Akshaya Krishnan

Our Cultural Obsession With Self Improvement

There are so many elements in pop culture that talk about changing ourselves, and constantly improving ourselves for the better. While I do understand the appeal of it, I think that this can get toxic when we don’t take the time to think about it.

First of all, this article is not against self improvement or reflection. I am a person who is constantly reflective, constantly trying to do better in whatever I do, and I like doing that. But over the years, I have noticed so many people constantly

Maintaining An Active Lifestyle: Why it Means So Much More Than Just Going to the Gym

When I was young, being fit was easy. We went outside, ran until the sun was out, and we kicked a ball. It felt easy to stick to this routine because all our friends were doing it. We were always expected to do these things, by parents, by teachers, by other adults. No matter how hectic school became, we were told to spend time outside for at least a few hours a day. It’s one of the reasons I think days seemed longer to us; we seemed to perceive the passing of time differently because we spent m

The Dumb (But Not So Dumb) Character in Sitcoms - Why Is It So Common?

Ever since I started rewatching some of my favorite shows, I have noticed a recurring theme amongst all of them – there’s always a couple of characters who are portrayed as dumb, clueless or naive. This trait becomes their whole personality, and it’s often the subject of ridicule by the other characters. Once I noticed this theme, I started noticing it in almost all the shows I’ve ever watched. This can be seen in characters such as London Tipton in Suite life of Zack and Cody, Cat in Sam and Ca

Her Campus • 8th December 2023

The Restaurant Industry Isn’t Always as Glamorous as it Seems...And How the Career We Choose Can Have a Big Effect on Mental Health

Many of us have seen movies like Ratatouille, or The Menu. Hollywood constantly creates new films that tell a story about chefs or the fine dining industry. Most of these movies talk about the glamorous side of being the owner of a wealthy restaurant; but there are few films that show how distressing and stressful being in this industry can be.

Rene Redzepi is the owner of the world-famous restaurant, Noma. After Noma recently announced that it would shut down by the end of 2024 to transform in

The Village in the Netherlands that Treats Dementia Differently

Hogeweyk, a village in the Netherlands, looks like any other village from outside. But the main thing that sets it apart from other villages are its residents: everyone has a form of dementia.

Hogeweyk is a nursing home designed to look like normal houses. It is a facility that helps the patients feel a bit more normal towards the end of their lives. As the manager of the facility, Eloy Van Hal, told Business Insider, this preserves people’s sense of autonomy.

This sense of autonomy is importa

Why Are We So Obsessed with the Trope of the Self-Destructive Genius?

Trigger Warning: This article contains subject matter related to depression and addiction.

I started watching The Queen’s Gambit because I was fascinated with its premise, but then I realized that there are many shows that follow its main theme.

The show follows Beth Harmon (played by Anna Taylor-Joy), a chess prodigy. The opening of the show depicts Beth in an orphanage when her mother died in a car crash. Beth eventually learns to live with the people there and trains herself to play chess.

Why is the TV Show "Friends" Still So Popular?

No matter where you live, you have definitely heard of the show Friends. Set in New York City, the show details the lives of a group of adults navigating relationships and jobs in their 20s and 30s. The show has been streamed more than a billion times and it continues to grow in popularity, even over two decades since its initial release.

Even though the show was filmed in the 90s in New York City, it managed to capture almost universal human experiences. It continues to be relevant because it

Why it's dangerous to label neighbourhoods like Jane and Finch as 'bad' or 'unsafe'

When I first moved to Toronto, the first thing I was always told about the North York area is to "always avoid Jane and Finch."

At first, I had no idea where the area was. But as I spent more time here, I heard it from more and more people. Everyone seemed to have the same opinion: stay away from the area, it has a high crime rate.

As I began to research more about the crime rates in Toronto, I realized that the statistics tell a larger story.

While it is true that there is crime in Jane and

The problem with the way we think about our attention span in regards to social media

There are so many conversations I have with people who tell me that they are not able to focus nowadays due to social media. These conversations mostly go the same way: the person usually tells me that they think that instagram (or social media in general) is ruining their attention span, and their attention span has drastically reduced since the use of social media. Of course, I am not denying that social media is affecting our focus or memory. It is definitely making us more distracted, and ca...

What Are Third Places, And Do We Need One?

When I rewatch some of my favorite shows, and pay close attention to them, there is a particular feature that emerges as a popular theme. The characters in the show Friends often hang out at the Central Perk cafe; meanwhile, the characters in How I Met Your Mother have a bar where they regularly frequent with their friends and family. No matter what goes on in their lives they always find time to hang out at these places. There are many other shows that follow this theme of there being a place w...

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