❤️ Tea’s Recommendations ❤️ [July 2022] [Let's Cultivate Some Joy, Teacups] (Patreon)

Yo, Teacups!

If you haven’t seen one of these posts before, this is just what it says on the tin - a recommendations post. Sometimes I get caught in a cycle of the same movies, books, activities, and whatever else. If you also suffer from this, I hope this small collection of recommendations can be of some help.

P.S. These are obviously just things I like and if you don’t like them too, then that’s absolutely a-okay ❤️

✨Series:✨

Love on the Spectrum:

Love is confusing. Life is a mystery. People are beautifully complex. And this documentary series exploring the romantic endeavours of people on the autistic spectrum captures that beautifully. Far from exploitative, the series is a sensitive and real look at how people with autism explore life, love and the everyday. I personally watched the Australian version, but I do believe there is now a US counterpart. Please consider giving this beautiful series a watch. Whatever your situation, love is tricky, life throws you curveballs, and everybody just wants someone to make them feel at home.

Inuyasha:

My very first anime! If you love fantasy, feudal Japan, big-ass swords, and a compelling love story - you’ll absolutely adore Inuyasha. Heads up - it’s a pretty big series, but that personally just appeals to me more. More time to get to know the world, the characters, and really just to enjoy the ride. Let me know if you guys get into it :)

Killing Eve:

Murder, intrigue, and chaotic gay energy - Killing Eve is weird, wonderful and extremely binge-worthy. Jodie Comer is so ridiculously talented that she makes you root for a childish, emotionally unstable assassin. If you love lesbians, action, and dark humour - this one’s for you. P.S. Konstantin is the best character. No counter arguments accepted :)

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia:

I know everybody’s probably already seen it, but I just recently went through a re-watch, and my goodness, I love this show! Random fact: my friend from university is incredibly, adorably, tooth-rotting-ly sweet (she looks like a little cabbage patch doll), but she absolutely loves dark humour. And so, when I went up to see her a week ago, we both decided to revisit this classic. Full of terrible people doing terrible things - It’s Always Sunny is perfect for anybody who can see the funny side of even the shittiest of human beings.

✨Music:✨

Thoughtful:

Bird Set Free - Sia

What a Time - Julia Michaels

Landscape - Florence + the Machine

Reasons I Drink - Alanis Morrissette

Solitude - Billie Holiday

Mr Rattlebone - Matt Maeson

Sparking Joy:

Come and Get Your Love - Redbone

Monster Mash - Bobby “Boris” Pickett

How Bizarre - OMC

Babooshka - Kate Bush

Daddy Cool - Boney M.

Rasputin - Boney M.

Take a Chance on Me - ABBA

Edge of Midnight - Miley Cyrus + Stevie Nicks

✨Activities:✨

Have a Good Cry:

To preface, this is not a judgement, this is not stick to beat anybody with. I just find getting cortisol out through my eyes a good way to destress and feel less heavy. I appreciate everybody’s different, we all feel different things, have different shit going on - I just personally feel better after a good, hard, snotty bawl session. Again, this is not a qualification of a healthy human being or not - this is just one random person saying “crying doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it can actually be a good release and reset”.

Get Inspired:

Sounds easier said than done, and yeah, that’s true - but luckily, there’s lots of things to help us. Whatever your thing is - writing, drawing, dancing, singing, painting, model building, voice acting, exercise, cleaning, etc, go on the internet, watch videos concerning the topic and really get into that thing that does it for you. This is pretty darn basic, but I don’t care, I watch those cleaning videos where people tidy their kitchens and that makes me so pumped to make my house look and smell beautiful. It’s trivial, but it makes all the difference. Make the most of the advantages we’ve been given. Most of us can make the everyday a little more joyful :)

Practice Letting Go:

Anger is not always a bad thing, however, it can also just simply weigh us down. When I was younger, I was an extreme plaque-waver, someone desperate to make people aware of injustices, how we can improve the world, right the wrongs of the past, etc, etc, etc. And to some degree, I still believe in a lot of the stuff I used to, the difference is now I’m not consumed by frustration and misdirected rage. 

This is not me saying don’t have your causes, your beliefs, things you hold dear. This is me just saying, don’t invest too much of yourself in things that make you feel shitty. As my counsellor said “a drowning person cannot save another drowning person”. Care about whatever you care about, just make sure to take care of yourself in the process.

This also applies to consuming things that make you unhappy. YouTube shorts sometimes throws up these heated (and often completely logic-devoid) discussions around gender, politics, relationships, and honestly, it just leaves me exhausted. So, I’m implementing a “this does not serve me” policy. Basically, this is making my head hurt, so I’m just going to turn it off. The internet is a wonderful place, but it’s also full of garbage. Please, for the love of your own sanity, do not be affected by everything you hear. Come away, do not engage, and do something that actually benefits you. The more you feed something, the bigger it’ll grow. Feed the things that make your life better.

And that’s my humble offer, guys. Stay safe, drink water and get some rest.

All the best,

Tea