4 Things I Learned From Two Weeks Without a Laptop

A few weeks ago, I unintentionally went two weeks without using a computer. Two. Whole. Weeks. And then I did it again, without even really trying!

I'm really still in awe of myself.

I love my computer. I always have. When I was eight or nine and my family had first gotten a computer, I remember my parents limited my computer time to maybe fifteen minutes a day. But as soon as my parents left me alone, I'd always run to the computer to get a little more time in (sorry Mom!) to go feed my Neopets or play Zoo Tycoon or whatever it is eight-year-olds do on the computer. 

I've just always been amazed by the internet and just how freaking much there is out there. From my Zoo Tycoon-playing days until now, I've never been the type to voluntarily give up my computer. So I think you might now understand just how amazing it is that I went two weeks without my computer without even really trying. 

Really, it was a weird experience. Here are a few things I took away:

1. We aren't really as reliant on some technology as we think. I thought I would just die to be without Netflix on a big screen (compared to my phone) and without updating my music and whatnot. But (surprise!) I was just fine. I suppose, we all knew that all along, but it's funny how we can convince ourselves that we need things.

2. While technology isn't bad, it can be cheap replacement for real relationships and fun. I'm sure it's no surprise that it was rewarding to spend a little more time with my boyfriend H and with family, but I was more surprised that I actually ended up having more fun. In the past, whenever I've had free time, my go to "fun" pastime was watching Netflix or noodling around on the Internet. 

You know what else is just as fun, or dare I say...more fun? Reading. Jogging. Organizing. Trying weird makeup looks on yourself. Cooking. 

I tend not to do these things because they're the species of fun that's a little more effort, but they really are more satisfying in the end than just mindlessly lounging in front of some Law and Order.

3. Social media really doesn't make you happier. Duh, I know. But there really is something to be said about the way social media makes us compare ourselves to others and worry about things that don't matter. Even though I had been having a great time with friends and family, as soon as I started checking social media more often (though I had been somewhat through my phone) those compare-y thoughts wiggled back into my brain and it seemed like everyone else was having a better summer than me already.

4. Reading the newspaper is just better than reading the news online. It just is. 

Also: doing sudokus is a whole new level of nerdy fun.

What do you think? Could you go without your computer? 

Good Deed: Compliment a Stranger

Every once in awhile, I'll be scrolling around on facebook (i.e. procrastinating) and I'll come across some sweet status from a friend about how someone paid for their Chick-fil-A that day or said something really encouraging. And I love that! I love when someone does something little and it impacts someone's entire day. If you knew you could make someone's day in just a few minutes, wouldn't you do that thing?

And so with that idea, I've come up with a new idea for a sort of miniseries in which we'll talk about + share ideas for little things we can do for people in our lives (or strangers!) that will make everyone a little bit happier. These will be short posts because I want to focus on doing good deeds, not just writing about them.

This week, I challenged myself to compliment a stranger. A month or so ago, I was waiting at a bus stop and this girl walking just stopped and told me my glasses were adorable. And you better believe it made my day! So I made that my goal. Since I live on a college campus, I'm around strangers all the time. But surprisingly, this was way hard. Every time I saw someone and wanted to compliment their eyes or their shirt or whatever, they were either walking right past me or had headphones in or something like that.

Finally, I did. There was a girl sitting across from me on the bus who had oxford shoes on that we covered in gold glitter (I know, I want them). After a few minutes of riding in deliberation, I finally just told her, "Your shoes are really cute." She smiled and said thank you but I have no idea if it meant anything to her. Maybe it didn't, but that's okay. It's a start!

Now it's up to you! Compliment a stranger (or at least a non-friend, non-family person) this week. What other little good deeds can we do to make other people's days better?

Six Weeks of Wellbeing: Week Three Recap

Well well well. What a week. I don't even know how to define this week; it hasn't been good or bad, just kind of 'eh'. Like you know in Despicable Me (which if you haven't seen...go see it. And the second.) when young Gru is trying to impress his mom and he's like a five year old building a rocket ship and his mom's just like 'eh'? That's how I feel about this week.

But still. It's been better than last week so I'll take what I can get. I didn't have a panic attack, fail any tests, or kill anyone so I'd say I'm doing alright. This week, doing good for myself was more of a mindset than actual actions. I tried to listen to myself and do what I felt like I needed, not what someone else would say I needed to do. 

For example, Monday I just finished taking exams and was just exhausted, even though I had just had the weekend. And I really felt like I should study for the exams I had the next day, but I listened to myself and decided not to. I gave myself an hour to lay in bed, watch SVU and pretend I was cuddling with H (he's sick; I'm lonely) before I got up to study. And you know what? That wasn't being lazy. Or maybe it was, but at the very least, I think it was strategic laziness. You know, laziness is important to a degree. And I think that because I let myself take that guilt-free rest, I was able to calmly prepare for my exams the rest of the night. 

