Damselz-In-Sanity

(Picture Credits: The New York Times)  Hello everyone and aaj ke #faltufriday blog post mei aap ka swaagat hai. Today's post is a literal shower thought but I thought it might be really cool so yay :) (Okay okay I'll get a bit more formal now) Music, as we all know, holds the power to influence us. We connect with it because it connects with us - our life story. So, today's blog is going to be me sharing some of my favourite (and yours!) mental health-related lyrics' of songs :) (Just a friendly reminder that everyone has their own unique taste in music, so let's respect each other's preferences!) And I won't be sharing "my thoughts" or anything on it - I'll leave the interpretation up to you! Let's go :) I used to float, now I just fall down I used to know but I'm not sure now What I was made for What was I made for?                                          ...

 It's 2am. You're at your study desk with a cup of coffee at your side. You sailed through Matrices; hit a slight bump at derivatives but managed it through and now are entering the most daunting task of them all: Integration. Your only sense of motivation: The Hum Honge Kaamyaab Spotify playlist consisting of Lakshya Title Track and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag Rock version on loop. It's 6am. Congratulations! You successfully fell asleep midway through Partial Fractions! This is what actually happened to me a day before a Math exam :) And you can most probably relate to listening to music while doing math too <3 Because musical transposing involves mental adjustment of notes up or down by a specific amount, it shares cognitive elements with math! Listening to Music while studying Math can be beneficial because, at some level, all music is math. It's about time signatures, beats per minute and formulaic progressions. (Perhaps that's the reason behind the Asian-piano stereo...

 I cried after my 10th Grade board exams ended. More recently, I cried once HFSMUN (my school's flagship event) ended. Update as of 21 Dec 2024: I cried when my first semester in College ended. Now before you label me a 'cry baby' or assume that this is the end of my blog (sns not anytime soon!), let me clarify: This post isn't about promoting the benefits of crying (we've already covered that in another blog post ). Instead, my main focus will be on the feeling of "It's All Over", and how to bounce back from such moments. Do you ever feel like you spend so much time, so much hard work over something and suddenly it's over? Countless hours working towards a particular goal and it's done. Like khatam?  And this feeling is even more prominent when it's something you've had on your personal bucket list for the longest time; it's a passion; or a dream. (Okay enough with the emphasis - you get it) This feeling - I have no better way of ...

 Before starting Junior year, I pledged to myself that I would make it "my year." I would study super hard, I'd make a million friends, and I'd come under the teacher's radar. Jump to September 2022,  I was burnt out. Walking back home with earphones plugged in, I remembered the first line of this post. And then I also realised how incredibly stupid it was of me to think I could ever accomplish it. Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't stupid because it was unattainable; it was stupid because it was unsustainable. Many a time, when we wish to just give up everything and "move on" ( start completely fresh), we tend to forget our past and our learnings from it. That is (one of) the biggest mistake we as humans make. Rather than acknowledging a fact, we tend to ignore it and act like nothing happened because after all, Ignorance is Bliss, na? A fresh start shouldn't mean giving up your whole life in pursuit of something new. A fresh start is when yo...

Heylo everyone and welcome to a fresh new month :) I'm back with another poem - born at 18:42pm on a Friday when I had over 17 things on my to-do list but felt like doing nothing but a 'poem rant'. Presenting to you, Goodbye; High School. In all honesty, I have no idea where I’m headed with this. I sit at my table, staring at the screen’s glare, How did it get so complicated? I weep in my despair. 800 pages of Organic Chemistry A pinch of 150 Math sums too, Juggling to complete my research paper, My senses wish adieu. This inevitable pressure to have it all, Does anyone truly? An overcast cloud; unduly. Get good grades, You’ll have an amazing college; How do I manage it all? My mental health - acknowledge? I want to scream and shout and break everything around, But here I sit; Straining my eyes out. The relentless comparison, The fights to be on top, Will YOU ever make up, For the friends, I had to drop? Flustered I cry, Waiting for every day to get by. For a year from now,...

