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Stop dreaming about your life and make it your fucking reality. Make actual plans TODAY that align with your future. Go eat at the restaurant in Soho and order the kataifi prawns, (and take cute pics while you're at it). Go light that diptyque candle that's been sat on your dresser unused for months waiting for a special occasion. Go plan the dream trip that's occupied your vision board for years. Book the damn flights. Chop your hair. Get the brows did. Whatever you need to do to bring the 2.0 version of yourself to life, go do that. You are your own hero. You owe it to yourself, that little girl inside you that dreamt of a beautiful life, you owe it to her to make this dream come true, she is relying on you. So quit complaining, quit researching, quit talking about what you want to do and move. Move into action, move into booking shit, move into walking and talking as if you are living your dreams. Let's go!

productive days, a very personal morning checklist

☐ Wake up at a predetermined time. Set your alarm clock early if you’re the type of person who might feel the need to linger in bed for a while before getting up. If possible, get an alarm clock that is not your phone.

☐ Open the curtains and, if possible, air the room for a while, without making the bed yet. According to a study published in 2006 in the journal Experimental and Applied Acarology, making your bed actually creates a comfortable refuge for mites. Researchers at Kingston University’s Centre for Immunology in England concluded that putting back the sheets or comforter as soon as you wake up creates an ideal environment for mites to grow. Air the room for a while.

☐ Stay hydrated. Drink water.

☐ If possible, avoid screen time until the end of the list. My mornings allow me to escape social media, messages and demands from work, friends and family. It’s a privileged moment in which I avoid any unnecessary anxiety or negative thoughts.

☐ Exercise your mind, your faith, your creativity for a few minutes. For some, it is a combination of meditation and affirmations. As for me, I pray for a moment or two. I also sometimes write a few lines in my journal, although I much prefer to reserve this moment for my evenings. This is the time to get inspired: listen to your favorite podcast, read a little. (Don’t start reading new books until you’ve finished the current one, even if the book is pretty boring.)

☐ Prepare your bag for the day. This is the time to pack your lunch box, your notebooks, your computer for work and all the necessary chargers… I never do it the night before.

☐ Be physically active for at least 30 minutes. If possible, an hour or two. Run, go for a quick walk, stretch, do yoga, use the equipment in your apartment or go to the gym. 

☐ Wash yourself. Everyone has a different approach to it, depending on their resources and organization. Wash up or take a shower or a bath, brush your teeth and floss and if you have one, do your skin care routine.

☐ Get ready for the day. Get dressed and comb your hair even if you don’t plan on going out for the day. As someone who has suffered from mental health issues that have kept me in bed for days, getting ready in the morning subconsciously pushes me to offer myself a picture of me ready to face the day. Often, it also encourages me to go out… 

☐ Have a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, a glass of warm water. Try to eat before ingesting any form of caffeine. If possible, eat a full breakfast or a fruit, but never go out on an empty stomach. Again, try to stay hydrated and drink water.

☐ Finish by making your bed. While the study referenced above does not advocate doing this, I find that the discipline and rigor involved in recreating a physically “neutral” environment allows my mind to unburden itself. For the sake of productivity, I suppose. For the same reasons, if possible, never leave your stuff lying around in your room (like letting it pile up on a chair or desk).

☐ Start your day, outside the walls of your precious home. 

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Their eyes met, and in an instant, with an inexplicable, only half conscious rush of emotion, they were in perfect communion.

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

they’re a 10 but they prefer fictional characters over real people.

i don’t know who needs to hear this but everything will be okay.

i know it seems scary and daunting and really, really hard. but there are better days coming, warmer loves, more opportunities to live.

it’s okay to not have everything figured out, especially if you’re still studying or you’ve just graduated or you just don’t know what to do next.

take it slow, take some deep breaths, you’ll figure it out. be gentle with yourself.

It’s always “I love you” and never “my souls sees it’s equal in you.”

god i see we’re talking about how dean is self aware today and i am on the brink of a breakdown thinking about how dean knows himself in the way you can only know something when you’re trying to paint right over it. like hes self aware only in the sense that he’s aware of everything just enough so that he knows how much of a mask to plaster on to make it all smooth over. but like, the guy painting over a mural doesn’t see the same thing as the guy who wants to stand and look at it. he’s aware of everything but he’s never actually allowed himself to see it all. because if he did then maybe everyone else would see it all, too.

this applies to a lot of things but i think a lot about how it applies to the way dean sees himself as inherently bad/violent. he definitely mixes up what is innate and what is ingrained. that stuff doesn’t make a difference to what other people see, so he doesn’t need to know it so intensely. he looks at the way his reflex is to reach for a weapon, or how quickly his hands turn into fists, and he sees something inherent to himself. he sees himself as a weapon that was honed, yes, but something that was innately a weapon to begin with. he sees the way he protects, cares, loves, as something ingrained only by the way he was forced to parent his brother. the opposite is true. when you were taught how to hold a gun the same year you learned how to hum just right to make your baby brother smile before he fell asleep, before you really have a real memory at all, both feel like breathing.

when you were taught as a child to grab a gun before anything else when you want to protect the ones you love, how are you supposed to know as an adult which instinct came first? the violence or the love? when you only know yourself through the things you need to hide, why wouldn’t your first instinct be to see the violence?

How I Deal With ADHD In College

- A Masterpost

What does that mean exactly?

So how do I do it?

— Maya Angelou

Why the fuck should you be humble? I guarantee there’s some middle-aged white dude out there who doesn’t have a fraction of your talent but who strides through life with unwavering confidence in his abilities. If he isn’t humble, you sure as shit shouldn’t be.

my heart says yes but my mom says no

one of the best feelings is being caught off guard by someone's kindness towards you, especially when you're having a bad day, and you can't stop thinking about it for the next two weeks

nonchalantly brings up something I've been obsessing over for multiple months as if it just occurred to me right at that moment

— Daniell Koepke

For every person who thinks you're "too quiet" there's one who thinks you're an amazing listener. For every person who thinks you're "too clingy" there's one who loves how much and how openly you care about others. For every person who thinks you're "too weird" there's one who admires how you dare to stand out from the crowd. For every person who thinks you're "too sensitive" there's one who respects you for being so in touch with your feelings. For every person who thinks you're "too confident" there's one who thinks your self respect is an inspiration. What's a negative trait in one person's eyes might be exactly what someone else is looking for. It's not black or white.

I think the best compliment you can ever receive is someone telling you that they feel comfortable in your presence. you know how rare that is? you know how that feels?

Let this be your rest stop. We’re sitting in the garden. We could be sitting on a blanket or on the patio steps. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. We could be talking. Or writing. Or drawing. Or painting. Maybe we’re listening to music. Whatever we’re doing, there is a sense of calm. The sunlight dances across your face and you feel completely at peace. Just stay in this moment for a little while. Take some deep breaths. You’ve got this. You can stay here as long as you want and you can always come back. Just remember, everything will be okay.