i never check my email because then i will have to reply to some of them and that is how you get more emails

if i stay very still and don't make any noise maybe they'll forget that i'm there and leave me alone

So bc tumblr hates links this will be hard to pass around but theres a White House petition to save the USPS

This is significantly more important than a change.org petition bc it HAS to be acknowledged if it gets enough signatures

Please sign it and reblog!

i. make your space your own

Just cleaning out your room can make a huge difference. Donate your old clothes and take your old posters from high school down. If you’ve got the time and resources, a fresh coat of paint or new bedding can also do a lot to make your old room feel more adult. You can also rearrange furniture to make a workspace if you’ll be working from home or applying to jobs.

ii. set boundaries

Lovingly set some ground rules about how you can best support each other. This is especially important if you’ll be working or taking classes from home – let them know you’ll be unavailable during certain hours so they don’t barge into a Zoom meeting. 

iii. build a routine

Even if you’re not working or in class at the moment, it’s important to be intentional about your time. The biggest thing that contributed to me feeling like a kid when I first moved back was spending my days watching Netflix and napping. Which are totally valid! But add in other daily activities, like taking your dog for a walk and making yourself a nice breakfast.

iv. make time for friends

I normally hate virtual hangouts, but they’ve been so important for my mental health during quarantine. Schedule a weekly Zoom coffee date with your group of friends. FaceTime your old roommates. Meet your high school bestie in the park and have a distanced picnic (don’t forget masks!). Having a support system is so important right now!

v. find new hobbies

This is the perfect time to try out new hobbies. Plus, craft stores have been having great sales since they know everyone is cooped up all summer. I found some really fun craft kits that I never would have tried normally, and now I’m the proud owner of a woven frog wall hanging. A few ideas: painting, tie dying, embroidery, yoga, running, learning a new language, reading, etc.

Having a long-term project to work towards – like a larger art project or trying to master a difficult yoga pose – helps to keep the days from running together.

vi. find ways to feel “normal”

Everyone, no matter their living situation, is feeling really upended right now. Find the little ways to bring back pieces of your “normal” life. Learn how to make your favorite coffee shop drink at home. Cook for yourself. Wake up at your normal time even if you don’t have to. Keep up with your normal exercise and self care routines – they’re more important now than ever!

4-year-old Daliyah Arana is the inspiration for this new gig at the Library of Congress.

I salute her parents

#BlackGirlMagic #BlackPride #BlackExcellence 

When your head hits the pillow tonight, remind yourself that you’ve done a good job. You are headed down your path at your own pace, and with every obstacle you are trying your utmost best. Be patient with yourself, and remember that big things are achieved not all at once, but one day at a time.

©️™️®️🎉

©️™️®️🎉

Self-Discipline Isn’t Always the Answer

So I wasn’t really taught to brush my teeth every day as a kid. So I didn’t. I got to be an adult and realized “hmm teeth are expensive I need to start brushing them” and brushing my teeth twice a day has been on my actual to do list every single day of my college career. It’s a habit I needed to build.

Have I successfully done it? Absolutely not. I’m pretty good about doing it at least once a day, but some days it just doesn’t happen. It’s not that I forget usually, I just had some aversion I couldn’t figure out, until last week.

I’m at the grocery store, in the toothpaste aisle with my roommate, and I complain about how much I hate mint. I FUCKING HATE THE TASTE OF MINT. The taste and the smell, any kind of minty thing in any form, I HATE IT. But literally every “adult” toothpaste in the aisle was some type of minty disgusting nonsense. And my roommate was like “you know you could like get kids’ toothpaste? You like bubblegum right?”

And y’all, it was like the clouds parted. I got some strawberry bubblegum kids’ toothpaste. I brushed my teeth with it and it was a whole new experience. I have successfully brushed twice a day every day since, because the mental block I had towards it is gone! 

I thought my lack of brushing was just a moral failing on my part; I was too lazy, too undisciplined, to build a good habit. But really? I just hate the taste of mint so much I didn’t want to brush my teeth.

This made me realize that when presented with a change you want to make, a habit you want to build, if you’re encountering resistance in yourself, you should lean into that resistance and really investigate what’s causing it, then work on accommodating that. 

