —Hashtag Selfie by dingdongyouarewrong artwork by rubyetc

[theartidote]

“Your vagina is supposed to smell like a vagina, not a mango. If your partner complains about the natural smell or taste of your vagina, they can go fuck a mango.” —Lily R. Mason

artwork by Jamie Luna

[theartidote]

concept: sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful too.

artist yet unknown

[theartidote]

“With my head between your legs, you’ll be reciting the poems I never finished because they were on the tip of my tongue.” —Vitor Hugo Mota‪

artwork by Lisa Krannichfeld

[theartidote]

“When sex becomes a production or performance, that is when it loses its value. Be mutual. Be loud. Be clumsy. Make noises, be quiet, and make a mess. Bite, scratch, push, pull, hold, thrust. Remove pressure from the moment. Love the moment. Embrace it. Enjoy your body; enjoy your partner’s body. Produce sweat, be natural, entice your senses, give into pleasure. Bump heads, miss when you kiss, laugh when it happens. Speak words, speak with your body, speak to their soul. Touch their skin, kiss their goosebumps and play with their hair. Scream, beg, whimper, sigh, let your toes curl, lose yourself. Chase your breath; keep the lights on, watch their eyes when they explode. Forget worrying about extra skin, sizes of parts and things that are meaningless. Save the expectations, take each second as it comes. Smear your make up, mess up your hair, rid your masculinity, and lose your ego. Detonate together, collapse together, and melt into each other.” —Corissa Marie ‪

drawing by Dante Orpilla

[theartidote]

“If a female student got drunk and had her car stolen the university would call the police. If she got drunk and had her computer stolen, they would call the police. If she got drunk and had her phone stolen, they would call the police. The fact that she was drunk would not even be factored in when assessing if a crime had been committed. But if she gets drunk and has her body invaded and her humanity stolen, school administrations are perplexed about what to do.” —International Human Rights Activist Michael Simmons offered these words (via Facebook) in response to the May 3, 2014 New York Times’ “Fight Against Sex Assaults Holds Colleges to Account” article. artwork by Rachel Baran