The Deep Blue

2018 is the year of recovering from the past 5 years in every possible way

“Some days I’m confident. Some days I feel like a loser. There are no successful people who never feel like losers. They don’t exist.”

— Diane von Furstenberg

5pm stroll ✔️

flyinggg like this 😎🇲🇲

Things I Would Tell My High School Self (About Writing)

Accept criticism. It’s hard. I still struggle with it even now.

Write for yourself, not for others. It will make criticism easier.

It’s okay to love your characters. Don’t be embarrassed by your writing. Embrace it. Let it change.

Writing is not a competition. Don’t think of it as a popularity contest. We’re all struggling to create together.  

You’ll be 24 one day, working a full-time desk job and not be a published author. This is OK. Measure your successes in small units, and eventually, it will all work out.

Don’t expect everything to come together overnight. You’ll finish a book, a series, or some other project…you can be proud of it and everything as well! But…chances are, you’ll look at it again in two years and scrap it all. (And I did.)  

Really, you aren’t going to be a prodigy writer. You still need to grow up, see the world, and understand other people. Give yourself time to work out your craft. Grow up. Mature. Embrace others.

You probably won’t be famous either…but as long as your story puts a smile on someone’s face, isn’t that enough?  

Age is not a measure of success.

This is how much 2018 has aged us all.

how to be more present🌙

take more moments throughout the day to just focus on your breathing.

notice the things other people would normally just glance over.

let go of expectations. holding onto expectations means that you’re holding onto an “idealized” or “perfect” reality, which means that you’re not in the present. often we are left disappointed when these expectations are not met.

be grateful for the things you have, and stop wishing for your life to be different.

don’t sweat the small stuff. don’t dwell on the small unfortunate yet irrelevant moments that we’ll most likely forget about!!

notice the negative thoughts floating in your mind and replace them with loving ones.

take one step at a time. you might not be where you want to be at the moment, but you will get there. and it might not feel like it, but you’re making progress.

forget about the past and the future. many things such as shame or anxiety keep us pulled away from the current moment.

take more time out of your day to do the things you love!!

get away from the digital world more often.

do self care! make sure to take care of your health, physical and mental before anything else.

“I don’t want to be stuck in one place. I want to visit Greece during the Summer and Paris when it’s snowing. I want to see Rome and visit the Sistine Chapel. I want to sail the coast of Italy on a beautiful sunny day. I want to be that skinny pretty girl who takes pictures and documents her adventures. I want to live life to the fullest.”

—

“Darling, you deserve it all. You deserve love and peace and magic and joy dancing in your eyes. You deserve hearty, deep belly laughter and the right to let those tears fall and water the soil. You deserve freedom and goodness and company and days of bliss and quiet too. You deserve you happy and healed and content and open. So keep going. Go realize into being the life you deserve.”

— Unknown

30 Day Glow Up

Week 1 - Assess/Declutter

Clean out your closet(s)/dresser. Donate/toss items you no longer wear, can’t fit, or don’t make you feel happy.

Clean your room/apartment/house. Sweep, mop dust, do what you gotta do.

Go through files on your phone/tablet/computer. Delete documents you no longer need. Get rid of junk files. Delete songs you no longer listen to (Back them up first incase you want to redownload them in the future.)

Get rid of dated makeup, old pens, recycle/shred documents you no longer need.

Make a list of habits to break/start. After all, your habits are the key part of what defines ‘glowing up’.

Update your resume.

Go over your finances. Maybe you need to adjust your weekly/monthly budget. Maybe you don’t.

Schedule any necessary appointments. 

Take a look at your calendar and fill it with things such as a movie night, zero-day, deep clean day, date night (with yourself or someone else).

Make a mass to-do list and prioritise it (what do you need to complete first?).

Week 2/3 - Work To break old habits/ Implement new ones, Set goals

Remember that list of habits to break/build? Slowly work on them. 

Write out your goals for the future (short/long-term). Write your goals for your career, education, family, fun/adventure, friends etc.

Make a vision board to represent those goals!

Habits you might want to work on

Going to bed late - go to bed 15 mins to 30 mins earlier every few nights

Want to start being more active- go for a walk daily or stretch 5-10 mins after you wake up 

Drink more water - invest in a water bottle and eep it at arms reach

Eating healthier - replace a food you typically eat daily that you maybe shouldn’t with a fruit or vegetable, look for healthier alternatives to things you eat daily.

Too much screen time - set aside say an hour a day to read a book, draw, write etc

Start journaling - every day try to write something in your journal even if it’s just “I had a really great nap.”

Week ¾/5(?) - Mental/Physical

If you have the funds buy a few new items for your wardrobe

Find a style icon/look for style inspo using the clothes you already have

Develop a skin care routine and plan to stick to it

Do a hair mask/get a haircut/colour/extenstions etc

Start doing face mask and exfoliating a few times a week

Challenge yourself to say something positive to someone daily

Wear what makes you feel confident

Give yourself a mani/pedi or go out and get your nails/toes done

Treat yourself to new makeup, an outfit, a meal etc

Keep up your daily hygiene (sometimes easier said than done, especially if you have a mental illness) - find ways to make the basics easier (planning on doing a post about that in the near future)

Make a feel-good playlist

Journal a few times a week

Make a happy jar - everytime something that makes you feel good happens, write it down and put it in the jar. Then when you feel down or after a certain amount of time read them!

Get a tattoo or piercing (if you can and want to lol)

Go get your makeup done/pick up a few tips at Sephora/Ulta etc if you’re into makeup

Learn a new skill (cooking, baking, learning a language, crocheting, drawing)

Keep working on the habits you hope to build.