Awesome Things About Winter

Blizzards are upon us and it seems like the worst thing ever. It definitely can be, but there are things about winter that if you try hard enough, can make up for the air hurting your face.

This is the only season that will get you out of unwanted plans. You don't want to go to a meeting? Those fat snowflakes are your best excuse. You woke up for class really late? Subzero temperatures wouldn't let your car start. These excuses are exclusively for winter. Embrace it.

Hot baths are actually enjoyable. Trying to take a bath in the summer is a form of punishment. Bathing in winter is like having a little bit of the sun to keep you warm and happy.

Snow angels are still fun. If just for a second, bundle yourself up and go run outside to make a snow angel. While your laying there, you melt that little part of the lawn so really you're only helping winter end faster.

Watching snow is one of the prettiest things. (Except when you're driving down the highway) Just sitting and staring at the snow fall is beyond peaceful. If it's past sunset, step outside as the snow falls when it's quite outside and just experience nature at its finest. It's like living in a poem.

No one can tell you if put on winter weight. You spend the whole season bundled in layers, no one has to know that you eat an alarming amount of food whilst binge-watching Netflix. Enjoy those cookies and hot cocoa, no one will judge.

Sledding is so much fun! Any winter-specific activity available right now is something you should go do. Get a toboggan and sled, rent some skates and bruise your tailbone, tie tennis rackets to your boots and snow shoe. If you shove enough hand warmers into your pants, you can enjoy a whole day out in the cold.

Things like the snow challenge exist. If you yourself don't want to go outside, watch a bunch of crazy kids dive headfirst into snowdrifts wearing swim suits on YouTube. Or witness a Polar Bear Swim (where people go running into a freezing lake risking hypothermia for charity).

If you are really just entirely anti-winter, put your heater up to 85 in your house, and tape pictures of the beach on your windows so you can pretend it's still summer.

Thank You, Professor Snape

In light of the news of beloved Alan Rickman's passing, I felt compelled to express thanks to the brilliant work he has left as a legacy for this world.
There are so many quotes that I could spew out but the most fitting for this Ode is as follows...

"A film, a piece of theatre, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world." -Alan Rickman

And so it has. Here are the ways Professor Snape has changed us all.



1. He taught us that the noblest of heroes do not need to be recognized. It was not until he was gone that we learned just how brave and honorable Snape was.



2. We learned that love transcends past time and circumstances. Snape's greatest motivation, until the very end, is love; unconditional, and selfless love.



3. We must always have a confidant who knows our story. Dumbledore was the only person to truly know who Snape was as a person in life. In death, Snape shared his truth with Harry and his legacy carried onto the next generation.



4. Sarcasm is for the superior. There is no doubt that Snape's quips and shrugs were by far the sassiest and most beautifully cheeky things we've ever seen on screen.



5. Sometimes the worst emotions take over. Snape's jealousy for James Potter turned him bitter, but despite all that he rescues Harry time after time until the end.



6. Snape was without a doubt the most unwavering person of them all. More than his unchanging appearance, he was effectively Severus true to his cause and his own persona.



7. And above all, he was portrayed by one of the most inspiring people in the world. Thank you, Professor Snape. Thank you, Alan Rickman. You will live in our hearts, always.

Dealing with Anxiety Part Two

These past few weeks I became riddled with unexpected and frankly frightening anxiety and depression that knocked the wind right out of me. I stopped writing a novel I've been working on for a year, I stopped eating, I wouldn't write a blog. I felt like a fraud. How could I write a blog about being positive when I wasn't anything near being okay?
But here I am right now because I went from being immobile to actual functioning human being that feels hope.
I am incredibly blessed to have a support system more solid than rock. I now understand those whose only solace is drugs and alcohol. When people don't get the help they need, then escape becomes their solution.
God, am I lucky to not be living in the Dark Ages where people like me would be locked up and forgotten about.
Besides going to therapy, I have some things that I've used this past month that has soothed me that I suggest to those fighting the same battle that I am.

