humans

Sunday: Soft Girl Revolution

blog

Some humans are caring, compassionate and kind, while (unfortunately) others lack empathy and fail to have any moral compass. The human mind is the most complex organ to exist; it has the capacity to have one believing that they themselves are “God,” while others feel so low, feeling like they are the scum of the Earth. The thing about the brain that is so wild is that whatever you believe, your brain will do everything in it’s power to confirm that belief. This miraculous organ will find evidence in your every day life to confirm whatever it is that you are focusing your energy on.

Being in America right now, there is a lot of unrest. With masked ICE agents detaining and murdering innocent people, it is extremely hard to trust any sort of government or media, but what we can trust is our intuition: none of this is right. Humans do not deserve to be ripped away from their families. Humans do not deserve to be murdered for standing up for what they believe in. Humans do not deserve to have their food, environments or algorithms poisoned with sickening, artificial sh*t. The heaviness of it all is too much for one person to hold; if we can come together with love and compassion, I believe we can see change- but it is also important that we are taking care of ourselves.

With everything going around on social media, please remember that you can be informed without having to watch the videos of people getting murdered. Yes, there are people who were there to witness it, and we are privileged to have not been there to see it, but constantly consuming this content is not helpful to our brain health. We need our brains functioning well to fight this fight, and the media knows how easy it is to keep people in an angry, fear loop. Our anger can be our friend, as it shows us where boundaries are crossed, but it also is important that we take action and make decisions with clear minds, as this is our future we are fighting for. During these times, it is important to take breaks from social media and spend quality time within your own family and community. Spreading love will do much more than the constant consuming of horrific content.

On a more “woo woo” note, astrologers have been saying that right now is the age of revolution; the last time that Pluto was in the sign of Aquarius was during the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Since Pluto has sat her happy ass back in the sign of Aquarius, it just may be time for some much needed existential shifts. I personally envision a world where people do care for people, the government minds it’s own business other than working for the people, and we have more transparency and control over where our money is going. We pay our taxes because it is illegal if we don’t, yet major government entities haven’t passed their budget audits in years, we have millions of dollars for war, our groceries are full of poison, and we are funding masked murderers in our streets? Does anyone really want this?

When we break it down, this is not about Republican vs. Democrat or Red. vs. Blue or whatever divide it is that the media is trying to sell you: this is about humanity vs. corruption. None of us want to be funding our own deaths. None of us want to be working two jobs in order to barely have enough money to put our artificial groceries on the table. None of us want to live in fear that our medication prices will suddenly sky-rocket to a point where we cannot afford to take them. None of us want to avoid medical care because we are fearful of the amount of medical debt we will accrue. None of us want to see families get ripped apart by masked, unidentified “law enforcement.” None of us want to pay more attention to screen than our own families, friends and loved ones. None of us want to live in a constant state of fear and anger, and none of us deserve it.

I am not a teacher, nor a scientist. I am not a congressman, nor a judge. I am not a policeman, nor an FBI agent. I am not a governor, nor am I on any board of anything. I am not an influencer, nor am I a celebrity. I am not someone who is known: I am just like you. I am a human being who is upset and overwhelmed by the state of the world just looking for some way to connect and create authentic conversation. Humans are the most complex, resilient beings, and although I do often feel “too soft for all of it,” I do know that I cannot remain silent/complacent as I am not in agreeance with what is happening. Like the great Martin Luther King Jr, said: “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

So to all my softies who struggle when it comes to going to protests and interacting with social media, just know that you can still make a difference. Even if it just means taking time to write and reflect about what is happening, or it’s starting to research when the local primaries are and who is on the ballots, that is enough. Focusing on your local communities, even your own home, is where revolutions can start. We are in a country built on moving fast, getting money, and hustling our lives away, but that is not in our nature as mammals. I think it is important that we take time to reconnect with ourselves and with nature. We need to take moments of silence to calm our nervous systems. We need to practice mindfulness in moments of overwhelm, as that will become our superpower during these times of unrest. We have to be able to emotionally regulate and think clearly to make the changes that are truly needed, and that starts right in your own home; we can be the change we need to see in this world, one step at a time.

