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Is TikTok’s “healing era” trend empowering?

Graphic by Fin Grosu @tesdoncbenfinn

TikTok’s “healing era” trend helped me become a better version of myself.

What’s TikTok’s “healing era” all about? The healing era is when someone decides to prioritize themselves, stay away from toxicity, and do introspection through journaling, going to the gym, engaging in fun activities, and doing all they can to develop better life habits. 

Last year before the #healingera went viral, I deactivated all my social media accounts. I wanted to focus on myself and eliminate distractions. I started working on projects I had been postponing and was quite productive. However, this did not last long. I started feeling isolated and felt like I did not have the tools to navigate my healing. It was just me getting lost in my thoughts.

Later, I decided to go back and re-activate my accounts. I downloaded TikTok again, and since I was searching for self-love quotes all the time, the algorithm started bombarding me with “healing era” videos. I discovered that an entire group of people in this world are going through exactly what I am going through. Knowing that you’re not alone is comforting. 

After watching tons of those videos, I became inspired and hopeful. I started seeing progress in those young women’s lives, which motivated me to work on myself. I started journaling and took a boxing class, and as hard as it once felt, I started taking myself on dates without feeling lonely.

For the longest time, I thought choosing myself and prioritizing my mental health was selfish. It took learning from other people’s journeys worldwide to realize that choosing yourself is self-love and self-care, not selfishness. 

After the healing era, women enter their villain era, another TikTok trend. Despite the name, the villain era is not about being mean or hurting others. The villain era is when a woman sets boundaries, stops being a people-pleaser and continues to choose herself unapologetically. 

In the #villainera, you often see before and after videos of how a woman who was once broken and crying turns into a confident woman who is unshakeable. I find the villain era trend to be empowering because it motivates those going through their healing era and shows them what’s waiting at the end of the tunnel. 

As much as I despise TikTok for making me doom scroll, I am still thankful for the app and those creators for teaching me ways to love myself and to not give up in the middle of my healing journey. The ‘healing era’ trend taught me how to be gentle with myself, and the ‘villain era’ trend has helped me visualize the version of myself I want to become.

Regardless of any TikTok trend, healing is a long process, and we should not rush through it. There is no deadline for when the healing era has to stop and the villain era must begin. We should take things slow and not be hard on ourselves if our healing takes longer than people online. We all have our pace, and eventually, we can all get there.

eBay: the *hardest* resale platform in town

Depop, Poshmark… been there, done that! Time for a challenge

It’s not a secret that I love to thrift. I will make it a point to tell everyone I come across that my “entire fit is thrifted.” In March 2020, when the pandemic hit and thrift stores closed (hold for dramatic pause), I, like everyone else, went online and tried to fill the void in my heart with second-hand clothes.

First was thredUp — I spent the first lockdown scrolling through endless pages of some housewife’s old clothes. Then, like everyone, I turned to Depop. Hot take: I hate Depop. It is, in my opinion, a platform that seems filled with posers and people who overcharge every time a certain item becomes a “hot trend.”

Now that thrift stores are open, shopping online seems like an expensive alternative to my neighbourhood thrift. But the pandemic also exacerbated the amount of people looking for vintage, thifted, unique pieces which will fit their aesthetic. Sometimes, that means thrifting in stores is a little harder, since you can’t “filter” like online, or maybe don’t have five hours to go through all the racks of your local Value Village.

Well I have a solution for you — if you’re brave enough to try! As a commerce platform, eBay has always overwhelmed me. The bidding, making offers, receiving offers, not to mention the expensive shipping costs. However, the advantage with eBay is the abundance of vintage stock, which will often end up cheaper than if you bought it in a consignment store.

So here are my tips for navigating eBay. They may seem standard to some, but I’m going to assume everyone is as intimidated by the outdated website as I was when I first ventured into that dusty corner of the internet.

Know what you want

This isn’t the place to browse for clothes — there needs to be a specific brand or item you are looking for. I recommend looking through Pinterest and finding vintage brands you like, or even looking in your closet to see what brands you gravitate to when thrifting. I asked my mom where she shopped in the ‘90s to help narrow down some options.

