Sundove - POSITIVITY

Listen, I’m part of the generation that uses humor to cope, I love all the memes about 2020 just as much as you guys do. I laugh at the “we got the real roaring 20′s”, “we wanted 2020 to be a movie but we got the wrong genre”, “we really thought 2020 would be our year” sardonic tweets.

But to the people like me, who really thought 2020 would be their year?

Love, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry you walked into this year with a smile and hope, and that smile immediately fell, and that hope was immediately crushed

I’m sorry that every day there’s something else, I’m sorry that you’re scared, I’m sorry that you’re angry, I’m sorry that you’re tired.

And I know, I know that you’re having a hard time hoping again. Trust me, I know.

But this year, Adam Castillejo became the second person to be cured of HIV

This year, James Patterson art up a fund to help Indie bookstores

This year, scientists finally managed to record the narwhal 

This year, White Storks have hatched the first wild chicks in 600 years

This year, the worlds largest open-air gallery was opened with paintings by individuals with learning disabilities

This year, an eleven year old skateboarder landed the worlds first 1080 degree turn

This year, scientists mapped the entire surface of the moon for the first time ever

This year, Sweden and Austria closed their last coal plants

This year, White Tailed Eagles are spotted flying over England for the first time in 240 years

This year, NASA launched astronauts to a US space station for the first time since 2011

To all the people like me, who thought 2020 was their year: We’re here. We’re alive. The world will grow. The world will heal. Maybe 2020 isn’t our year of stress free fun and memories, but it can be our year to learn and stand up and fight, so that next year? We get everything we hoped for.

Don’t give up, don’t leave. There’s a world waiting for you.

you have the right to recover and enjoy life

a list of soothing things on the internet that i haven’t seen on other self-care posts yet

note: links with autoplaying sound are marked with italics.

zoomable version of xkcd #1110 “click and drag”: giant explorable black-and-white landscape filled with countless little details and treasures. (note: the first three panels disappear after you start clicking and dragging.)

keaton henson’s “procrastinate” page: click on different parts of the image to activate different sound effects and build a quiet lil song. all of the sounds are things like acoustic strings and humming and droning noises that layer together really beautifully.

bob ross’ “the joy of painting”: there are hundreds of full episodes on youtube (not all from this channel) and they’re all amazing. honestly, you don’t even need sound on the videos–you can just mute them, turn on some peaceful music, and watch a painting happen.

the colour my series: 5 simple flash games (or, more accurately, 4 games and 1 semi-interactive animation) about bringing love, hope, and color to a black and white dystopia. the third game contains horror and multiple jump scares, but the rest of the series is very optimistic, gentle, and loving. the tvtropes page (which i linked to) has links to and more detailed descriptions of each installment.

the nicest place on the internet: just a bunch of videos of people giving you a hug through their cameras while a lullaby plays in the background. it sounds cheesy but i find it weirdly comforting.

time lapse videos: the youtube playlist i linked to there has some really good ones, but you can search for others as well.

do nothing for 2 minutes: exactly what it says on the tin. just sit there, listening to the ocean, not touching your computer, for 2 entire minutes. there’s no punishment for stopping before the 2 minutes are up–the timer will just reset–but i definitely recommend waiting the whole time to really clear your head.

the thoughts room: type all of your thoughts, worries, and frustrations into the night sky, and watch them light up stars before falling away.

feel free to add your own favorite comfort/self-care internet things.

Wasting time.

Aka. I just wanted to draw kitty cat.

#pascalcampion

Rape Escape

Easy and very effective

Requires nothing but your body

Includes attack

how I keep myself sane during summer break.

I think we can all agree that the mere idea of having holiday breaks from boring lectures and all-nighter study sessions sounds like heaven; although this romanticized idea of having so much free time often turns into wasted summer days, oversleeping, and basically an anti-social teenage version of house arrest. so, to help you out (or, more to help Myself) here are some things I do to keep myself busy, on a budget (kind of), and mentally healthy during long breaks from school.

continue your morning routine. this is important; by this I mean to basically treat your summer mornings as you would your school mornings, without the rush and alarm. brush your teeth, brush your hair, start/continue a skincare routine, get out of your pajamas and into real clothes, make your bed, make some coffee, eat some breakfast, do it with some music on, whatever you want. this keeps your mind and body into a daily routine. don’t let all your precious no-class mornings of summer go to waste!

savor sleeping in, but not too much. I know its super tempting to go to bed at like 2 AM and wake up the next “morning” at 12PM, but trust me, you’ll regret fucking up your sleep schedule once you actually have to set an alarm and get your ass to class next fall. I’m not saying you should force yourself to set a summer alarm (although, if you really want to train yourself this isn’t a bad idea tbh) but for the love of god, at least go to sleep and wake up at reasonable times. don’t waste your entire day!!

force yourself to see your friends a couple times a week, even if you really don’t want to. obviously this excludes mental health days, but I’ve found that spending time with my friends actually distracts me from any anxiety I’ve felt during the past week. I love my alone time, but human interaction is super important both mentally and physically. as college students we’re all pretty much broke, so don’t underestimate the power of free things- watching netflix at someone’s house, having a boardgame night, going to parks, you name it. as long as you’re with your friends, you’ll have a great time!

clean out your music library + make a playlist or two. y’all know I love a good playlist. this is something totally 100% FREE, and a perfect way to make use of your free time. delete all the stuff you don’t listen to anymore and make a few playlists of your favorite songs, or even go with playlist themes to organize your songs. it’s fun and your future self will probably thank you later for getting rid of so much audible junk.

get back into reading. this is something that was on my personal summer to-do list. I haven’t read a book for myself (aka not for a class) in sooo long, and let me tell you- I don’t know why I ever stopped reading. I know for a fact that once the semester starts I’ll have zero free time to read for myself, so summer is the perfect time to get into a new book or two!

eat your three meals a day +hydrate. I mean this. its very easy to skip/forget meals when you really don’t have any set schedule whatsoever, so plan your meals into your day. even make an alarm if its necessary. also: if you don’t know if you’re drinking enough water, you probably aren’t.

deep clean your room/workspace/closet. I’m super guilty for putting this off but, long breaks like summer are the perfect times to deep clean! what makes it easier for me to clean my room is to go section by section, which means not doing it all in a day (because that gets hella overwhelming and stressful, let me tell you). grab a garbage bag, put on some tunes, and pick a section to clean that day; you’ll be done with the entire space in no time!

outfit plan. for someone like me who has way too much in my closet and somehow still “never has anything to wear”, this is essential! set some outfits out on the floor/bed and take pics of them on your phone so that you can look back on them for some style inspo the next time you have “absolutely NOTHING to wear”.

find a new hobby, even if you’re bad at it. make some collages of your friends, make a scrapbook, learn photoshop, paint a little, learn how to sew, garden, cook, practice your phone photography skills… if there was a time for you to try out new things, it’s NOW.

make a post about all the shit you should do. I’m doing it right now. literally. you’re reading it right now. its not a bad idea.

if you know you have shit to do, plan it into your day! this is where the planner/agenda/bullet journal aspect comes in. having no class and no homework is not an excuse to stop planning out your day, your week, or your month. make some task lists and pencil in your dentist appointments and dates with people and whatnot; and even journal your days while you’re at it! if you’re a planner, never stop. Future You will thank you for it, I promise.

┏( >o<)┓I may be human who makes mistakes but I am not a mistake!  And neither are you!  I’m not sorry!!!  I am thankful for the people who support me!!!!!