#life hacks
Being creative means sometimes you’ll get competitive and start comparing yourself to others. It’s not healthy and sometimes causes you to burn out, stress and doubt your own creative abilities.
A part of the process in learning to heal is to not only forgive the people who made you feel so competitive and bad about yourself and work, but to forgive yourself.
Here’s a personal story. A few months ago I was extremely competitive, so much that I ended up burning myself out and stressing people I loved. I’m not a huge YouTuber, and I’m not a typical gamer either. My channel took a huge amount of time to get where I wanted it to be, becoming so many different things at once instead of focusing on one main goal.
To be honest, it really bothered me (to the point of almost quitting) that so many newer girl gamers got so much recognition and support after only being on YouTube for a few months. They jumped on trend bandwagons and acted like every other girl gamer out there (oh heck you know how they act, let’s be real), considering themselves to be “original”.
Of course everyone has their own cup of tea, but to see them gain 1,000 of subscribers for even producing something that wasn’t even high quality, getting the amountof support they did hurt me so much.
Was I wrong to think that way?Yes.Should I have let it bother me? No. The content I produce is high quality, taking days to complete with the team I have put together over the last few months. Am I proud of that? Yes.
The advice in this video isn’t coming from someone who has that huge following, but does that matter? No. I’m still human, consider me a friend if you’d like. Numbers shouldn’t make me think any less of my content because I know I did my best and that looking at someone else’s work shouldn’t bother me.
I’ve been able to connect with an amazing audience, have helped others and charities and have really made some awesome friends along the way. Today I still suffer from my competitive nature, but I’m beginning to forgive myself and others. It’s a beautiful feeling to have once you just wake up one day and say, “You know what, I just don’t care anymore about what others have. I’m me, and no one can do what I do and that’s that.”
Trust me, I’m still trying to better myself and I know it’s hard. I’ve been on both sides of the fence. So maybe one day you and I will both be better versions of ourselves. Let’s keep on doing our best and never give up.
Maybe being upside down will make you stop overworking yourself! Got a friend who overworks? Just send them this video to make them stop!
gardentea-deactivated20200527:
On Hobbies
Literally get into an activity that involves touching things or You. Will. Die.
It can be so easy in this day and age to feel like that’s not an option, and binge culture has made the sickening descent into couch-based isolation and lack of self-discipline not only acceptable but a “fun personality trait” for many. But sometimes, often, you need to give your brain a break from consuming and Create something. You need to give yourself time. To think. And maybe even do something with your hands while your imagination roams free.
I’ve been addicted to social media. I’ve defended social media. I’ve nearly fist fought my parents for trying to take my phone (they were absolutely in the wrong). I’ve had multiple twitters at the same time. I don’t have a twitter anymore. I’ve been depressed, and scared, and wanted nothing more than to escape the ceasless, screaming void that was my life.
Filling that void with the internet did nothing for me. It was help from my oldest sister that did. Her and her husband got me out of my house, taught me how to be a healthy adult, then set me loose.
What does this have to do with hobbies?
My wife has severe seasonal depression. This fall, she is doing amazingly better than usual, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She picked up sewing in September. Now she spends hours a day working on projects, watching videos, or planning what new dress she can make out of a tablecloth. It gives her mind something to do to take her mind off the cold. It also lets her interact with the winter by taking charge of her fashion and making warm clothes that she likes and has a personal connection to. And at the end of a long project, she always has a new piece of clothing. Something she produced and can take pride in.
It has also helped her relationship with others. In our group of friends, she has already gotten several requests to hem or adjust clothes, which makes her feel very needed and grows a sense of community. [Side note: I love my awesome wife and could gush about her all day] She also watches YouTube videos of clothing makers while working and gets all kind of inspiration from them that she loves to tell me about. When I see the light shining in here eyes my heart fills with the joy she’s found. Plus I got some new pajama bottoms.
I like vegetable gardening. I don’t currently have a garden but I’m working on getting a plot in the town community garden. In the meantime I’ve started following different gardening or nature-centric people on social media, and I’m going to start researching different gardening tips. The plan is to one day interact with other people who share my interests and make friends, but even just now I recognize how happy it makes me to look into those things. It calms my heart and reminds me to be kind.
