One of the biggest rites of passage as a college student is the morning after a night out. We’ve all been there. You wake up and are suddenly hit with all of the memories (or lack thereof) of things that you did the night before. That desperate need for water and to put anything in the pit that is currently your stomach. So you and your roommates, all still recovering from the night before, throw on sweats and begin the walk of shame to get coffee and a bagel. Aka the only thing that has the power to revive you at the moment.
Love it or hate it, this ‘morning after’ aesthetic has become romanticized in modern culture among those of us in our college years. But why have we chosen to romanticize one of the moments where we look our worst?
Attraction to Authenticity
As a society, we are attracted to authenticity. So often online we are subject to people sharing the best and brightest parts of themselves. It has become rare that we see “real” and authentic content and perspectives. So when we do find that authentic and non-filtered content we are automatically drawn to it. This attraction to authenticity is part of the reason that we as a generation have romanticized the ‘morning after’ aesthetic. In some ways, seeing ourselves at our “worst” is refreshing as it is a part of ourselves that we usually hide away.
The Small Things Matter the Most
As minor and insignificant as a morning coffee run or debrief may seem, those small moments are often the ones that mean the most to us in the long run. Time flies by so much faster than we want it to, and in college, it seems as though we blink and are already nearing the end. We only have so many more mornings to wake up in our college apartments with our favorite people and laugh and dissect the mistakes that we made the night before. In the end, those mornings are the times that make our college years so sweet. What makes us occasionally wish that they would last forever?
It’s Not That Serious
It also can be therapeutic to make fun of ourselves every once and again. There is something comedic about seeing ourselves disheveled and a mess the morning after a night out. It reminds us that we are human and that not everything in our lives has to be so serious, even if sometimes it feels like it. Being able to poke fun at ourselves and find humor in our raw moments grounds us. At a time in our lives when we are under so much pressure to have things figured out and under control, reminding ourselves that we have so much time ahead of ourselves and that life really isn’t that serious is essential.
What do you think? Why has the ‘morning after’ aesthetic been romanticized? Let us know your thoughts by mentioning us @VALLEYmag on X!
