As a goth, it has been my duty to reflect on the Death Mysteries. Being goth, for me, is about holding space with the dead, because they are a part of life. To say otherwise, is to be in denial to oneself about the reality that we all so clearly face living day to day. People and other things, are always dying. Things in life are always in a state of decay. To say otherwise is to be n deep denial about the reality of life. It's a form of gaslighting that humans who like to profit off of denial like to perpetuate in the culture in order to make sure they have more profit in their pockets.
This is why, as a goth, my first job is to stay in touch with reality. To avoid being scammed by anybody, to stay out of other people's illusions.
This is the goth ethos, this is not the same thing as goth literature. I am speaking directly to what it means to be a goth in the modern era. What the responsibilities of a goth are on an ethical level. If you are just an aesthetic goth, if you only dress the victorian style or cyberpunk style of goth dress, then you haven't dived in to the literature side of goth culture, and you are really missing out on the deeper elements of goth as a subculture.
Music as a form of literature discussion goes here.
Do you understand punk music as a subculture scene? If you don't, you're not a real goth.
No one said you had to be a punk, but you do need to understand it's ethos, so you can understand one of the root cultures on the goth subculture. Siouxsie and the Banshees is a keystone artist of the goth subculture. Even if you don't like their music, etc, knowing the history and culture of a band like Siouxsie and the Banshees will help you understand authentic goth.
Have you ever heard of the panopticon? the panopticon is about the state people live in when they feel the pressure of being watched, and never having privacy. then they are always in some mode of performance bc they are never just relaxed and alone with the parts of themselves that don't make any sense. no one makes sense all the time. why should you be persecuted for being human? whatever happened to having compassion and understanding? perfection is an ideal that is essentially an illusion, but ppl use this delusion to push themselves to achieve things, so we've learned to say that's a good idea.
but when you think about yourself, how much time do you spend just being without social media without any device with a camera attached to it? have you you ever spent anytime alone lately? and I mean an extended period, not just a few moments, but have you stretched it beyond your comfort zone? what was that experience like? what did you learn? what did you hate? what did you enjoy or like?
me personally, I spend alot of time alone. so my experience might be very different from your if you spend alot of time stimulated by other people. i actually enjoy my own company bc this is a habit I've been developing for a long time. since my teens. to intentionally not be stimulated by outside culture and just watch my own processes.
i was an only child with my own room in a 3 bedroom house in the hood. my parents wanted me to go to college, so reading was a good habit to them, so i went to library and maxed out my lobrary card and walked home with a stuffed backpack and double or triple layerd plastic shopping bags in each hand stuffed with books (the max was 30!). caught the bus home and was in paradise with books strewn all over my bed, floor, and closet.