This week, I'm setting a couple concrete ideas for my fourth week of wellbeing. I'm halfway done with the project and while I feel like I'm doing good for myself, I don't feel like I'm challenging myself. I'm only doing the things that feel good for myself now. But the sort of unfortunate thing is that the things that feel best for me (or you!) in the long run are most often the exact things that aren't very fun in the moment. So in the spirit of real wellbeing, I'm going to do things this week that have delayed payoffs. Here are some examples:

+Go for a run. I really hate running until I'm about ten minutes into and I realize I'm still breathing and I look super cute in my little fleece and leggings and headband. And plus, I find that those good feelings (endorphins?) really stick with me and make me feel great for a whole day!

+Clean up my living space. This can be as simple as picking up the dirty clothes on my floor (yes I am that girl) because having a clean floor can do wonders to help me be more productive and overall happier. But I may also spend sometime cleaning off my desk so you know, I can actually use it. 

+Work on my European History book and not leave it until the last minute (is that even possible for me?!). They say proscrastination sucks but that is soo a lie. Procrastination is awesome because you get to watch New Girl and eat popcorn and sit around in your PJs and pretend you don't have work to do. The aftermath, however, is terrible. So to avoid that, maybe I should not leave this huge book until two days before class. 

Just some ideas! Help me! What are some good-for-you things that aren't always fun at first?

Six Weeks of Wellbeing: Week 1 Recap

(Source)

Hello nuggets! Happy Wednesday! If you've been having a rough week, know that it's about half way over! And if your week has been fabulous, know that you've still got half of it left! How about that! :) Don't forget that this week sponsor spots are on sale! If you want to order 3 months, get them for the price of 2 with the code 'Imanawesomeperson'. (impossible to read, I know. It says 'I'm an awesome person' without spaces.) If you just want to try it out with one month, use the code 'happyday'!

Today concludes week one of my Six Weeks of Wellbeing project. If you didn't see last week's post, Six Weeks of Wellbeing means doing something everyday to cultivate physical/emotional health, healthy relationships and healthy actions. Find out more about the project here!

How I Did:

This past week, I didn't really bother to track what I did too thoroughly, which I'd like to do in the coming weeks. I have a few little notebooky things that I'll use! But this past week, I did some little things that seemed to add up. I worked out once and went for two long walks, which are so wonderful in this autumnal NC air. On Thanksgiving, I didn't want to limit what I ate per se, but I still wanted to, you know, not totally stuff my face. So I practiced taking lots of bites and chewing my food longer before I swallowed it. It sounds silly but I was the last one finished and I hadn't even had seconds. 

I'm trying to use this project as a way to cultivate wellbeing in little ways too, not just through exercise. On Monday, I had lunch with H and a few of his guy friends. At the end of our meal, I got up to take my dishes to the trash and offered to take H's and his friends' dishes, just as a little bit of nice. To my surprise, they were actually really grateful! I heard them talking as I was walking towards the trash and they were talking so enthusiastically, I thought they were making sexist jokes about me doing the dishes haha. 

But they weren't! They genuinely appreciated even a little act of niceness like that. 

Oh and on Monday night, I wanted to be nice so I made cookies for my family and brought a few to H to cheer him up since he's been pretty stressed lately. Except then I found out that he had made me cookies as a little thank you for being nice! So we enjoyed our cookies haha.

So this week, I have a notebook pulled out that I'm going to use to log my good stuff and I'll recap with you next Wednesday! I'd love if anyone else wants to join me, either on a blog or just mentally. Comment with me + try to make an extra effort to do good!

Science Bit of the Day

Today, I want to talk to you about the peppered moth and how it shows an example of natural selection. Natural selection, to go back to basics, is when a certain trait in an animal helps it survive so it gets passed down to the next generation until just about all of that species has that trait. The peppered moth used to be a light white/greyish kind of thing, which was swell because it could hide among light colored trees and lichens and stuff. 

But when the Industrial Revolution came along, the trees turned black from the smoke + lots of the lichens died (RIP lichens). SO, in order to blend in, the moths gradually all became black! That's called "industrial melanism", when animals change their colors because of pollution. And now that we're polluting less than in the Industrial Revolution (at least in a different way), trees aren't blackened with soot anymore (duh) and the moths are lightening again. How cool?! 

Side note, I'm actually terrified of moths. Totally irrational fear but we once had a moth infestation in our house and I'd hear them in my bedroom as I tried to sleep and UGH it was just terrible. So I'm not gonna show you the pictures of the moths, just in case anyone else has that same hatred of moths (I GET YOU!). If you want to see, here are the light ones and here are the dark ones. Same moth species!

living for the weekdays + free wallpaper + something new

Hello friends! Happy Tuesday! Or almost happy Wednesday if you live in my part of the world. Usually on Wednesdays, my thoughts tend to sound something like this: "Still three more days until the weekend."

