My Radical Self Love Bible

February is the month of love, and what better a person to love than yourself? I've officially made it a point to actively love myself and treat myself and honestly, date myself. I buy myself nice things, go to the movies alone, make an effort to get to know myself better. And recently, I started my own Radical Self Love Bible. If you follow me on instagram or twitter I'm sure you've seen a bunch of my post. I made this post to encourage you to make your own. Now I'm sure at this point you're asking what exactly is "The Radical Self Love Bible?"

The Radical Self Love Bible was a project started by blogger Gala Darling and the main objective is to get people to fill up a blank sketch book with feelings, thoughts, positivity in an effort to get to a palce where we love and accept ourselves. For more info check out her blog at galadarling.com

This project drastically helped me on the journey to loving myself, being able to create and write down thoughtful, kind words to myself helped me a great deal and all you need is a pen, some magazine clippings, glue and your thoughts. Let go and make art and have fun and get creative! Such a fun and amazing project :-)

Here are some examples/inspirations you can use your self love bible

Playlist Tuesdays

ARTIST 2 WATCH 2015: TINK. All I can say is Nicki finally has some competition! TINK is an up and coming singer/rapper and is currently killing it. She has some other great songs like M.E.N., but here's one of her more popular hits Around the Clock.

I'm currently obsessed with Bonnie Mckee, and partially enraged because shes so underrated not to mention shes such an amazing song writer!!!!!! So heres a 4 song medley of all the hits shes written for other artist!!!! :-D

Useful Shit You Should Know in Your 20's That No One Talks to You About

Growing up sucks.. It's really shitty and hard and emotionally exhausting on it's own but the most frustrating thing I've come across in early adulthood is this unspoken rule that I should know all this shit. Like at 18 a magical fairy comes into my room at night and places a crown of knowledge upon my head and just like that I can file my own taxes and not get an anxiety attack whenever I walk into DMV without my parents. As wonderful as that sounds THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS. So here's all of the things I've learned via fucking up until I got it right.


1. Take care of your health. 
I know this seems like a kind of duh tip. But take this into serious consideration. Are you physically active? Do you go in for regular check ups with your doctor? Do you have a balanced diet? Most college students will probably say no. It's really crucial to take care of your health, now because of obamacare young adults are allowed under their parents insurance until they're 26. However, when you get dropped off your parents insurance you don't want to be battling a bunch of health complications because you weren't taking care of yourself. Take advantage of your insurance, go in for annual check ups, stay on track with your health.

2. Learn how to cook.
The freshman fifteen can be avoided. Most people gain a lot of weight after high school because that year away from home is spent living off of ramen, hot pockets and fastfood. Do yourself a favor and pay attention to your Mom and Grandma in the kitchen so you can cook yourself balanced meals.


3. Look into getting a life insurance plan 
I know you're thinking, "why would I need a life insurance plan? I'm only in my twenties???? unnecessary bills??? no thanks????" well, a wise man once told me life's one big party when you're still young but who's gonna have your back when it's all done. It's great to start looking for life insurance now when you're in your 20's because the rates are more often than not going to be lower for you, because you're less likely TO DIE as opposed to getting it when you're 50 where you're more susceptible to diseases and viruses. If you purchase it when you're younger you lock in your premium, which is basically your payments being made towards your life insurance plan, and it will never go up, guarenteed. SO LOOK INTO GETTING LIFE INSURANCE BECAUSE YOLO

4. While we're on the topic of plans, seriously consider a 401k. What is a 401k? 
So I like just found out what a 401k was this past year so don't feel bad if you didn't know what it meant either, but if you did KUDOS 2 U. But basically a 401k is a reitrement plan. It's usually provided by employers, and what they do is take an amount out of every paycheck before taxes are subtracted and put that towards a retirement fund for you. You're in your 20's I get it, young entrepeuners are thinking about kick-starting their careers not ending it. The best example I could give of why you should invest is think of it this way: you begin saving at 25, right? putting away $2,000 a year for 40 years thats like $560, 000, assuming earnings grow at 8%. So it's a total no brainer, save a little now and reap big rewards duh. The reason a lot of young people don't do this is because a lot of 20 something year olds aren't told useful shit like this. EDUCATE THE MASSES.

5. Apply for credit cards.
PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY READ THIS THOUROUGHLY.
Do not go applying for like ten different credit cards. My advice just start out with one. When you're older you're going to start looking into things like buying a house, getting a car, or maybe even starting a small business, in order to do things like that you need good credit. How do you go about getting good credit? Credit cards are one way. As long as you use the card ONLY when you have the physical cash to pay it back promptly, credit cards can be a major tool in building credit scores.

