/lit/ - Literature

>>20673724
I think it's a very adult genre, because it deals with things that you don't experience until adulthood but slowly become "dark" universal human experiences. Stuff like decay, loss, longing, the past, sanity, loneliness, spirituality, and it's a celebration or romanticizing of these "darker" features of life. I genuinely think it's helpful and healthy because it teaches you about this stuff and it's personally given me a lot more depth in my life because I have a better relationship with the experiences that may happen to me when I'm in my worst moments in life. When I go through a traumatic experience, a loss, or see myself and other decay, it leads to better wellbeing if you can incorporate that into the "narrative" of your life. There's something really special about that, it's not delusion or unrealistic, it's essentially full acceptance of the bad experiences. I think that's why I don't view it as "edgy" because there's a certain maturity in that: to fall deeper into the experience of life rather than alienate yourself into a hopeless apathy. Wistfully romancing my life in this way might seem silly to the edgelords (because they're hopeless) but ultimately it's much more emotionally, psychologically, and socially intelligent.

I will say too that it has broadened my depth of empathy for others as well, like I feel I have a better understanding of muddy emotions or I'm able to sit with them in the darkness of their heart. Sadness is a very human experience and I think that's mostly why it confers these benefits, I think gothic hits sadness better than any other genre.