I’d love to retire feeling very comfortable, to the point where we could be cruising every month if we wanted to. My fiancé is set on having a nice car to drive us around in so we can see the world together when we’re old- like he literally talks about shipping it overseas to have during vacations.
I know we need to focus on moving our bodies and having healthy habits now if we want to be walking and traveling a lot in our older years- so that is the focus for now. Also looking at financial goals and making actual plans to meet them is also important!
Last night I had the best time with one of my good friends and her boyfriend because WE WENT TO WISCANSIN FEST!! We got to see our favorite singers/rappers from our middle school/high school days like T-Pain, Soulja Boy, Akon, Waka Flaka, and Pink Sweats! I actually discovered Pink Sweats in my more recent years, but literally it was such an amazing time!
We got to the festival in Milwaukee around 4pm and T-pain didn’t even go on until 11pm, so it was a pretty long night for me, but again all 100% worth it!!! T-pain was on the balcony watching his friends perform and my friend and I looked up and waved at him and he literally waved back to us!! We were so excited like little kids LOL but honestly it was the best.
Today I plan to lay in bed for as long as I can. I already got up to shower and I know I have to eat something here, but other than that I am exhausted. I’m glad I got all my laundry done and made my lunches for the week on Friday, because I knew I’d be tired today.
Overall, I had an amazing weekend. I got to have lunch with a friend I haven’t seen in several years after I got off on Friday, and then of course going to this festival was a huge highlight! I am just feeling so happy and grateful for this life!
I spend the most time with my fiancé, which makes sense considering we live together. I did think about how we’re both away at work for 40 hours a week, but even with that and the time I take to socialize with friends, he definitely gets most of my time and that’s how I like it!
My fiancé is my favorite person, so naturally it makes sense that most of my time would be spent hanging out with him. I love his presence, I love our conversations and how well we communicate with each other, and overall I am just so happy to have him in my life!
Been waking up a little anxious these past few days. Today is a new moon with new intentions to be set, and I’m excited to have plans with a friend after work today. I need some good conversation with someone else who is going through their own healing journey.
I know this anxiety will pass and it’s all stemming from something that happened Monday morning when I was driving to work. I had to call 911 because some man was aggressively tailgating me, and when I signaled to move off the road to let him go, he stopped his car next to me, forcing me to go back in front of him so he could continue to intimidate me and ride so close to me.
While on the call with 911 he finally swerved around me, nearly causing a head on collision with another car, and I was able to give them the license plate. They told me they were getting someone to pull him over, but I didn’t see it happen. I guess I could call for a follow up to see, but maybe that would make me more anxious if I know he’s just still out there driving my same route to work. Luckily I am fine, and I did the right thing, but my body is definitely still recovering from the stress. I just have to give it time and keep breathing and helping my nervous system.
It’s honestly incredible how much someone else’s energy can change ours. I woke up with a bit of anxiety, and as soon as I reached over to lay my hand on my sleeping fiancés back, it all washed away. I immediately felt relaxed and safe, as it reminded me that I am only right here in bed at this moment, next to the love of my life. Becoming grounded in the present moment often gives a sense of ease, as my intrusive thoughts tend to be about the future and losing the people I love the most. I know our time here is finite, so I use those thoughts to remind me to truly enjoy the here and now, and wrap myself in gratitude for what is. I am grateful for this life, and this love. Thank you.
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?
Every time I tell someone my favorite childhood book, they all say the same thing: “I’ve never heard of it.” The book is called “Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket,” and I still have it to this day, because I plan to read it to my future children!
It was about a young pig who had a magical blanket with all of these fun characters on it, and they would come to life in the night and hang out with him! I remember always being so excited to read that book, and I literally haven’t met a single person who has heard of that book other than my family who read it to me.
For watching over me this morning and keeping me safe on my way to work. Thank you for showing me how capable I am of helping myself and surviving in times of need. Thank you.
I got my first social media account when I was 16. I felt so behind compared to all of my friends, because I was just joining the online world of facebook for the first time, while they’ve already had years on myspace. I remember feeling excited to join, add all my friends and post pictures; it quickly became my new favorite hobby.
Being a teenager is hard as it is, so naturally I had a sassy attitude at home, but it seemed to start getting worse once I was using social media regularly. Of course I would ignore my mom when she’d tell me that and I assumed she just wanted to control me and take social media away, but once I was actually grounded from my social media/phone for a week, that is when I noticed she could be right. she had brought up to me how I seemed a lot calmer and happier, which is definitely not how a grounded teen would usually act, but I still wasn’t convinced.