 Literally shivering in disbelief as I author this blog because OH MY GOD IT'S BEEN THREE FULL YEARS TO BLOGGING!!!! Thank you to every single person out there who's read/is reading my blogs and has supported me in this journey. I genuinely did not think 3 years would pass by so quick and blogging would become such an important - and a root to several other journalistic pursuits - activity for me. So, once again, I owe it all to you guys :) I love you. I spent an unrealistically excessive amount of time thinking about what to author for this year's 'blog-iversary' (hoping this catches on haha) but finally came to a conclusion which I hope you all enjoy :) Blast from the past? 3 years on paper doesn't seem like much. But when you break it up into 36 months, 1095 days, and 1,576,880 minutes... So much has happened in the past 3 years and it would only make sense to share some stats with you guys :) For starters, this is my 159th blog post! We built a community of ...

Perfectionism. An excuse for the lazy,  A problem to many. Heylo everyone and welcome back to my blog :) All truth disclosed I'm writing this blog at 2 am in the morning so you may be reading a totally non-Instagram-inspired blog/rant :) We've all heard the term ✨Perfectionism✨ But just as a general recap, in terms of Wikipedia: Perfectionism is a broad personality trait characterized by a person's concern with striving for flawlessness and perfection and is accompanied by critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others' evaluations.  Simply put, It's impossible to get a task done because you're constantly concerned with the fact that it isn't "Perfect". A perfectionist is very critical of themselves as well as the world around them; typically having the mindset of "all or nothing". Stemming from perhaps childhood trauma or the burden of being the 'perfect kid' (in Indian terms: Sharma ji ka Beta/Beti), the term " Alm...

 Heilo heilo, Welcome backzo! Keep reading to join a movement as part of my 3 year blog anniversary :) PC: The New York Times It is an established fact that teenagers of this age are far more concerned about their social image online as compared to real life (myself included haan) And while it's a good thing to maintain a safe web presence, over the years, it has spiralled into a far worse, unhealthy coping mechanism.   I saw this happening to both, myself as well as my peers and of course, I had to blog about it :) Without further ado, Let's get to it! I cannot be the only one who's been to an incredibly beautiful place, managed to click "a few" decent pictures and sent them to my best friend asking which one's should I post/story. Cmon, we've all done this. And there's nothing wrong in it - sab karte hai. "Is this main worthy?" This quote is the purpose of my post.  Have we really come down to a generation where we need to feel "worthy...

 Hello everyone and welcome back to a fresh new month <3 Being a teenager is like being stuck in a cycle. Wake up-Brush-Eat-School-Tuition-Homework-Dinner-Late night studies-Repeat. Every week, the same thing over and over and over; it never stops. I got into this cycle back in March 2020(start of 9th grade) and haven't had a 'full proper no tuitions, no padhai vacations' ever since. There's always something or the other - studying for school, boards, extracurriculars, and occasionally hanging out with friends. But I would say that pretty much sums up the lives we all lead (at least Indian students ) after 8th grade. Personally, I've felt a little blah at times. Especially when I count something week-wise (eg: "I'm going to start studying for my 30-page Organic Chemistry exam next week onwards") Some Sundays I would be like: Ah man, another week of this - the deadline comes closer. After being stuck in this loop a while, I decided,  Life can't g...

 Ahoy and welcome back to Month 36(wait...THREE YEARS?!) OF #FALTUFRIDAYS! It's actually hard to believe I've been going on this journey for over 36 months. Nevertheless, there have been times when I've been completely unmotivated to get any writing done; And, my most recent slump led to today's post :) No writer out there has never NOT experienced Writer's Block. And everyone out there has different ways to cope with it. My go-to advice is simply to leave the piece of work alone. But when you're on a deadline, it's tough to do so. So, here are a few (non-cliched) tricks I've learnt (and implemented) over the years; and I hope you can relate to the same! Listen to music that fits your article. We all know music has the power to influence us. Say you're writing a murder mystery that occurs in a cafe. You want to place yourself in the mood of a cafe. Music apps have tons of readymade playlists for such random scenarios in your head.  Though you may not...