I also realized I kind of have a knack for building things out of cardboard. First it was a box/jungle for our cat that I made from 12-4am for no reason but I love him, and then a dinosaur for a school project.
So—and this is where it starts getting applicable to your own life—I’m going to ask all my friends for their spare cardboard whenever they get it and I’m just going to make things. Animals. Decorations. Unsturdy shelves. Some of the things I make are probably going to be really crappy, but I’ll also get better as I go on. Hopefully someday when I have money to spend I’ll turn this into actual woodworking. But for now, I have cardboard and a pocket knife, and I’m going to put my grubby little hands all over it and have some fun.
Crocheting? Baking? Painting? Building? Making sculptures out of pipe cleaners? Practicing your handwriting? Scrapbooking? Cutting up all your blankets then stitching them together in different patterns?
It’s not only good but necessary for your mental, emotional, and physical health to take your eyes off of a screen and make your hands do something tactile every now and again. Or even more often than not. But right now, just start something. Anything. You don’t have to show anyone, you don’t have to be good at it as long as it makes you feel good. Looking for ideas or intimidated by how hard something seems? The internet, with all its greedy human pitfalls, is an incredible tool for learning things. Use it for good.
Don’t only consume. Create.
Healthy sprouts in six days.
March 14th 2017
Bringing healthy food to the table, especially for the growing children, has never been this easy. We soak the seeds the first day for 24 hours. Then every morning and evening we fill the jars with water to do a shake and rinse. So, simply fill the jars, shake and pour the water out. once you’ve shaken the water out of the jars simply lay the jars on their side next to the sink. Keep them close and convenient. In six days you’ll have jars full of clean and organic sprouts for salads and sides. The nutritional value is exponentially higher when the beans open and the taproot grows. This is a great solution for anybody who feels they are too busy to grow their own healthy foods. With simple old-school methods no one has excuses and there is no light required. Moreover, the sweet and crunchy experience usually wins over the children.
From our experience, if you have an active lifestyle and need easily digestible foods that translate into quick and clean energy, this is definitely a route for you guys to explore.
I hope this message finds you guys excited about getting ready for the spring time.
Respectfully,
K
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If you’re struggling to get through something particularly challenging, come up with a reward that you’ll give yourself when you finish the task. It can give you the extra motivation you need to keep pushing on.
Because anything that saves you time and energy is worth its weight in gold.
1. Lots of meals can be roasted together in the same pan in the oven at the same temp, for the same amount of time. For example: salmon, green beans, and asparagus can all go in at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. (They can even be seasoned the same way with garlic, butter, and lemon juice.) You can scoot a food’s ideal cooking temperature 25 degrees up or down to make this happen. Make sure you double check that meats are fully cooked if you are experimenting with cook times/temperatures. If the cook times are different, but the temp is the same, just slide in a second pan partway through cooking.
2. Most of the time you are either in your bed, in your shoes, or in your chair. Invest in quality for these three objects.
3. Lean in to who you are. Adapt your career to your lifestyle, not the other way around.
4. If you are intimidated by that stack of paperwork you have to go through, remember that 90% of it can go in trash. Every time. That stack isn’t as tall as it looks.
5. If you get rid of that thing, you don’t have to clean it or organize it ever again.
6. No matter the weather, you can open a window for 5 minutes. Let fresh air into your living space in all seasons. This is good for both health and mood,
7. Your bank, your insurance company, and your ISP are probably all fucking you over. Always be on the lookout for better options/plans.
8. Adding a houseplant to your space can lift your mood, improve air quality, and help fight seasonal depression.
9. If it works, it’s not stupid. Your self-soothing quirks and your personal work arounds are valid.
10. Simplify the things that aren’t important to you to make more room in your life for the things that are. Take stock of this concept often.
Why not Me? Is a common question.
Many people ask themselves this whenever something positive happens with others around them.
It’s considered as an indication of self-doubt and maybe a little bit of jealousy. And those two are the worst emotions. Especially combined together.
So why do we react like this?
Surely we know that it’s not the nicest response. We would want our friends or colleagues…
Turning 25 is quite a scary number for me.
It’s a milestone which made me stop and take a look back at my life. I assessed where I wanted to be by this age and where I am currently. I looked at everything I accomplished and all the things that are still left for me to do. And most importantly I thought about all the things that I learnt.
So I summarized the most important things I’ve…
