Spirit Matters: Discovering your core aesthetic style can be soulfully satisfying

If there were a popularity poll for “least likely to use TikTok,” I would be a strong contender.

TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos. The app is used by people as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy and lip-syncing, allowing users to create videos and share them across a community.

The platform is set to be banned in the U.S. beginning Jan. 19. Citing threats to national security, Congress approved and President Joe Biden signed into law the requirement for the popular app to cut ties with its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or lose access to app stores and web-hosting services in the U.S.

The Supreme Court is currently considering the case after lawyers for the platform sought an emergency consideration, citing freedom of speech.

I am not opposed to self-expression. In fact, I encourage it and celebrate it when done respectfully and tastefully, rather than simply for attention-seeking purposes through the use of overtly flashy tactics.

Honestly, although I do watch some videos on other platforms, they are not my preferred method of entertainment or learning. I am naturally drawn to the written word.

And maybe I am being a little harsh in my assessment based on the few frivolous videos I have seen on TikTok. Like most social media platforms, the content one sees is often algorithm-driven based on their interests, so I’m sure I could find content that I would enjoy.

The bottom line is I don’t want to consume content on yet another soul-depleting social media app when I am intentionally trying to cut back on the content I consume on others.

And yet, if it weren’t for TikTok, I would have never found out about various aesthetics with the suffix “-core” attached to them, to describe one’s style preferences, as TikTok is where this concept originated.

Some popular “-core” styles are cottagecore, Barbiecore, balletcore, angelcore, animecore, artcore, kidcore … the possibilities are endless with particular niche interests. Google “aesthetic cores,” and you will see what I mean.

My personal favorites are bloomcore, light academia and dark academia.

Bloomcore is, as the name implies, all about flowers. And I am obsessed with flowers – at least from an aesthetic point of view. I can’t get enough of them. I doodle them, sometimes arrange them and spend an inordinate amount of time seeking images of them to gaze upon.

Light academia is somewhat similar to bloomcore in that it images a softer way of life. Collections of classic literature such as “Anne of Green Gables,” “Little Women” and anything by Jane Austen are packaged and photographed amid floral or other natural backgrounds. Light academia is also often represented by soft classical music.

Dark academia is more of a moody aesthetic. Images of dark libraries and mystery-invoking landscapes are common. People dress in a darker, intellectual style. Classical music is also representative of dark academia, although on a more melancholic note.

Overall, the aesthetics I am drawn to celebrate the sublime beauty that is all around us when seen through the right lens and when looked upon with more than just a surface view. Many of the other labeled aesthetics do the same.

For that, I am grateful to TikTok users who defined the “-core” concept. Doing so has allowed me to look upon the world in a more concentrated, kaleidoscopic manner, and it has filled my soul with wonder and delight.

SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column by Jerrilyn Zavada Novak that examines experiences common to the human spirit. Contact her at jzblue33@yahoo.com.