Hello hello! This is Zabeth bringing you a different blog this week. Has anyone heard of “cores” on the internet these past few years? If you have, good news for you because I’m about to show you a new one and one that I think is quite profound. I won’t spill much here in this intro, scroll down to read and you’ll get what I mean. Once again I don’t write this with any ill intent or intention to harm, i’m here to share my thoughts and opinions and that’s the one thing I have always aimed to do with writing these posts. Without further ado, Enjoy Reading!~

Hopecore, A Reminder For The Better

There’s this thing on the internet or more specifically on TikTok that has gained popularity over the past few years called “cores” or to describe it, it would be a genre of aestheticity. These cores can be found all over the internet, it describes a certain aesthetic or genre of style that lies under the format of “___ core”. Similar to things like “cottagecore” which is one of the cores that gained popularity a few years ago on TikTok which describes the look and feel of a country girl living her best life with greenery all around, a love for the rustic feel, and is represented with the simplicity that life gets when in the countryside or take “kid core” for example that is usually described with saturated colors, rainbows, candy, toys, things that make you feel as if you are a kid seeing the world more brightly and (eyesoringly) colorful than it is compared to now where life feels more drab.

With that comes all bunch of “cores” or aesthetics that describe the personality, style, and even the likeness of a person but out of all of the cores seen on the internet there’s one that stood out to me the most. As I was scrolling through TikTok I found a particular slideshow video with the main caption simply being “hopecore.” I scrolled through the photos and ended up crying at the end of it, it’s a core not very well known across the internet as it’s presence and popularity is not very high but the people that fall under this aesthetic or wish to spread this style around have made great feats doing so and I wish to do the same by introducing you all to this aesthetic. Not to be part of a trend or to be the next popular person, but to remind anyone reading this that life is given to us for a purpose.

Hopecore, Also Known As Corecore

Hopecore or Corecore as it’s less known, is one of the more unique aesthetics I’ve seen floating around the internet recently and the reason why I speak about it now is because it moved me. Like I mentioned I first encountered this aesthetic on TikTok but Pinterest is where the hive of it really is. But what is Hopecore even? It’s an aesthetic or a style but its not just that. The best way I can describe it is that it is like a reminder. The way you wake up in the morning and do your routine, brushing your teeth, making and eating breakfast, then looking and staring outside your window thinking of life when you’re interrupted by this odd notification. A reminder that you’re alive somehow. 

That’s how I understand it.

It is a reminder to look around, to look outside and realize all the people walking by, all the animals around you, all the buildings and greenery, had stories and you’re a person witnessing it all currently. It’s that feeling of sonder. It’s a philosophy based on the hope that humanity has, despite how little it has right now, it’s there regardless. That you have a life, you should be living it.

The Five Concepts of Hopecore

Currently, there are five concepts that are necessary in describing hopecore, it’s not a singular aesthetic but instead an understanding of life that needs foundation.

First is Hope itself, the thing with hope is that it’s there inside someone despite how grim a situation can look. The way it cuts through the negative side, there’s still a part of you that can acknowledge and see the bright side of things. The analogy of how despite the heavy rain, the sun is shining bright behind it and always will be even after the rain. It helps us see opportunities no matter how small, a requisite to stay alive, and a reminder to be resilient no matter how dark skies get.

Second is Sonder, the realization that everything around you has had a life as vivid and as complex as your own. Each passerby down the street has a life like your own, the animals, the buildings, the greenery, despite not being able to tell their story has witnessed a life of its own as well. An epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you'll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

Third is Yūgen, it is usually translated as “mysterious profundity.” Yūgen means the beauty that we can feel sense into an object, even though the beauty doesn’t exist in the literal sense of the word and cannot be seen directly. Yūgen is a sense not to enjoy the superficial beauty of an object, which is in front of our eyes but to enhance the beauty more impressive by imagining its latent beauty. We think a flower is beautiful when we see it. This beauty is the superficial beauty. The flower has a past of withstanding wind, rain, and snow until now, and will someday wither, however beautiful it is now. Although the beautiful flower itself impresses us, the beauty will be more impressive than the superficial beauty, when we can imagine its past and future.

