Soothing

COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE USING ‘NO CONTACT ORDERS’ TO BLOCK EACH OTHER IN REAL LIFE , wsj

No contact orders (NCOs), originally designed to protect victims of sexual harassment or assault on college campuses, are now being widely used by Gen Z students to avoid interpersonal conflict, often over disputes as minor as stolen bagels or awkward social run-i... See more

A new Harvard study finds that Gen Z adults are struggling more than any other age group across 22 countries, with 18–29-year-olds reporting “unprecedented” levels of unhappiness, poor mental health, and a lack of purpose.

What’s worse is the deep capitalism poisoning that confuses consumerism with culture: a new water bottle despite having water bottles, simping for and falling for billionaire theatrics, happily welcoming the AI-fication of everything. A loser landscape is emerging, as teens want less sex in movies, as nightclubs close and sober bars rise, as nightl... See more

The machinery for learning new things becomes creaky. It’s not easy or comfortable to get that old mainframe up and running again. So many things in life are not easy or comfortable already! Why opt in to another one? And do I even have room in my brain, on my calendar, for another thing that I do ?

But that’s another thing I’ve learned: you can’t have it both ways. You have to decide what’s important to you—convenience and comfort, or agency. Is it nicer to be ensconced in a soft web of silk, or do we miss flying?

But regardless of my use in any given week, what’s important is that the small thing has led to a bigger thing: realizing I have much more agency than I thought I did, and that corporations are built on the back of us thinking we don’t have any.

“But then you get used to it all, is the problem,” she continued. “I feel like I’m not trying as hard anymore. When I had the flip phone, I had to put in effort to get to places, to talk to people. Everything was a task. Now it’s easy to do things. I guess I still don’t like needing the crutch of a smartphone, though I couldn’t figure out how to go... See more

BIBLIOTHERAPY: CAN READING HELP TREAT YOUR DEPRESSION? , dazed

Bibliotherapy, a form of therapy that uses literature to improve mental health and overall well-being, is on the rise, with trained bibliotherapists prescribing books to clients — millennial and Gen Z women primarily, it seems — based on their individual needs. The practice aims to prov... See more

Though divisive and terrifying, the pandemic also brought out people’s softer sides. Suddenly, comfort was king. Everyone was baking or crafting. Small-batch ceramics and upcycled quilted coats soared in popularity. There was a compulsory return to the home — and a wholehearted embrace of the homemade.