What Is Elysium?
Most people see Elysium as simply the Greek version of the afterlife. While this concept is indeed true, Elysium for me encompasses a much larger idea. In my eyes, Elysium is a completely different life altogether than the one you’ve been living. Elysium is the complete embodiment of the ideal self.
What Constitutes Ideal self?
The answer is simple. No, really. Anything you do that makes you feel good and does not cause harm. Any time you do things that make you feel good, the resulting happiness you’ve obtained for yourself will spread to everyone you encounter. This includes you.
Why Elysium?
Quite frankly, finding “ideal self” is precisely why I’ve decided to create Elysium in the first place. I needed a place where I could express certain aspects of myself and satisfy the urge to help others at the same time. I needed to be able to create something that not only allowed freedom of expression, but also benefitted those who happened to need it. This way, I can make myself feel good by creating something that people can admire. At the same time, I’m able to help people without completely depleting my emotional resources.
What is Your Goal?
To offer a beacon of positivity to those in need. By sharing various experiences, coping mechanisms, thought processes, and other personal ideas and interests, I hope to be able to help people feel closer to their ideal selves, even if it means simply giving them something to smile about for five minutes out of their day. Remember, doing something that makes you feel good can be as simple as reading something that resonates (rings true) to your personal values and beliefs. Once you find something to make you smile, even if it’s for five minutes, share it with somebody else, even if that someone just so happens to be yourself. You may find yourself unexpectedly surprised by the results.
Conclusion
Before I close, I’d like to say thank you to all those who have supported me throughout my journey thus far. You have stuck with me through the storm, even as things fell apart and had to be rebuilt. Whether you have been in my circle from the beginning or are just getting to know me, every single one of you is appreciated. You are worth it.
With that said, I’d like to share a quote that was introduced to me by one of my supporters. I originally googled the segment we were talking about so I could find how it was worded. It turns out that the segment in question was actually part of a quote that was much longer but fit perfectly with me and my ideals. I hope it gives you as much validation as I received.
This is Harry. As a boy, Harry was very, very shy.
Some people may have even said he was painfully shy. As if his shyness caused them pain and not the other way around.
There are many things that can cause a person to recede. To look away from other people’s eyes or to choose empty hallways over crowded ones. Some shy people try to reach out and try, and nothing seems to come back and then there just comes a point where they stop trying.
In Harry’s case he was slapped in the face and called names designed to isolate him, designed to deliver maximum damage. This is because he came from a different country and didn’t know the right words to use or the right way to say them.
And so, Harry learned how to be still, to camouflage, to be the least.
Some people describe this as receding into a shell, where the stillness hardens and protects. But the eyes, even when they look down and away, are still watching, still looking for some way out or in; painfully shy.
Then in middle school, Harry found theater, where he forced himself to speak through other people’s words. And then dance, where he started to speak through the movements of his body. To be so still for so long when you’re young, means a lot of pent up energy and it was released there through work, endless work.
If someone carves into a sapling with a knife, the injury is as wide as the entire trunk. Though that mark will never fully heal, you can grow the tree around it, and as you grow, the scar gets smaller in proportion.
If you, right now, are in a shell, you should know that you are not alone and there are many, many people like you and that there is nothing wrong with you. It might even be necessary right now. It might keep you safe for a time. But once the danger is gone, or after it’s exhausted it’s use, you’ll find a way out.
You may need help, you may need to work really hard, you may need to find some ways to laugh at yourself, or find a passion, or a friend, but you will find it.
And, when you do, it will be so good to see you.
Stay Positive,
Kira Aeva