You can look through the standard eBay categories for jewelry or home decor, but clothes need to be found manually.

In terms of items, sometimes you can start broad — “vintage womens pants” is a good start. If I find a pair of pants I like, but they are too expensive or not the right size, I add a specific keyword from that description, and add it to my search bar.

In time, you will have 14 tabs open with different searches — in sizing, colour, style, fit, or even decade. After all, there’s no one way to categorize a listing on eBay, so it’s important to adapt with the platform. It’s not an exact science; there’s no one keyword or brand that unlocks all the great treasures.

The watchlist

Unlike other online retailers, eBay adopts a “watchlist” versus the overdone “wishlist.” Here, you can watch items that interest you, but the best part about the tool is that sellers can offer you discounts based on the items in your watchlist. Typically, you’ll get 48 hours to respond to an offer.

For example, I had my eye on a vintage white ‘90s crewneck cute baby lions sweater that was way out of my price range — by which I mean the shipping was way too expensive (which is probably the platform’s only downfall). Out of nowhere, a notification appeared up at the top right corner of my screen — suddenly, the sweater was affordable!

You bet your booty I’ve been wearing it every day since it arrived.

It’s important to check your emails or the notifications on your eBay account to keep track of offers, but this is easy once you get addicted to going down the eBay rabbit hole.

Now you have the tools to navigate the treacherous eBay landscape… let the bidding battles begin!

 

Feature graphic by James Fay and Catherine Reynolds

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Why we shouldn’t celebrate Elon Musk

Graphic by Wednesday Laplante

The famous billionaire’s crappy personality overshadows his successes

I normally don’t pay attention to this sort of thing but, apparently, two of the biggest idiots around got together on a webcam show this past Friday. One of the idiots was Elon Musk, the so-called tech genius who runs the electric car company Tesla.

The show in question was The Joe Rogan Experience, hosted by American comedian Joe Rogan. On his show, Rogan interviews all types of people and, very often, he will placidly sit back as people say all sorts of outrageous—and frequently hateful and bigoted—things.

While Musk was being interviewed on the show, Rogan took out a massive joint, sparked it and proceeded to start smoking. Rogan said to Musk, “I guess you can’t smoke because of shareholders, right?” So, obviously Musk had to take a toke.

He got reverse-psychology-ed by the guy from the 90s sitcom News Radio who now talks about random nonsense for a living. You’re telling me Musk is the guy who will bring electric vehicles to the masses and make space travel affordable for the average person? Give me a break.

And, you know what, I’m not even going to go there with Rogan. Every time someone tries to criticize the guy, all the free-speech crusaders get upset for harshing on a freethinker.

But the reality is, Rogan was the host of a television show where contestants laid down in boxes of spiders and ate cow testicles. One time, he even tried to fight a contestant, while they were filming the show. Who does that? On top of it, he’s a big fan of “putting people to sleep,” a.k.a. depriving their brain of oxygen until it turns itself off. That’s not good for them, Joe. Knock it off.

So anyway, back to Musk. In the wake of his weed toke heard and seen around the world, two executives resigned from Tesla and the company’s share price had dropped by six per cent, as of Friday afternoon. Smoking weed is not even the most reckless thing Musk has done recently to put Tesla in jeopardy. About a month ago, a careless tweet resulted in a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for potential market manipulation by misleading investors. Tesla’s share price has dropped 11 per cent since the beginning of June because of Musk’s antics. What an admirable leader.

All of this is to say, to hell with Musk. He’s not a hero; he’s an idiot. Remember back in July, when a genius-hero team of international diving experts saved those young boys trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand? Remember how the world celebrated the crew? Musk called one of them a pedophile because they rejected his extravagant idea in trying to help the boys. This is the kind of person we’re dealing with here.

He sucks. He is a waste of our energy and focus at a time when we really need to have our heads in the game. Surely, there are other people who know how to make electric cars and solar panels who aren’t completely unbearable to deal with?

Graphic by Wednesday Laplante

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