Together

blog

Today some are crying tears of joy

While others tears are ones of sorrow

Anger and hatred proudly shared

Is this the future we want for tomorrow?

When emotions are high

When we are in a triggered state

When we don’t feel at peace inside

We will struggle to have any rational debate

It makes it hard to see the other side

It makes it hard to lean into empathy

But this is why we need to take a step back

So we can focus on light, love and unity

We all will endure these next years together

All with different pasts and upbringings

When we recognize similarities in each other

We can truly discuss the important things

We can see how much we have in common

We can ask each other questions to understand

We can see where our fears and goals line up

And we can lend each other a hand

We can accomplish a lot more together

Than we can when we are divided

We the people have the freedom of speech

With strength in numbers we can stand united

We can stand for our rights and our freedoms

We can stand for access to great education

We can stand for a healthier future

We can stand for what we want in this nation

Together we can harness the power of unity

Together we can make sure the future is bright

Together we can lean into faith over fear

Together we can show the darkness our light

Today’s Thoughts

blog

I’ve always had this feeling that I am meant for “more.” I have always felt that my words could reach many people and inspire them to live their best, happiest lives, even though the self-improvement category itself has millions of authors and podcasters already. I’ve always dreamed of writing a book and starting a podcast, because I was able to improve my own life with the help of therapy and consuming this very content that I wish to create. But why do I feel the need to spread the word? Is this really for the good of all and helping others, or am I feeding a need for validation that I was constantly seeking throughout childhood? Do I actually crave the spotlight when I have been doing so well at hiding from it my entire life? Do I feel the need to “fix” and “help” people, because I didn’t feel like anyone was there to do that for me as a kid? I’m just going to journal out some thoughts and see if I can get clarity to any of these questions.

From my current perspective, I can acknowledge that I had a traumatic childhood when it came to my home/family life. My parents were functioning alcoholics that seemed to hate each other based on the profane words they screamed at each other every night. I was overly sheltered and controlled, all while my parents were most certainly out of control. As I grew into my teenage years, I started recognizing how abnormal my family situation was, and this is where the anger inside grew. I never rebelled in my opinion, but I did start to have a pretty smart-ass attitude due to the fact that I was not allowed to have the same big emotions that my parents had. I remember being upset about something and my dad mocking me by saying “awwww why don’t you go slit your wrists.” He felt that I was overly dramatic… I wonder where I got it from.

That was a very small blip of the kind words I heard directed towards me, but all to say that I had a lot of anger and self-worth issues within me. Once I moved out of their apartment and into my own with my boyfriend, I thought all my issues would be gone. In my head, I knew that clearly my parents were the problem, so I was confused when my anxiety and anger issues did not dissipate, instead they started to eat me alive. I felt so much shame, and I started taking the anger out on myself in my mind. I repeated phrases I heard from my father repeatedly inside my head. “Dumbass.” “You’re not gonna make it on your own.” “You’re so dramatic.” “You’re the reason we fight.” I never believed any of those drunk words at home, but now as I sit in my own apartment with these uncontrollable thoughts, I can’t help but think that it must have been me the entire time. Why did I still feel like this even though I was no longer under my parents’ control? After months of constant crying and panic attacks, my fiancé finally said to me: “I think you need help.” And I knew I did. I didn’t want to feel that way every single day of my life, and I had no idea how to help myself, so I found a psychiatrist and started my journey.

I know I have talked about my medication journey and all of that before on this blog, but long story short I was not happy with my psychiatrist or the medication I was on. I ended up quitting cold turkey after my doctor refused to allow me to stop the medication, and it took a while for me to consider starting any other anti-anxiety medications again. Over the years, I found help in talk therapy, but also found a lot of help in listening to podcasters such as Jay Shetty, Mel Robbins and Gabby Bernstein. I found help in self-help books, as well as spiritual books such as The Four Agreements and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. I found help in talking walks outside and focusing on play, rather than perfectionism. To this day, I am still in therapy and thanks to my doctor, I have been able to gain a better understanding of myself and why I am the way I am. I am still practicing being present and allowing myself to try new things without focusing so much on being good at whatever it is I am doing. Life isn’t about being good at everything, life is about being able to handle failure and recognizing that we are here to learn and grow constantly. I used to feel so defeated if I made a single mistake, and I would go down a shame spirals of self-loathing that took a while to dig myself out of. Now I still will have moments where I feel upset with myself or my progress, but it is much easier to pull myself out of that headspace and remind myself to give the same grace and love that I give to others to myself.

