My November Obsessions <3

Hello blog <3

Here is a list of my many obsessions in this cold November month - enjoy <33

Mountains <3

We are right now among the Norwegian mountains - and how beautiful it is. There is nothing that can make one's anxious heart calm down and feel that one is part of the larger universe like looking out over the mountain landscape and the calmomg ocean <3 I want to live here forever - and full disclose, we've actually been tempted and checked the house prices of the nice cabins in the area.

When will the universal basic income be implemented so that we can settle down and live in peace right here? <3

Beautiful picture stolen from Wikipedia of the area in Norway we are in, hihi <3

Big Brother

During the corona shutdown, I got a new obsession: namely reality TV! One of my absolute favorite shows is Big Brother, now in its 25th season. One of the unique things about Big Brother is that you don't have to wait to watch it until a new episode comes out - but that they have a live feed that runs around the clock and where you can follow what the contestants are doing during almost the entire show. It's quite sour, but also incredibly entertaining and catchy to feel involved in various nerdy chats and forums, where people discuss the participants' moves and chances of winning.

Unlike many other reality shows, they don't sexualize the contestants or invade the intimate spheres of the contestants in their cuts - instead, they choose where they film in the house based on what will be sober to show, and I feel that they have a more respectful way of portraying their participants. One choice I had a lot of respect for was that when a contestant used a racist slur at the start of the season, the contestant was immediately disqualified. In this way, the focus remains on the fun, strategic game rather than sexualisation and discrimination which unfortunately often dominates reality shows.

I have watched countless hours of Big Brother over the past month and am looking forward to watching the finale on Thursday <3

Picture of the cast from Big Brother season 25

The Body Shop

When I was a child, a gift you often gave each other for birthdays was body lotion and other goodies from The Body Shop. When I found out that The Body Shop has become 100% vegan, I was very happy and now have a dream of getting hold of one of their delicious creams again <3

I am by no means a makeup expert or a cool skincare girlie. But I love the feeling of smelling a delicious cream and feeling totally luxurious. And then strong, nice scents are also known to soothe anxiety attacks and bring one back to one's senses - something that is definitely a plus for me who struggles a lot with anxiety.

I was in The Body Shop recently and came across their new, beautiful Pear Body Butter, which will definitely be on my wish list <3

GoSuperModel

When I was a kid, GoSuperModel was all the rage. A fantastic game where you can design your model, buy pixel clothes and participate in the nice community in the forum - with the slogan "Where Girls Rule" <3 GoSuperModel unfortunately ended up closing. But suddenly one day, when I thought of the site and searched for it, I discovered that it had come up again!

About a year ago, GoSuperModel was reopened. Instead of tweenage girls who used to be the site's primary users, the site is now populated by nostalgic 20-somethings in their healing-their-inner-child era, where we rediscover our old favorite outfits and make cute profile texts. I really love GoSuperModel's very active forum, which is awake day and night, and how here we can find a universe where you are allowed to be childish, emotional, fucked up, dramatic, loving and cutesy. GoSuperModel is like the women's bathroom at a club late at night: Here there is always a shoulder to cry on, a lip balm to borrow, sisterhood and feminine party energy.

And for some reason there are an incredible number of lesbian, non-binary and queer men on the site, which is of course a huge plus!

Staying Up Pod

My favorite podcast right now is Staying Up Pod - a podcast by lesbian celebrity and YouTuber, Cammie Scott, and her wife, Taryn Arnold. I've been following Cammie and her lesbian YouTuber friends from LA for many years - and it's a huge pleasure now to follow her and Taryn's new podcast. Here, the two cool, stylish, amazing and emotionally intelligent women invite us in every week for a conversation about everything from relationships, anxiety, children, jumping out, career, feelings and life in general <3 A huge recommendation for everyone who loves to hear cozy podcasts that make you smarter, from cool women <3

Maya Johanne and I have decided to make it a tradition to listen to their podcast together every Saturday, and it is so amazing to sit together and watch another lesbian couple talk together about their relationship and life <3 I is a big fan of podcasts and for a long time has listened intensely to dating and lifestyle podcasts of women who date men and their experiences. I can get a great sense of insecurity and alienation when the content I "consume" primarily comes from people who live and thrive in the classic, culturally Christian nuclear family life in a man/woman relationship with children, house and a solid full-time job in sight.

Not that there is anything wrong with living like that or sharing that kind of content. But for me, it's been really healthy for me to take a break and detox from listening to my usual straight-centric podcasts that poke at my internalized homophobia - and instead listen to podcasts that make me feel seen and get me to feel comfortable <3

Photo from Cammie Scott and Taryn Arnold's wedding earlier this year <3

Friends

Friends. Need I say more? Friends are one of the most enriching things in life: Cool, intelligent and beautiful. And like other platonic relationships, they are time and time again underestimated. In our society, where the romantic relationship and family are seen as the most important relationships around which we are expected to build our lives, friends are often under-prioritized and only seen as important when you are single or have children.

When we are children and young people, adults see it as a healthy sign that you have a good circle of friends that you can spend time with and get to. But as you get older and maybe get a romantic partner, you're expected to make your åartner the sole center of your world and follow the expected script of relationship milestones: Move in, mortgage, kids and marriage. While friends are seen as someone you can just push aside as a "comfort project" and meet a few times a year when it suits, and get out of one's intimate circle. This norm can make aromantic and asexual people, who never or very rarely feel romantic or sexual attraction respectively, particularly vulnerable, as they do not necessarily have a romantic partner to build a life with. In addition, it can be more difficult for people who do not have good family relationships not to end up lonely and without relationships to be able to lean on.

Prioritizing your platonic relationships - taking them seriously, seeing them as someone you could settle down with and build your life around - is something that means a lot to me. I hope that it will become more and more normal to live in collectives. To build one's life with one or more platonic partners. Having children outside of romantic relationships. So that together we can break the normative relationship hierarchy and the norm that the romantic relationship and the family must necessarily be the ones we have to prioritize above all others <3