It's Just That Sometimes You Have To Love A Thing Including The Ways That It Inconveniences You Like

I LOVE being alive so I can be mediocre at SO many different hobbies

Evelyn Waugh, from Brideshead Revisited (1945)

That C.S. Lewis quote about being "old enough for fairy tales again" is really popular in this section of tumblr, but I think I've hit an opposite stage where I'm old enough for realism again. As a teenager in English class, realism seemed like the boring, baseline option that limited your imagination to only the dullest parts of daily life. If I wanted real life, I'd just live it! Stories should give us something bigger and brighter and more exciting!

But as I get older, I'm starting to understand that realism isn't about limiting yourself to the real world, it's about appreciating it. It's about noticing and caring about those tiny details in life. It's about looking at the seemingly ordinary and unexciting people and saying that their stories are worth telling, too. There's a beauty in gazing upon this world in delicate detail and drawing out those fine shades of nuance that you don't notice in the bustle of actually living life. Realism lets you slow down and recognize that our world has wonders, too, and they don't all have to be big and flashy to be worth our attention.

Younger me also got the impression that realism was depressing--we don't get happy endings because they're not realistic. And it's true that realism has a greater share of sad endings, but that can be a comfort. As you grow up, you have more and more experiences tell you that the happiness of life is buried in a lot of murkier emotions--a lot of turmoil and uncertainty and bad decisions--and realism says that's okay. The story's worth telling even if it doesn't end well, even if people don't rise above their baser natures, even if things are a bit dull. Realism can be happier, in some ways, than those bigger, brighter genre stories, because it acknowledges those murkier imperfections of life and says that they don't erase happiness or make someone's story not worth telling.

Lewis' quote is great, but it's not the whole story. Like Chesterton says, children are fascinated by fairy tales, but the youngest children are fascinated by reality--"A child of seven is excited to hear that Tommy opened a door and found a dragon, while a child of three is excited to hear that Tommy opened a door." Fantasy is a fantastic escape, but like all travel, the point of it is to make us see our own world more clearly when we return home. And that's where realism comes in. Those types of stories aren't about casting off childish fancy and focusing on the grim details of adulthood--they can be about regaining an even more innocent and child-like wonder.

a god hurt me, i fell - a web weave

for my OC: Elara Miracle (🪻\🪡)

Sources:

Unknown

The Living Series, Jenny Holzer

Poppies, Holly Warburton

poetry is stored in the tags

English Song, Fernando Pessoa

Vox Machina, Critical Role (Episode 63)

The Wing, Xooang Choi

Portrait of Illness as Nightmare, Leila Chatti

Unknown

The Sacrificial Lamb, Josefa de Óbidos

helen of troy cleans up after the barbeque, Maria Zoccolo

Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

How To Rest, The Crane Wives

i’ve heard a lot of people say “don’t reach out to your friends first and see how many people will remain in your life. those are your true friends” and i get it. it sucks and it’s tiring constantly being the one to message first, to initiate hang outs but don’t take this so literally. some friendships require initiation. i have lost touch with so many people who genuinely cared about me and wanted me in their life because i stopped reaching out. it’s a hard pill to swallow but honestly some people just suck at it and it doesn’t mean they don’t love and value you. i’ve reconnected with some people over the past few months and it’s crazy how genuinely happy they are to see me and how engaged they are in the conversation. i just think sometimes we’re too harsh on each other & too quick to emphasize other peoples flaws and remove them from our lives but then we’ll all be alone and what’s the point of life then!!!!

reminiscing on the webb telescope photos

every day i discover more things about myself, like maybe i don't like being in a corporate job after working on thousand of pages of accomplishment report, or maybe it's because this is unpaid labor and i'm just money obsessed idk myself honestly

sharon van etten, a crime || everything everywhere all at once || (myself) || bush, glycerine || fiona apple, love ridden || eternal sunshine of the spotless mind || salma deera, letters from medea

https://evelionheart.medium.com/on-the-intimacy-of-the-mundane-863f9efb3c39