I remember how horrible it was to live in my head when it was riddled with abuse and negative self-talk. I remember feeling guilty for being sad and feeling empty when I had such a beautiful life around me. On the outside, everyone saw success, but on the inside I was dying. All of my worth came from my accomplishments and what I was doing with my life, but inside I felt less than worthy of any of it. I felt inauthentic and angry, and instead of allowing myself to just feel through the hard feelings, I kept hating them and shoving them away into a deep, dark shame hole, which only seemed to grow and consume me. It was when I finally recognized that fighting against my thoughts only made everything feel more chaotic that I started to actively just allow the thoughts to just be and then go. When I gave each of these negative thoughts the extra attention, it only made them stronger and allowed them to ruminate around and around; but once I acknowledged the thought and let it pass, it became so much calmer in my mind and body.

I prefer to have a calm mind and body. I prefer to feel control over my thoughts, rather than the other way around. I’d rather feed the positive thoughts and ruminate on good news. I’d rather see the good in the world and the lessons in the chaos, knowing that all is happening for the greatest good. I’d love a world in which we could stop hating ourselves, thus making it easier to love another, bringing peace across the world. This is a dream I have, as I can see the difference in myself and how I interact with the world around me now that I understand and love myself. I truly believe that if humans were in tune with themselves and had empathy and compassion towards others, we could have peace here on Earth. When I started this post, I was looking for an answer as to why I had these dreams to write a book and start a podcast, but that is because those are tools that can be used to assist in this large, seemingly impossible dream. I know in my heart that love always is the answer, and love is always meant to win. No matter how dark the world gets, there is light that can break through and shine brightly. The world needs more light, and the only way to achieve that dream is to do my part and spread light of my own.

Here Comes The Eclipse

blog

All I see people posting about is the solar eclipse tomorrow on April 8. As I have been dabbling in astrology, I personally am excited for this eclipse. Eclipses are looked at as powerful times where we can harness the energy to set our intentions and truly shift our lives in the direction that we want to go. I am really trying to stay focused on the positive and keep a faith based mindset rather than fear, as of course, the other side of the Internet is all conspiracies about the end times.

The more I go through this life, the more I just believe that we do create our own reality and whatever we believe to be true will be true. I know that can’t really apply to science and math, and it may not make sense to everyone, but if two things can be true at the same time while having complete opposite meetings, then why couldn’t this be possible? Maybe this is the “end times,” but doesn’t that also mean it’s time for a new beginning?

I have not followed any religion closely, nor do I know the stories of the Bible, but there are people who follow the Bible who are noticing the timing and the path of the Eclipse. This path of darkness crosses through many religiously significant towns, such as Jonah TX, and Rapture, IN. Also, the path apparently passes through seven different towns named Nineveh, which is where Jonah had to go to urge people to repent their evil ways otherwise the town would be destroyed. To some, they believe this is the time that Jesus will come back.

I’ve also seen videos pop up on my Instagram feed talking about a solar eclipse that happened in 1811 and how huge earthquakes happened a couple months after that which caused the Earth to open up. We just had a 4.8 earthquake in New Jersey which some find to be ironic, because the solar eclipse is also on 4/8. Apparently eclipses can bring wild weather events, which we are already seeing with the wild storm in KY and also a huge 7.4 earthquake in Taiwan.

Regardless of what the eclipse can bring or what it symbolizes, I am still leaning into faith. I believe this world needs togetherness, along with and mutual understanding and empathy. I believe that the more we continue to love ourselves and let that love spill out and over onto others, the happier we will be as a species. I’m praying that we can come together and recognize how beautiful this world is, how amazing each other are, and how much goodness we can accomplish together.

