Why I Am Here
Word count: 410
I find myself surrounded by what I'd call conventional-aestheticism. A culture concerned with having things look pretty and easily approachable - the aesthetic equivalent of a cup of lactose-free strawberry milk. It's digestible by just about everyone, even loved by some people, but ultimately not that exciting and certainly ubiquitous (my apology to die-hard strawberry milk fans out there).
Like many Asian country, Thailand is a culture of conformity. I watch as trends arrive and sweep over the nation, from Blackberry to Child Angel doll to croffle. Everyone chases the moment's It thing, only to abandon it for the next It thing 24hr later. I guess I must be a creature of comfort, for I still miss going to Heekcaa at Siam Discovery for a cup of cheese tea. The place has been closed since 2020.
I've grown irritated of these conventional aesthetics - of Canva presentation and Muji products and Danish Pastel. I don't hate them. In fact, I do enjoy quite a lot of these motifs. I love cute stationaries and trendy restaurants. But I hate how our culture is nothing but this, and I hate how diverting even the slightest bit from the convention means you're weird - the enemy of spotless conformist society.
Difference is oftentimes ugly and hard to understand. It requires you to think about it. And thinking about things that don't translate to money is almost deemed incomprehensible - How dare you waste your time thinking about anything other than money!? But I don't want to free my mind of aesthetic clutter just to have more energy left to, I don't know, finish my corporate proposal past office hour? I want to draw flashy fashion and listen to Einstürzende Neubauten and do things that I wasn't expected to do.
And I guess that's what drew me to a small blogging platform such as this one. It's different. It doesn't give you much in term of customisation, and it doesn't ask you to add plug-ins (... right?). And I think that's what we need more in life. In a world of beautiful strawberry milk visual, I want to be Pepsi milk. Yes, that sounds repulsive as fuck, and it probably is as I've never tried it either, but you're going to think about it for a while. I've been thinking about it for at least 2 weeks since I first heard of it. I've already forgotten all the cafes my friends dragged me to.