Things That Rewired My Brain in 2020
By: Nana Kim
Tags: 2020, Lists, Blog, Attack On Titan, Anime

Things That Rewired My Brain in 2020

Four days until the last sunset of 2020 and I’m looking forward to the clean slate that the new year brings. And the end of a year means compartmentalizing events and learnings for my own sanity. Anyone else get anxiety thinking about all the things they’ve forgotten or will forget?

Definitely missing a bunch of things, but here’s a list of things that changed the topography of my brain this year:

rugs : Picking up hobbies became a big fat trend, and rugs really showed up to break hearts and take names. Apparently, rugs don’t have to be boring! I could give a TED Talk about the obscure, quirky, hot-girl-kitsch designs I’ve seen: tufted glitches, hyperreal image of a man with 70s energy, Monet-meets-Lisa-Frank. The nature of things is that we step on rugs but honestly, they can step on me.

: Picking up hobbies became a big fat trend, and rugs really showed up to break hearts and take names. Apparently, rugs don’t have to be boring! I could give a TED Talk about the obscure, quirky, hot-girl-kitsch designs I’ve seen: tufted glitches, hyperreal image of a man with 70s energy, Monet-meets-Lisa-Frank. The nature of things is that we step on rugs but honestly, they can step on me. Attack on Titan: Y’all, when I tell you this anime is a full-on masterpiece… and this is coming from someone who was too wuss to start the show years ago because I thought it was way too gory (I was still curious enough to opt for clips on YouTube instead). BUT NOW I SEE. I spent the last week catching up to the final season (still in the midst of being released, much to the dismay of my instant gratification-addicted brain) — 62 episodes within a couple of days lol.

Seriously though, AOT is a must-watch before you croak; you’ll love you for making the right decision. And don’t get me started on the complexities of its plot and characters — short king and certified baddie Captain Levi is one big reason alone to watch. Get into it.

Captain Levi Ackerman : Ok, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve fallen for a 2D character, but the writers did the world a service making this 2D genius so 3D in his spirit and humanity. We stan a sad boy with a tragic backstory, unbeatable loyalty, and the ability to make some tough ass decisions.

: Ok, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve fallen for a 2D character, but the writers did the world a service making this 2D genius so 3D in his spirit and humanity. We stan a sad boy with a tragic backstory, unbeatable loyalty, and the ability to make some tough ass decisions. Courting the Wild Twin by Dr. Martin Shaw: The kind of book you find when you show up to the bookstore with no purpose but to see what goes. As soon as I read the first page, I had to bring it home with me — Shaw’s writing is heavily influenced by the European legends and fairy tales he studies and dissects in this little gift to us. His mystical and almost riddle-like written voice reminds you that there’s a constantly shifting cosmic plot above and beyond us, one that we’re entwined with, though we often forget it’s there.

This blurb gets it right so I won’t say more: “… Dr. Martin Shaw invites us to seek out our wild twin — a metaphor for the part of ourselves that we generally shun or ignore to conform to societal norms — to invite them back into our consciousness, for they have something important to tell us. He challenges us to examine our broken relationship with the world, to think boldly, wildly, and in new ways about ourselves―as individuals and as a collective.”

That’s all for now. Happy rewiring.