Leaning into faith over fear. Thanking my angels and guides of the highest truth. Being present to the love around me. I am blessed. I am grateful. I am ready. 🤍

Ego Soul Blip

blog

My soul will live on, the ego will die along with the human body. The soul is who I relate more to: leading with love, empathy, and a nurturing heart. Knowing nothing is perfect, nor is it meant to be. Knowing that it’s not all about “me,” or even my human self, but it’s about all of us together. Humans thrive on connection. We lose ourselves in our ego, but that connection is what our souls need. We need peace. We need love. We need acceptance. We need trust. We are meant to feel all of the beautiful feelings and give so much love to ourselves, that we cannot help but pour love onto others.

Thought Vomit (Random)

blog

Human beings are complex and are not meant to be labeled and put in boxes. People seem to love putting other people in this boxes and then getting mad when they don’t fit in them. Having conversation and asking questions about another person’s life or experience would help to deepen connection and release the need for labels and boxes. Not everything is black and white, mostly everything lies within the shades of grey.

I struggle with keeping myself in my own box. How can I be someone who is uncomfortable with attention, yet wants to start a podcast and connect with people all over the world? How can I be someone who prefers to spread love and kindness, yet has such judgmental thoughts at times? The same way that someone who is generally kind to others can be in a bad mood sometimes. The same way that those healthy fitness influencers enjoy a sweet treat every so often. The truth is that there is nothing wrong with being contradicting, in fact it is quite normal. For me personally, I think that what matters is that you are always true to the values you hold. But do most people even know what their values are?

I value privacy, especially with anything I find to be intimate. I don’t think there are certain things that are meant to be shared with just anyone and everyone; with that being said, I also truly believe that everyone knows what is best for themselves and what makes them happy, so I don’t think it is “bad” or “wrong” for others to share things with the world that I normally wouldn’t. I struggle with when it is okay to share these opinions, mainly when I am faced with someone sharing how happy it makes them. I am allowed to share how I feel, but it is appropriate if it could offend them? In reality, if the intention is just to be authentic and share how I feel, as a true friend would want me to be, then it isn’t inappropriate to do. I’d never want someone to feel shamed for what they do, so I guess I just fear that stating my own opinion could make them feel upset.

But also, if I am not sharing my true response and I am keeping it inside, is that not just hurting myself and telling myself that my opinion doesn’t matter? Honestly, is it even not hurting them because I am hiding a part of me (my opinion) to make me appear agreeable and likeable? If I share my opinion, I have to remember the intention behind it. If it is to express my own feelings and/or stand up for myself or my belief, then that is worth it. My goal is to be more authentic in all of my relationships, and in any and all content I create in my future. It starts with speaking up for myself and learning how to handle these conversations with different types of people. I can only learn by starting, and truly starting to connect to myself and my intuition.

If I could easily stand up for my friends or family in any situation, why is it to hard to do for myself? Does part of me still feel like I don’t deserve that? Is it because I felt like I never had that? I felt alone in my home at a young age. My emotions were too much, but that is what was modeled to me. I had no one to back me up, and I didn’t feel like anyone was on my side. I had no power or control; I understand that in general, kids don’t need power or control in their household, but when the role models didn’t seem to be in control after 5pm, someone needed to be.

That young girl needed someone to stand up for her, but she was too scared and to shameful to tell anyone who could help. That young girl still lives within me, and she needs to know that today we can stand up for ourselves. Today, we can speak our mind and do so freely without anyone telling us that we can’t. The truth is the truth, and the intention is to heal, but also to help others to see that life can get better and you get to choose your own path in life. It starts with choosing my own path, and choosing myself every step of the way.

Life’s Guarantee: Death.

blog

I hate death. I mean, I feel like everyone feels the same way about it (well, other than psychotic serial killers I suppose), but throughout my life, it was something I often feared. I know people have fears of dying, but my fears had to do with the people I love dying. I would find myself having intrusive thoughts about loved ones, especially my boyfriend, dying in horrific accidents. Or sometimes I’d just be thinking about getting those terrifying phone calls from police or a family member. I found myself dreading seeing family names pop up on caller ID, and it was because I always thought there was bad news on the other end of that line.