Fourth is Humanity, the virtue we have as humans and our altruistic ethics. It’s the way we naturally show love and compassion to others since we are born.

Lastly is Melancholy, It is not rage or bitterness; it is a noble species of sadness that arises when we are properly open to the idea that suffering and disappointment are at the heart of human experience. It is not a disorder that needs to be cured; it is a tender-hearted, calm, dispassionate acknowledgement of how much agony we will inevitably have to travel through.

Other less defined, yet just as important, concepts are little joys, random acts of kindness, the act of creation and existence.

The Life You’re Given Is Worth Living

Hopecore, a movement for those who wish to spread positivity. It is the acknowledgement of struggles in life, all the hurdles we face, and yet through all the hardships we face and through all the lowest moments, there is light at the end of the tunnel and even just the thought that something better is waiting for you is enough of a thought to grab onto and start something better.

Life is hard, sometimes it feels as if everything will go wrong, the world will end, the way we’re subjected to the constant existential dread and negativity that no matter what one does life is a boulder that crushes one’s soul, the thought that one day we will die anyway. But isn’t that the beauty of life itself?

I am not a religious person by any means, but think of how lucky we are to be breathing. To be in this age, to be living, to be moving, to be able to look outside and see the world even from one’s window. One day we’re all going to die, why not spend the singular life you have living?

It’s difficult to find that light alone, but it’s life is a constant ongoing fight, Hopecore isn’t spreading positivity for the sake of being positive. It’s a reminder that how difficult life is, it’s going to get better. Life is naturally difficult, it is for all of us, this is all of our first time living and we are still learning, that’s natural. It’s going to be okay but it’s going to be different this time around.

It’s a mess of thoughts isn’t it? I don’t know how to write, I’m 16 and a mediocre writer with origins in the Philippines living a mediocre life in a mediocre city. I’m not special by any means in fact you don’t even know me, hell I don’t even know myself yet. But despite all those things, I have a life. I struggled through hardships, a point in my life where my naivete shot me in the back, and I also have had my happy moments like winning gold in my journalism competition, being able to get good grades, having those chaotic memories with friends. But it won’t be like this forever, instead of dreading the end why not live the rest of those moments out the best you can?

We push through the struggles because at the end of the day time will move, sun will rise, moon will fall. Not every moment of a hero’s journey is beautiful, there are parts of it too painful to even speak about, in this story, whether you realize or not you are the hero. In this story, you have to push through, no matter how dark the past may be ahead, everything will be okay. You’re where you need to be, one day you’ll look at yourself and you’ll be proud to survive, to have lived to tell the tale.

Hope is all we have in the end, it dies the last as people say. Seeing the good in people always outweighs the hate and really makes me love this place called life that hasn’t even been treating me too well recently. Seeing these concepts in action and the purity of some people keeps me going. The little things and just seeing smiles means so much more to me after what I’ve been through. Bad things happen in all of our lives but it doesn’t mean we’ve had a bad life. There is always good for all of us. All we have to do is push to find it and/or just look at what’s right in front of us. Yes I’ve suffered endless losses recently, but there are still so many impressive people and things left in my life around me. Sometimes you just need to look right in front of you and realize you probably still have it much better than you could’ve ever asked for. Tell your parents you love them. Tell and show everyone how much you love them. There can never be too much kindness in this world. Thanks if you made it this far means a lot of peace and love to all.

It’s corny to listen to I know but really it works doesn’t it? The hope of the people, in others, in ourselves, is what keeps us living. How do you find that hope? No one knows how to, I guess the first way for me is to ask are you living right now?

Are you living? Are you okay?

And thank you for reading, I don’t know if this piece is even understandable as I’m writing this with nothing but tears in my eyes and the thought of how precious life is because how you only have one of it. With so much negativity in the world, it’s hard to find a shred of light but it’s there. It’s hard to look at it and believe that it is light with how you’ve been surrounded by the dark for so long but it’s there and it’s a sign that things will get better. I remembered my own past writing this and thinking of how much I endured when I was so young but despite it, I live and I breathe right now and I am so happy and proud of myself for doing so because then how else would I have found myself in this position where I can share my story to others? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this jumble of thoughts I wrote on a whim.

With matsalab,

Zabeth