Natalie Audelo

Do you know someone who sees the world in a way that reveals new hues to you? Whose sense of self-awareness leads them to move with arresting originality, and invites you to do the same just by nature of being in their aura? It’s that quality I’m increasingly drawn to during these times when it’s all too tempting to see life in dark shades and dull... See more

So philanthropy under this rubric is not about creating sanctuaries from or alternatives to the demands of capitalism. The benevolence, if you can call it that, is in giving people from the underclass a chance to succeed by its rules. With, of course, very patronizing and constraining surveillance from the funder. It’s neoliberal brainworms all the... See more

I also love the point being made in the video above about how people can be a part of culture by just enjoying it, you don’t have to be a model or a ‘somebody’. It connects directly with a conversation I saw playing out on TikTok this week between Rian Phin and a few other folks, who ultimately stated they preferred fashion analysis from outsiders,... See more

If it’s not abundantly obvious by now, what I find so thought-provoking and why I think it’s so important to keep talking about this, is the reality that so many (read: almost all of us) cannot, don’t want, don’t even know how to imagine alternate ways of living.

The platforms may be new, but “the power structures remain stubbornly intact. And understanding how friction flows through them – who gets to avoid it and who gets crushed by it – tells us everything about how our economy actually works”.

People say ‘be yourself’ because they want you to resist the impulse to conform to what others want you to be. But you can’t be yourself if you don’t learn who are, and you can’t learn who you are unless you think about it.