Many of these images combine a perplexing mixture of elements, both literally and stylistically. A simple look-through will reveal that many of these images appear to be shot “in the wild.” This has an interesting effect on the brain. Because these look like pictures captured by random people of chance encounters.

This creates an aura of mystery like we all might be able to come across any of the things depicted here and who knows what else while just going about one’s day. And sometimes it’s just the result of the brain “blessing” you with connections you draw between words, images, and experiences. 

The specific combination “cursed” and “blessed” was inevitable, as both of these “categories” have existed since 2015 or 2016, though it can be hard to identify real “firsts” on the internet. While not yet attached to images, the term “blursed” goes back to an Urban Dictionary post from 2010, although more as just a description of a feeling than as a category of internet content. 

The terminology of blessed and cursed, alongside “blursed,” is a reflection of the random nature of these images. In many cases, it’s simply the right place and time, or the right camera angle. While it’s pretty unlikely that a supernatural being or higher power took time out of its day to show someone these things, it’s nice to think that humans can apply positive emotions like this to random happenings during the day. 

Nowadays, the terminology of cursed and blessed can be applied further than just images, as now one can find cursed videos and cursed comments, and these concepts can be applied to nearly every other bit of media. It’s such a popular internet subgenre that these terms have “bled” (a pretty cursed verb, if one thinks about it) into everyday use. 

Ultimately, these concepts exist to show us the emotion-carrying capabilities of the unexpected. The “blessed” part of both cursed and blursed images is that they show us the infinite possibilities around us, the reality that even in the mundane, we can still be surprised, often just by the connections our minds can make.