My beloved. My darling. My sweet social media love of my life. You’ve changed. You’ve changed and, in the heartbreaking words of Padme Amidala in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, you are going down a path I can’t follow.
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A little known fact about me is that I love a good dumb movie. So when my Hulu started pushing the Alien vs. Predator franchise to me for who knows what reason (probably because the all knowing algorithm in charge of our lives figured out my dumb movie love), I figured that this was my time to shine and dive into one of the most iconic dumb monster movie franchises of all time.
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Dogs are joy made alive. I’ve always loved dogs. Their infectious excitement and loyalty have made them constant and welcomed companions in my life. “When Love Wags a Tail” by Carmen Leal is a collection of essays about people’s true stories about adopting their own rescue dogs. If you love dogs, you'll love this book.
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Self-improvement is hard. The good news about it is that there’s no direct real answer for how someone can improve their lives. Here are five seemingly stupid self-help tips I used to think were ridiculous or just straight up didn’t understand until I started practicing them and found that they actually greatly improved my life.
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Happiness is a funny thing. Once we have it, we can’t seem to have enough of it. We always want more and fight to have as much of it as we can. The desire to be happy seems to be an endless ambition of humanity. But as “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin taught me, happiness doesn’t always make you feel happy.
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If there are any two things that make me consistently happy in this world, it’s books and food. Here are eight books I’ve read that made me incredibly hungry and, hopefully maybe, sound delicious to you too.
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There’s magic in the mundane, especially if an artist is able to accurately capture the emotions and experience connected to the in-between moments of life not associated with the big events. Yes we all like to hear about and experience how the girl gets the guy, the miracles that happen around the holidays, the feel-good joyous events like birthdays and weddings that we create scrapbooks from, and the big adventures we all take to make our lives a little more special.
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Nature is one of life’s great equalizers. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich and famous or poor and unknown. Once you’re in nature, the trials of trails and the elements of the wild are free to impact anyone caught in its wake without discretion. There is no greater example of this cruel yet fulfilling embrace than with Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffin.
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“It is what it is” is a staple of a mantra in Midwest America. But what if we looked at “it is what it is” through the lens of love and relationships? Then we would find one of the crucial pillars found in “The Unshakeable Road to Love” by Dr. Brenda Shoshanna needed to build a value centered relationship: acceptance.
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Authenticity is hard to achieve. You not only have to recognize the personal qualities that build your sense of self without external intervention, but you also have to be honest with accepting them. It can be a difficult journey that requires work to uncover and practice your true values through the mess of external values imposed through your environment.
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Audiobooks can be a tremendous way to experience a story. Sometimes, a book can even be elevated by the auditory performance of the narration and provide an experience that can’t be replicated through more traditional reading methods. If you’re interested in getting into audiobooks, here are my top ten personal favorite audiobooks of all time (as of August 2023) to help you step into the practice and give you ideas on your next read!
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Can learning how to cook make you a better person? Maybe. For me, learning how to cook has become reflective of my self-growth journey to becoming a better person. I also get to enjoy delicious meals along the way that's not just butter on my TV dinners so wins all around, honestly.
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Looking for some wholesome LGBTQIA+ books that aren’t major downers or filled with endless emotional turmoil? Here are some of my wholesome book recommendations in no particular order that I very much enjoyed and felt like they celebrate the joys of being LGBTQIA+
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Social media is a nightmare. Here are my nine tips that help me survive the platforms and make sure my social media experience sparks joy rather than weigh on my soul
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My anxiety has been a consistent monster I’ve hidden away for most of my life. For the most part, this monster was hidden because I didn’t recognize it existed.
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Is writing work? From my experience, it absolutely is but not in the ways you would typically think.
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In Glennon Doyle's hit memoir "Untamed", she introduces the concept of 'Be Still and Know' and I reflect on the impact of that statement on my personal life in my journey of self growth.
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Looking for the best places to buy books that aren't Amazon? Here's my comprehensive guide to my favorite places to buy books to help grow your book collection at great prices and quality!
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Codependency is “is an emotional and behavioral condition that affects an individual’s ability to have a healthy, mutually satisfying relationship” and also the focus of my media analysis of Maureen Johnson’s “Nine Liars”
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Writers are good at writing. Sometimes. What they’re bad at is giving advice. Sometimes. Here are the top 3 worst pieces of advice I’ve heard in my career as a writer so far.
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