It's insane what happens when we sit down and devote our time and energy to what really matters.
Not what's easy, but what is hard. Because the things that are hard are the things too many of us try to put off and distract ourselves from doing. Because the things that are hard are the things that require effort. Because the things that are hard are the things that matter.
A year ago, my definition of 'progress' was spending hours 'studying'; memorising a prewritten essay in an obsessive attempt to get full marks, copying down maths formulas thirty times, doing other bullshit that feels like progress but really just makes us feel burnt out because it means nothing to us.
Shit that actually feels fulfilling is the shit that gives us a fucking rush after we complete it. The shit that gets you out of bed with a strange power you didn't have before. The shit we can sit at a desk doing for an entire day and feel was worth something.
And the results speak for themselves. We gravitate towards people who have something going on. Within the past week my life has exponentially grown and is only gonna keep growing. I got invited to a friend group; though since I'm on an unofficial exam block, staying at home because going to school means doing shitty busywork that fries your imagination and uses up your time, I'll have to engage with that next term. People who were 'busy' or went dry in their texts suddenly started texting me asking what's going on or making little gestures that show something's changed. I was even able to fulfil a dream I've had since I joined the scene and went to my first gig.
Even my subconscious feels it. Last night I dreamt I was living in a big mansion on top of a mountain. I had a glass panel where I could see down to the ground below; fields for miles and miles. It really shows how high up I am.
To quote Oasis from their song Columbia, which is about what it's like to be on the rise: "There we were, now here we are, all this confusion, nothing's the same to me." The way I feel is all so new to me. I don't feel like a fucking observer anymore. I feel like a doer. And it feels fucking great to be a doer.
I had a realisation that my dream career would be to be a journalist for a big music magazine, like how Hunter S. Thompson was for Rolling Stone, and get paid to go to gigs and meet people in bands. I'm already doing that and it's what makes me feel fulfilled. You really get your emotions out through your art. That's what all creatives feel; that their art is literally them. There's a real feeling you get when you do shit that you know is good.
My vision for the scene is to have all ages gigs held every weekend. I'm thinking of having something big happen and I'm doing some stuff which you'll just have to experience. Just like the first generation of the scene; Casualty Records inspiring Antidismal and Project Punk to start up; attention has to be converted into something powerful, and that's what I'm doing right now.
Fuck 'oversaturation'. The best writers didn't get good by trying to have every piece be perfect and doing jackshit in between. They wrote in high volumes whenever it felt right, published it, got feedback, rinse and repeat, and through EXPERIENCE they learnt what was bullshit and what was gold. We don't invest all our time producing 'big bangers' and getting our hopes up; we know having one thing be the pinnacle is a path towards disappointment. I learnt that during my phase where I posted generic bullshit to avoid criticism. Then I realised it's how you respond to the critics that matters. We roll with it, produce what we've got, and over time it's an exponential increase.
Speaking of economics; I have an economics exam on Thursday and I'm learning and applying those principles in real life, right here, right now. Because big things require economic considerations. Economics is the study of choices and what choices are better. A lot of us youth nowadays are numbed by distractions. Life may not feel fulfilling in our shit society but look at me; I ascended above the ashes of the life I once knew anyway.
In a few years this will all be memories. But right now, it's happening. Me writing about it is me documenting it, like Findaway did with their new EP.
From the archive. Manifesto · 22 March 2026 (write-date per catalogue correction; post-date unconfirmed) · carried verbatim.