After punishment was up, I was back connecting and posting my statuses with weird ass spelling that I now cringe at. I don’t know when I was allowed to then get my Instagram and Twitter, but the addiction and stress just grew from there. I couldn’t put my finger on it then, but now as an adult who still uses and honestly abuses social media now, I have a better understanding of myself.
I get overwhelmed and anxious when I am consuming too much information, and social media is a cesspool for horrifying videos, images, and emotionally charged content. In general, human beings have never consumed so much traumatic information in their lives, and just do a quick google search to see what that is doing to our brains. Even the NCBI lists research to show excessive screen time is causing depression and anxiety… so is it worth it?
For me, I’ve always enjoyed pictures and cute aesthetics, so with that I had decided I could eliminate twitter and facebook. I do still have facebook go on occasionally, but Instagram is the main one I’m still on, and I debate getting off of it entirely every day, because when I take my social media breaks I noticeably feel more at peace. I feel more in tune, less rushed, and overall just happier.
With or without socials, writing has always been my passion, and I am so grateful to have my blog and journals at home so I can still write and share my writing. I’d like to take time to get back into writing for the community I joined and just get back in touch with myself. Thank you for all who take the time to read this post, and let me know if you’ve had similar experiences with social media.
Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.
A simple thing I do that brings me joy is practicing gratitude. When I am feeling lost and chaotic within my brain, taking a pause to count my blessings really brings me back to the present, and brings me a sense of peace.
I’ve actually been feeling off the past few days, and I haven’t actually sat in stillness to remember all that I have to be grateful for, so I’ll take that opportunity now.
1. I am grateful for my fiancé. The fact that we have built a solid foundation over the past twelve years keeps me at peace as we get closer to our wedding date and starting a family. He has been such a patient, supportive man throughout even the worst of time, and I am so grateful to be loved by him, and so very grateful to love him as well.
2. I am grateful for my cats. It’s so crazy to think we adopted our first cat, Sky, almost nine years ago! She’s so sweet and cuddly and totally my baby. Mushu we rescued under someone’s porch only a few months after we adopted Sky, and at only four weeks old we had to bottle feed her and teach her how to use the litter and she truly did feel like our baby. Deacon we adopted from our old tattoo artist as she was moving out of state and told us she never bonded with him, which of course made me really sad- so we took him in and he is 100% my fiancé’s cat. He is always cuddling with him, and sometimes he will with me too. I feel so lucky to have our three black cats and to have them all here and healthy with us now.
3. I am grateful for our home and everything within in. We are blessed to have electricity, gas, water and all of our appliances and items. The fact that we get to wake up in a bed with a roof over our head is truly a blessing, and that’s not one I want to take for granted. We are so fortunate to have our home.
4. I am grateful for music. Music is something that can help me to escape, but also help me reconnect to myself all at the same time. Singing and dancing along to the songs I love makes me feel so free and happy. I love how there is such a variety of music in the world so that everyone can find something they like.
5. I am grateful for my health. I can walk, talk, breathe, eat and use the bathroom without any assistance or issues, and as someone who has dealt with bouts of horrendous back pain, I am grateful to be where I am today. My heart beats and my lungs breathe all for me without me even having to think about it, and that is a huge blessing. I am also grateful for access to healthcare, as both physical and mental therapy have been so helpful for me and my journey.
Overall, life has joy all around. Sometimes it feels harder to see it/feel it, but focusing on gratitude really helps to bring me back to how wonderful life is.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this beautiful life.
Propaganda (Oxford): “Persuasive mass communication that filters and frames the issues of the day in a way that strongly favours particular interests; usually those of a government or corporation.”
Propaganda (Merriam-Webster): “The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.”
Propaganda (Brittanica): “Ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc.”
I hated history in school, but I do remember learning a bit about propaganda. The generation I am a part of is the first one who grew up with the internet and social media. we don’t have to wait for the channel 7’s breaking story, we have thousands of stories at our fingertips at every waking moment.
It is so easy for anyone with power behind the media/algorithms to control us, because we’re addicted to the screens and we’re addicted to the stress. It’s sad to see so much hatred and division, but diving and conquering seems to work for those in power.
I know this all sounds sooooo doom and gloom, but I honestly think there’s hope. I think that more people have common goals than they think, and we need to actually learn how to sit and actually have a conversations to listen, learn, and collaborate. We need to learn how to manage our emotions, rather than letting our emotions manage us. Consuming copious amounts of traumatic images and horrendous events repeatedly is actually doing something to our brains.
I thought the answer was to get off of social media, and honestly I still feel that in a way, but this is also a way to share information and hopefully help people to realize how much we could actually do together. We’re all skin and bones, and I’m always going to be hopeful that love wins in the end. Humans deserve peace.
finding light in the dark 