6. Learn basic car maintenence. 
It's always nice to not be stranded in the middle of a bad horror movie with a flat tire and no cell signal. So do yourself a favor and learn basic car maintenence. Learn how to change the oil for your car and how to switch out a flat, nothing too fancy.

7. Fuck up.
I'm not telling you to get arrested or fly to Vegas with your high school sweetheart and elope. But I'm telling you to allow yourself some leeway to fuck up. When you're at this point in your life, no one is expecting much from you. That sounds rude but it's true. Allow yourself to make mistakes, to have fun, live a little because one day you will have a spouse and a job and children and though they won't be a ball and chain, you will never get the shot at the selfish freedom you're gifted in your 20's. You could wake up tomorrow if you wanted and fly to Paris because you said so and who's stopping you? You can do whatever you want so soak it up and revel in. Be selfish with your time and careful with your company.

Following Your Dreams: Where to Start

So these past few days, I've found myself struggling with my depression more than I have in a long while and in those days I felt like I lost track of my dreams, of why I've been doing the things I'm doing. I've been in this sort of slump and so I needed reminding and that's why I decided to write this post and if you guys want to follow your dreams but don't know where to start this is perfect for you.

It's never too late to start following your dreams.
It's important you understand this. In high school I fucked up. Like a lot. I messed up my GPA so bad that counsellors were calling me in weekly and I went to summer school nearly every summer of my high school career. That being said, I did graduate from high school. I got to college and in my first semester got nearly straight A's and would have made deans list but unfortunately because of circumstances at the time I didn't. I fell off track and fucked up again and stopped going to school, my GPA suffered. Now I'm telling you this because not even a few months ago I had a meeting with one of the fashion schools I was applying to. I was in L.A. and on a whim I went in there, not expecting much out of it I don't even really know what I was expecting to do but I had been emailing a counsellor in the school there for a year and I just decided whatever it's worth a shot. So I went in, I told her my story, the deal with my depression, the deal with my grades and a few short months later I'm back in school working to get my GPA up because that fashion school, my dream school wanted me to pick up my grades so they could take me on as a student.

Never quit. Never stop working towards your dream. Never let anyone tell you you can't do something, not even yourself. 

"I want to be more than one thing when I grow up"
Now, I don't know if this is something that anyone else actually still struggles with over the age of 7 but as a real grown up (as I like to refer to myself as sometimes) I totally still do. The idea that you only have one true calling is both played out and damaging and it comes from being asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?" as a child.  At first for me it was being indecisive with majors, being torn between wanting to study social work with a minor in women's studies or go on to study fashion and work branding for stores. I mean those were two completely different fields, so it was hard for me to choose. Well for everyone like me, I have good news. Multipontentiality. It's a big word I know, but stay with me.

Now the wikipedia definition of multipotentiality is and I quote, an education and psychological term referring to a pattern found among intellectually gifted individuals. [Multipotentialites] generally have diverse interests across numerous domains and may be capable of success in many endeavours or professions, they are confronted with unique decisions as a result of there choices.

Basically, you're a fucking genius. So go on and build your empire, girl. You can do more than one thing, you can have more than one calling in life. People do it all the time. Don't put limits on yourself because society told you so. Believe in yourself and the possibilities are endless.
Don't downgrade your dream just to fit your reality. Upgrade your conviction to match your destiny. 
Never settle. Never convince yourself that it was too big, or too unrealistic or too scary. BE UNREALISTIC. BE TERRIFIED of your dreams. I read a book by Jay-Z once, and you should read it by the way and basically what he says is to never fear failure. Because the way it is, is if there's nothing after this, no such thing as heaven or God, so you've got one shot at life might as well make it worth it. OR, there is more, there's an afterlife so even if you do fail, if things don't work out who cares, you've got another shot, right?


Be an opportunist. 
More often than not, opportunities are missed because they're dressed up as hard work! Never be afraid of hard work. In life you will wade through a lot of shit. It will suck and you will want to give up and honestly, sometimes you will. Sometimes you'll get mad you'll hate everyone and just fucking quit. But it's okay, because no matter how many times you quit get right back at it. Keep going back for more. You may be up against all odds, and you might feel like the smallest person in the world but that just means you have a big destiny, the size of your problem is only an indication of the size of your future. 

Following your dreams. Living your dreams. 
Know the difference between these two. Following your dreams will not always be glamorous, depending on your dreams it may be late nights studying, or double shifts working shitty jobs, or doing internships working for free when you're poor. THAT is following your dream, working in an attempt to live your dream, which is doing something you love for a living. I can't stress this enough because people (including myself) think following your dreams is going to be like the Carrie diaries where you bump into someone who's like hey i like your purse want to work for me. No, it's hard fucking work and it's shit but it's all worth it in the end. Living your dreams is doing whatever you love and making that your livelihood

No matter how many times you fail don't give up. 

