Taking Up Space: Alex Sloane on Self-Producing Music, Misogyny, and Mental Health
Always seen with her signature romantic curls, Alex Sloane is the embodiment of hyperfemininity and daintiness. With a hint of a dreamy, almost nostalgic quality in her music as well as the self-directed music videos she has published, it is no wonder that her latest release “Kinda Hate U Kinda Love U” was an overnight Internet sensation.
I Planted You a Garden
The language of flowers is a secret garden, embodying symbolic meanings unique to their species. This carrd holds 4 flowers: 1 poem for each flower. chamomile symbolises rest and relaxation, lotus symbolises enlightenment and rebirth, purple hyacinths portray forgiveness while bluebells represent kindness. Through these poems, I commemorate each flower as different ways people grow to become better versions of themselves- and bloom.
On “Bloom Into You” and the Beauty in Ordinary Love
Romance is a timeless topic, for better or for worse. From the books we read to the films we watch, to the music we listen to and the stories we hear from our lucky friends, society’s obsession with love is perhaps most stereotypically associated with teenagers. After all, everybody wants to fall in love in high school, right? Everybody wants to experience the all-consuming feeling that comes with being in love — yet more often than not, the love that we see in fiction doesn’t match up with love in real life.
A Letter to Our Younger Selves
This is a letter to our younger selves, who are still so naive yet full of life. I hope you find yourself in a place where you know you belong. I hope you’ll always be who you really are.
Here is Your Writing
I'm a woman of my word. I promised you writing and here it is. I’m sorry that it's so late in getting to you but a lot has happened since I promised you my work and my time. It’s here nonetheless and even if it's not what either of us expected I hope you’ll still give it the same time and welcome that you gave me.
THIS THING WE CALL LIFE
This essay is based on my personal journey of blooming into the person who I am today. I went through so many hardships that somehow pushed me to do inner works in order to improve and develop. In this essay I wanted to encourage the readers to try and evaluate their lives in order to improve as I did and bloom into a better individual. I hope this essay can inspire the readers.
Telaga's Diary Entry
I initially wrote it for school as a semi-rendition of the book "Tarian Bumi" by Oka Rusmini, but beyond that I suppose the project expanded my love for the Indonesian language. I can barely speak Bahasa Indonesia intuitively, but this piece assured me enough that my passion for it was enough to translate the untranslatable. The Diary Entry focuses on the main character, Telaga, and how the loss of her husband (whom she gave up her upper class social status for) shifts her role as a woman in a patriarchal Bali. The excerpts that inspired each entry are integrated within each text.
Withered to Bloom
A poem about losing the purest love the character ever received and how the loss turned the character to be a better person through the hardships within.
Memories Left Within
Love is a broad topic. It is flourishing, captivating and beautiful. In the midst of all problems one can face related to love, it changes an individual. There’s one kind of love that we all know for sure, eros. A passionate love, often characterised in romantic relationships. There was a story about two young people. In the midst of all the butterflies and happiness, obstacles came and went during those times. They were juveniles who seemed immature yet reliable at the same time.
To bloom is to be frowned upon
An emphasis of success stoned me. A little bit of lies would've been better, moreover closing the lines of failures. I let them know my weaknesses though my heart was set in a different direction. Of course, with every tingling of laughter I brought upon my shoulder I remind myself that grief is indeed grief. I remember uttering affirmations over affirmations , or what I thought was a positive affirmation "Nothing is really worth the risk of oversharing" nested itself through the depths of my brain.
When the water
To be human is to feel movement, change, and love. This piece is about how painful and selfish stagnancy can be.
Love is here, Love has arrived
When I smelled spring coming from a distance, that's when I knew. Love is here, Love has arrived, that is true.
Glossic Slipperiness
When she projects it’s to the whole world and I had been inside a leaden orb, untouched by everything.
How to Live Forever
A contemplation on our existence, legacy, and impact in the form of a personal essay.
With Love, Elle & Jaziel
This is a story that tells about two people who almost drowned in the sea of thoughts but eventually find their bloom through each other
Genderless Editorial Uniform
Uniforms express togetherness and equality within a community. I believe that we’re able to express who we are despite wearing the same attire, thus this uniform is a reflection of who I am, my interests, my work, and my identity. Each piece of this uniform is handmade by me.
The Bereaver in a Mirror
This piece is inspired by the idea of progression—having the guts to let go of your past self to be able to flourish.
Loving Ourselves: Body Image Issues Within the Gay Community
For many, loving our own bodies still feels like a daunting task. Within the gay community in particular, body image issues seem to be entrenched within the fabric of gay social life. For a community built upon the ideas of love and acceptance, how did this come to be?