But I'm making an attempt at being positive by telling myself that my weekdays are not something to race through or get done with, even if it seems that way sometimes (/all of the time, ever). So I'm trying to focus on the potential that my weekdays have. My weekdays generally consist of classes, homework, tutoring and if it's a good day, exercise.

Instead of "still three more days", I'm trying this:

• I have three more days this week to ace tests.


• I have three more days this week to help a kid hate math less.


• I have three more days this week to make someone's day a little less stressful.


• I have three more days this week to do something fantastic.

When I focus on it that way, I find that I'm excited for tomorrow, because I can do great things with it. I can succeed in my school work and lighten someone else's load and just generally cheer other up with my witty words and stunning good looks.

Because if we're really just living for the weekend, then we're not living for much at all.

As always, I like to remind myself that my happiness is my choice (I figure if I keep telling myself that, eventually I'll remember it). So this is my new iPhone background. I invite you to use it as yours or share it however you want. Just click on the iPhone to download.

And nowwww, I want to try something new. Last week, I posted about science for the first time (not counting Marie Curie). I was really nervous about it, since it's not really a "blog-friendly" topic, if you will. But I got a lot of good feedback--lots of people said they loved it even if they didn't love science. And they loved that I was posting something that I wanted to, just because it's me. And I do want my blog to be "for me", as I think all lifestyle bloggers do. But I also want it to be read.

So I'm testing out a new idea to kind of integrate science into other posts. I will still have regular science posts (I think), but infrequently. Instead, I'll add a paragraph or two at the bottom of regular posts about science, whether it's something I've learned recently, something in the news or a video. I hope you'll find these little science bits interesting but not overwhelming if you're not into it! As always, please let me know how you like it.

Science Bit of the Day

The other day I heard a fascinating story on NPR about a neuroscientist named James Fallon who had studied the brains of psychopaths for many years. At a family dinner, Fallon's mom mentioned that he should look into his dad's family history. So he did, only to find that his own lineage was full of murderers and other criminals. He convinced his family to undergo PET brain scans so he could compare their brain activities to those of psychopaths. He found that all of their brains were normal (aka they weren't serial killers) but found a terrifying discovery within his own brain. Want to find out? Listen or read the story here.

life-changing advice.

Hi y'all. So I know this was yesterday's Blogtember prompt but I've been sick so I'm allowed to be behind on things, right? Please say yes.

Day 3. Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered. 

We're gonna keep it short and sweet today. The simplest, smallest piece of advice I try to guide my life around is this: be the best you that you can be.

That's it.

That's something we always here as kids--"you don't have to do the best, just do your best." But I mean it in a different way. I mean that every action you take, take a split-second (our brains are speedy like that) to think, "Is doing this going to make me a better person or a worse person?" Oftentimes, that can put you back on the right path.

But take it a step further--it's not always about right and wrong. Maybe you want to have ice cream. Does ice cream make you a worse person? Possibly. But that advice puts the question on you to decide and weigh the benefits of health versus happiness. And it's totally okay to choose happiness. It really is.

Take life day by day and just be the best that you can be. That's all anyone could ask right?

And to put you in a good mood, here's a pretty picture.



 

Funky mood? Not for long.

Being in a funk sucks. I get in a funk, for no reason at all every few weeks or so and I feel just miserable. I’m grumpy at everyone I see, I stomp around and I get things done about as fast as molasses in January. You get these too? Congrats, you’re normal. Well get your mouse ready to bookmark this because I’m about to give you foolproof steps to take the first bus out of Funkytown.

1. Be extra funky. Tell yourself and everyone you see, “I am in a funk.” Make extra grumpy faces at people on purpose and scowl at your goldfish. You’re not allowed to get out of your funk. The more you try to be in a funk, the harder it is.

2. Decide to get out of the funk. Why? Because being in a funk sucks. Come on, keep up. Admit you’re in a funk and try to be open to positivity. Then proceed.

3. Take care of yourself. Take a shower. Girls, put on a little makeup, do a face mask, paint your nails. It’s harder to feel funky when you look fabulous.

4. Be productive. Make a to do list and commit to doing one thing start to finish even if it’s small. Do a load of laundry. Reply to a few emails. Work on something that will occupy your mind.

5. Talk to someone who loves you. Find your funniest/most awesome friend and call them. Say, “I’m in a funk; entertain me, friend.”

6. Go outside. A little walk/run/bike ride can do wonders for a funky mood. Even sitting outside with a book or iPod can shift your mood from sad to sassy!

7. And lastly, watch these gifs, put googly eyes on stuff,  Jes-style, listen to this and read this book.

Choices + free iPhone backgrounds

Because I believe that your attitude is always a choice.

           

Download any of these iPhone backgrounds.

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