#new romanticism

[afro-elf]

i desperately need to know more about these people

[pasttension]

towards a new romanticism

It’s hard being a romantic these days. Those rose colored glasses just don’t work like they used to. The pretty distractions that once gave me escape have become the bright pink highlighters of my unhappiness.  I mean, when sorrow seems so inevitable it makes sense to just lay back and enjoy what you can. Only a little while of lounging though and I’m unimpressed with what’s left to ‘enjoy’. I watch a picturesque sunset because I’ve been moping in my room all day and should probably get some vitamin-D. I lay in the park next to some flowers to breathe and be seen, both of which have become very hard for me. I go to my favorite bagel spot so often I think they’re starting to get annoyed with me. It used to be my little special treat, but having a treat all the time really doesn’t make it seem so special anymore. I’m trying to live but it’s not working, I know I’m missing something. I miss red. Never constant in my life but always existing in my crayon box, always possible. Nothing new feels possible anymore, so sticking to what I know seems the best option. I treat myself some more, languishing in the fantasies of movies I’ve seen 100 times before, but I’m starting to wonder… What good are rom coms if I’ve given up on love? How can I make art when I’m worrying about being behind on rent? What use are flowers at a time like this?! 

I insist that I am a romantic, not an idealist. Love is real and truth is beautiful and optimism is necessary. The problem isn’t the roses, it’s the glasses. Wouldn’t it be nice to see and enjoy the world as it is? No pink potemkin village needed, a world with all its colors and insides exposed: true and beautiful. To realize this world we must start from an honest place, a real assessment of our circumstances and the state of life as it exists today; from there we can trace our history and begin to shape a new one. This world will require new definitions and conceptions of love and beauty and art, going beyond the confines of what society has prescribed as possible. The romantics of the past have been suckers for nostalgia, and so it seems the new romantics should be servants of the future. 

Throughout this project I’ll be exploring what it really means to be a romantic today. Through classic and contemporary culture and history, I’ll be assessing the good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful, the rose and its thorns. Hopefully we’ll be able to look at the past, to understand our present more honestly, and to dream for something that is not just beautiful; but real and possible.

-Brooklyn

[the-soulwhispers]

C.S. Lewis once wrote,

"I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief"

And I think we all needed to hear that.

[dreadfuldevotee]

Oh, take me back, oh Louisiana

[bathroomtrapped]

my sister told me to caption this 'two lovely men' without any context so heres two lovely christian saw men 👍🏻

[fairydrowning]

"But there is a clarity about September. On clear days, the sun seems brighter, the sky more blue, the white clouds take on marvelous shapes; the moon is a wonderful apparition, rising gold, cooling to silver; and the stars are so big."

– Faith Baldwin, Evening Star

[manincaffeine]

Shy girls so cute bro you compliment them and they don't know what to do with themselves like bring those cute lil red cheeks over here

[lionofchaeronea]

Christ Walking on Water, Julius von Klever, ca. 1880

[flowersforfrancis]

[fromedennn]

epidemiology 100–summer asynchronous course

[fg083nrt]

akatsuki tarot official merch has been dwelling in (the hermit tower of) my mind.

[xskyll]

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First

[juneacademia]

you deserve the love you desire.

[the-soulwhispers]

The hopeless romantic urge to look at the moon and stars, forever.

[illustratus]

The Vision of Death by Gustave Doré