Say you hate washing dishes so they pile up and then you’re overwhelmed by how many you have to do. Why do you hate it? Deep down, what about it do you dislike? Is touching wet food super gross for you? Try thick rubber gloves while you’re washing. Does the sound of dishing clanking together grate your nerves? Do them with headphones in and turned up loud. Do you hate the smell? Light some candles, spray some air freshener. 

Do these things instead of gritting your teeth and forcing yourself, then ultimately failing and getting discouraged by your “lack of self-discipline”

TL;DR: When a task is consistently hard for you, relying on self-discipline, forcing yourself, and gritting through doesn’t always work. Lean in and listen to your discomfort, and find what makes the task hard, then try to accommodate that. Also, mint toothpaste is gross.

I’ve learned recently that I hate doing tedious chores like dishes and folding laundry because I get bored. So now I listen to podcasts while I’m doing chores, and it’s so much easier so get motivated and stay focused on the task!

I need help. Those who commute to school/work, what backpack should I get?

Fellow elders (aka twenty somethings lol) I need advice. North face is too fucking expensive and I’m wondering if there’s something better. I have a 15in laptop that Id like to fit in there as well!

Jansport is cheap, has some range in options and colors and sizes, and has lasted me six years so far with minimal wear- and that bag has seen things.

Yo, my Jansport has lasted me ten years.

In those ten years it has lasted through

- high school (I never used a locker. I had a backpack.)

- college (TEXTBOOKS ARE HEAVY MAN)

- Disney College Program (for when you need street clothes for playing in the parks, also sneaking 8 lbs of mashed potatoes into Magic Kingdom)

- elementary teaching (little buggers be needy, and by little buggers I also mean me needing snacks)

- summer camp (I am the mom counselor. I always have everything for anything)

- many many travels (If you fly Spirit, you can call it a personal item and fit clothes for a whole week in there with shoes, and also a book! Also it’s an easy train bag!)

As far as wear, well, yeah. It’s got some stains on the inside, and the bottom’s scratched up, but I can see that baby lasting me through this decade too!

Practicing instruments is so weird, but so dang cool. Like. You have been practicing for three hours straight in preparation for a concert, congrats! New note unlocked! You're gonna use it about twice but hey! You have it!

And respect, and love ♥♥

[treat yourself with kindness]

for those of you who need extra motivation

a lot of you have been at music school for a month or two now and might be feeling inadequate and unmotivated so here’s a story my violin professor told me:

she had a student a few years ago who, when she did her audition for music school, couldn’t play a three octave scale and played a student concerto for her audition and was behind on all of her etudes and really didn’t meet most of the requirements for being accepted into the music program

at the end of this student’s time at the university, she was concertmaster of the orchestra and could play virtuoso works like zigeunerweisen like nobody’s business, and it seems like she’s made a nice career for herself now

people progress at different rates. if you’re last chair right now, you’re not destined to stay there forever. if the schools or groups you auditioned for didn’t accept you, it doesn’t mean you’ll never be good enough

practicing isn’t futile, and the time you put into your instrument now is time well spent. everyone who is successful now has worked for it in some way, and if you have to work harder than someone else, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it

as a sidenote: it’s also important to know your limits. I don’t think my body or mind can handle practicing more than four hours a day, so I’m not going to push myself to get in six hours a day. put in the work you need to but avoid needlessly overworking yourself

A simple but important reminder. You’re making progress, and you should be proud of it! 🐌💕

Reminder to join my Positive Pin Club, and I’ll send you an exclusive enamel pin to your mailbox each month! (o^∀^) Behind-the-scene photos of the first month’s pin are up on my Patreon!

I would also have appreciated: the fact that you can do something if you try very, very hard, does not actually obligate you to spend your life putting forth maximum effort to achieve it. It is okay to not be 1000% driven by life-consuming ambition and instead be satisfied with something less difficult.

Failing is OK. It is in fact, excellent. Because when done right, it is a sign that you have tried something and gone beyond your comfort zone. You won’t always succeed, no matter how hard you work and how good you are, and that truth might be bitter and painful to accept. But it shouldn’t keep you from at least trying to do the things you really want. It’s OK if they don’t all work out, sometimes things don’t.