I can remember the first death that had a large impact on me, and that was my maternal grandfather dying when I was seven years old. It was a tragic accident and due to the severity of the head/facial injury, my family thought it was best that I did not see him in the hospital while he was fighting for his life. I do not blame them at all for this, in fact I am grateful that I remember him as he was, and also he did happen to look very much like himself in the casket. I remember continuously crying at that funeral…the grief and sadness felt heavy on my small body.

Fast-forward to age twelve, when I come home to find out that my 16-year old cousin had passed in a tragic accident. This one hurt like hell, because although we didn’t see each other often, when we did, he was one of my favorite people. He was so authentic and didn’t care what anyone thought, and he was hilarious as f*ck! I remember constantly laughing and just having a great time when we were together. Going to that memorial service was really rough for me, and seeing everyone else, knowing we all felt that pain but with different levels of severity…it all felt so heavy again.

Jump a couple years ahead and one of the neighbors at the apartments I was growing up in also suddenly passed. She had been the one who hosted annual Luau each year, as well as the Halloween and Christmas parties. She was always so fun to be around and her nephew was a good friend of mine as he also was my neighbor. Her death was hard to deal with, but for me, I was older and had dealt with death before, but for some of my friends/neighbors, they hadn’t dealt with anything like this before. I saw how hard it was for a few of them, and it hurt knowing too that there was nothing I could do to make that pain go away.

At age 20, I found out that one of my best friends from middle school and freshman year had unfortunately taken her life. This death really shook me and made me feel guilty for numerous reasons. We had never really had a falling out, we just slowly grew apart as our interests and lives changed, but of course I felt guilty that I hadn’t been there for her and that we hadn’t talked in so long. It is easy to spiral and get into the “what ifs,” but after obsessing and ruminating for too long, I realized all of that was pointless. It was hard to let go, especially with the lack of closure and the questions that still were running through many peoples’ minds, but I had to move on with my life.

Less than two years ago, someone else who I had known and recently seen had also suddenly passed. Although some people on the outside who didn’t really know her feel that they would have seen this coming, this was shocking to her close friends who were still in touch with her. I am closer with her best friend, but seeing her go through this loss and hearing about all of the questions still unanswered and all of the uncertainty, it started bringing me back to when my friend had passed. I realized that I would become physically ill whenever we would talk about the recent death of her friend, and I had to take a step back even though I felt like a terrible friend for doing so. I am blessed that she understood and was not upset, and still had other friends who she could lean on for support.

Today I went to a memorial service for a family friend. A couple of the neighbors I grew up with recently lost their uncle. Growing up with them, I also knew their cousins as well (the ones who just lost their father), and my parents and I went to pay our respects. I was reluctant to go at first, because I hate death. I know that the energy is heavy, and it is easy for me to feel those emotions and put myself in their shoes, but that is also why I had to go. I wanted to be there to support my childhood friends and their family, and I also know how hard it is to deal with loss. People need to be around those who love and care about them during these times.

Unfortunately, death is an inevitable part of life; but that love that we have for people during the time we have alive…that is what makes the grief so rough. So when thinking about it that way, grief truly is a powerful form of love. The fact that you have so much adoration and love for another person, and that fact that you physically ache and feel something detach when they leave shows how truly connected we are. For me, instead of fearing death and grief, I want it to serve as a reminder to love now, and be present. It’s important to appreciate what we have right now in this moment, because life is too short, and we never know how short it is.

Death brings a form of heartache that can be hard to describe, but at the same time, if that person was here for one more day, you know you would spend every moment with them. Loving them, breathing in their scent, admiring their features…you wouldn’t shy away and distance yourself in hopes to make the pain easier, you would embrace all of the love that is present and appreciate it, even if that makes it harder when its time to let go. And when the inevitable happens, and the pain is at its worst, you can still lean into that love. Lean into the positive memories. Lean into supportive family and friends. Lean into that power of love that has brought so much joy into your life. Feel that grief move through you; cry it out and don’t feel guilty about it. Sending love to all who need it, and make sure you tell your loved ones how important they are to you.