People don't want to hear a story about someone who had everything handed to them about someone who had it easy because people can't relate to that, I know I can't. People want to hear a story about the fuck up about someone who was handed shit and turned it around, THATS a story worth hearing. So keep making mistakes and keep trying and no matter how many times you fail keep coming back and come back harder than before. Understand that it's a mind state. Coming from a small island I used to think that people from the states had better oppurtunities, better experience, more talent I used to look in the mirror and think "why me? why of everyone in the world why should I get my dream?" Now I wake up in the morning and I ask myself why the fuck not me? Let THAT be your motto. Don't be afraid of failing, be fearless in the attempt. 


Don't waste another second doing something you don't love. And if you are doing something you don't love, then I hope it's in an attempt to spend the rest of your life doing something you DO love. Good luck guys, I believe you and I know you can do! 

How to Stay Organized by the Least Organized Girl in the World

One word: anxiety

One of the most dreaded, and hated words to be heard by someone dealing with depression or any serious mental illness, to be honest. Why am I talking about anxiety in an organization post? Because, in the roundabout circle of life, stress is one of the "invisible triggers" of anxiety and anyone dealing with it can relate to that. One of the ways to battle and counteract stress is staying organized. Dealing with my depression any little thing triggered it, being behind on my work in school, or being under too much pressure for a project, my room being messy, stuff like that. Well, dealing with all of that and with the help of some people in my life I figured out ways to cope with it and stay focused on fixing it rather than just worrying. Here are some helpful organization tips I compiled!


1. List, people. 
Collect your thoughts, and write down your biggest stressors at the moment. It doesn't necessarily have to be just things you need to get done like walking the dog for example. It can range from simple every day tasks to things like say, if you're in a toxic relationship or your friend is sad. Now narrow it down to things that are within your control. If you have no control over it, don't stress over it. Maybe the problem will escalate or maybe it'll end good for you but if it's out of your control what can you really do to fix it? Worrying does nothing!

2. Get a planner. 
Even when I was in high school I never used planners. I don't even know why I didn't but it was a stupid decision. Get a planner and write down EVERYTHING, at the end of the week go back and look through notes of time sensitive things you need to get done. What also helps is setting reminder on my phone because my scattered brainself still forgets to check every now and then. But, anyway, planners are great because they give you some semblance of order and its a great way to start your journey to being a cute girl (or boy) with their shit together.

P.S. TRY TO AVOID DRY ERASE/CHALK BOARDS. I only say this because they lack a sense of permanance. Try and stick to pads of paper and markers. 


3. Make your workspace cute! 
This seems a little weird but trust me it works! When I was going to school it was always really hard for me to focus on doing my homework or schoolwork in general because I never really had a desk. I was usually doing it in a busy kitchen or on my bed (worst places by the way.) Make your workplace something nice to look at. You'll definitely have fun sprucing it up! Put up pictures of friends and family, have framed inspirational quotes, make your laptop background of a city you want to live in some day (New York, LA, and Tokyo are all good choices!) but little touches to make it a more desirable space.

         

4. Get visual 
Like I said, I'm a very visual person. I like bright colors and city lights and all that fun stuff. So incorporating that into your life will help a lot. Try tacking up a bunch of positive quotes and happy things. I print mine out and frame them in neon picture frames. I have a whole album in my camera roll dedicated to city lights because thats where I see myself. Make your goals as visible as possible, photoshop yourself into a picture with Kanye and Kim if thats where you see yourself. The point is, seeing what you're working towards helps you to not lose sight of why you started in the first place.

             

5. Buy a red marker 
Buy a big fat marker and at the end of the day when you've finished a task put a nice big X over it. It seems silly but doing this gave me a feeling of accomplishment. Even if the task was small it was nice to see that red x over it, it was telling me that I was dedicated and getting shit done. (That's a lot for an inanimate object to say, I know, but still it proved true)

6. Be realistic in your daily planning

When planning short or long term it is really important you set realistic goals for yourself, otherwise it leads to disappointment and set backs. Try to take into account your budget, your time, and any other factor that could conflict with what you're trying to acheive! 

You can do this! Remember to believe in yourself and to always be kind! 

Free College Textbooks

I said in my last post that I was going to link the sites where I download free pdf textbooks. Here you go lovelies!!!

Ebookee 

Textbooknova

GaTech Math Textbooks

BookBoon

Oerconsortium

Gutenberg

GetFreeBooks