Becoming A Free Spirit

  I was never really a "book worm" growing up. I did the minimum daily home reading for school and always fudged my numbers on my local library's summer reading challenge so that I'd win the prize. On the rare occasion I did read for pleasure, it was always some girly graphic novel such as Raina Telgemier's  Smile  or  Drama . At least that was the case until quite recently. Last year in 2023 I had a goal to read more. I never made my goals very specific though (we've fixed that though, see my recent podcast episode!). I mainly did it so that I'd have something to do on my transit ride to and from school other than stare at my phone. My classmates would always comment on how I was always the girl with the book while waiting for class to start. Outside of school however, I rarely read. That's part of the reason why it always took me forever to finish even a short book. On average I would take a month and a half to two months to finish one ~350 page nove...

     "New year, new me" is a phrase I've ironically said around New Years for several years now. Statistically, most people fail their New Years resolutions by February, or so I've heard. Knowing this I've never put too much though into making any resolutions since grade 8, when I had the resolution to stop eating meat for 30 days (something that's stuck around for 8 years now, so I guess I'm the exception...).  Instead I opt to make goals. Goals are great and all, but I have this habit of staying the same while I cross them off my list. I tend to stay stagnant, safe. I fall into a constant state of overthinking and procrastination. In return I never really get around to crossing off as many goals as I had hoped. I go back and forth with myself on how I'll do something, or when I should do it, but I always miss the most important step; actually doing it.  This year, I want to make actual resolutions. I've spent a lot of my time lately thinking. ...

Ever since having my quarter-life crisis I've been go go go trying to accomplish everything all at once. I just want to be out 24/7, always doing something exciting. But that's when burnout happens. I've definitely experienced burnout a few times. Last winter I was going out with friends almost every single day, before work, after work, on my days off. It felt really good in the moment but after a month or so of doing that, I began to feel exhausted. I needed balance. I needed some self-care. That's the thing with goals and dreams. You're never going to reach them if you don't take care of yourself along the way on your journey. But what exactly is self-care? It's just facemasks and bubble baths, right? The media often portrays self-care as something you can just do once in a while when you need it. Like a singular activity such as putting cucumbers over your eyes while you're in the bath. And then that's it. suddenly you're calm and refreshed. ...