1. Get a massage. Talk to the message therapist and just be candid and open. It's not a cheap option so I digress...
2. Donate blood. I really wanted to feel like I was doing something good and spontaneously I decided to drive over in a snow storm to go to a donation center. It was so oddly therapeutic for me. When I'm in the chair bleeding (sorry that sounded weird), I think about the people who need help. When I think about how what I'm doing is going to help people, I feel good.
3. Watch Good Will Hunting. Just trust me with that one.
4. Hug every damn person who will take a hug. I must have sat holding my grandma for half an hour when we had our holiday dinner. Nothing feels better than hugs.
5. Take a hot bath. My therapist told me that scientifically, when you take a hot bath you get psychoamnesia. Which means your stresses literally go away. (I want to spend my whole life in a bathtub)
6. Get something you can wear that reminds you to be strong. I know that I am not always going to feel bad. I also know I won't always feel good. So to prepare for the bad times, I wear a Lion ring, a cross necklace from my dad, and a bizmuth pendant from my sister. They're emblems of strength.
7. Sing your heart out. It just feels good to belt Christina Perri's "Human".

I have faith that you'll get better.

Fly with Time, Julia.

Pretty Little Moments

www.ourgom.com

So twice in the past week-ish, I have woken up to the same sound. Sounds kind of creepy, but it’s not I promise. In both incidents, it was well before I wanted to be awake that I was awoken and I was fairly immediately pleased.

The first of these encounters happened on the last day of my finals and the last thing I needed was to be awake before I had to be, and when I heard a strange ruckus downstairs, I was confused and annoyed for a couple minutes until I heard the telltale sound of a little kid. A one year old to be fairly precise, doing that “ah ah” noise. And I was like, there’s a baby in my house! Yay, I love babies! So I went downstairs not knowing why or how there was a baby in my house, but I was too excited about having a baby in my house (did I say that phrase enough?). So I rush down stairs and my dad’s friend is over and he has his little grandson who is toddling around my living room being mega-adorable. I was pretty glad to be awake, man. He was so sweet.

The second instance was this morning actually. I hadn’t gotten home until like midnight and right after the sun rose, basically, I heard outside my window people yelling. For a split second, I was highly irate until I realized it was little kids giggling. Then it was just infectious and I started smiling. There is something about little ones laughing that just makes me happy. I love hearing youthful, innocent happiness.

I tell these stories for two reasons, one because I just want to express how healing and utterly beautiful children’s happiness can be. And secondly, I think that it is so important to appreciate little moments like those. A lot of my happiest moments in life come from appreciating very small things; like hearing laughter in the morning instead of an alarm clock. Or taking a nature stroll and witnessing spectacular things (which I often write about in Escaping Suburbia). As the holidays come barreling towards us about to pass in the blink of an eye, take some time to enjoy little things and reflect on them. Cherish moments more than gifts (sorry, that was mushy). 

Weird Is Good

About a year ago, I was up late on my phone (shocking, right?) and I was getting to that really weird part of the internet where it can either turn into looking at videos of elephants giving birth or things that you wish your eyes could un-see. 

What I found was pretty much in the middle of the spectrum. It's called ASMR and apparently it had a surge of popularity in 2013, but I'm always late to the party. 

ASMR, which is an acronym for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is when you get tingles on your scalp, neck or back. A lot of people get those tingles when someone is brushing their hair, if they hear certain sounds, or when they get massages. 

The videos can get really weird, like really really weird. (TORTURE With MEMORY Hypnosis: Binaural ASMR Sleep Role Play | Halloween) But once you get past the weirdness, its like the second best kind of video to watch on YouTube other than kitties. 

I particularly like ASMR because a lot of the videos deal with easing anxiety. My favorite video right now is this one:

~Relaxing Reiki Session ASMR Roleplay~

And then there are the funny ones where people tease at the weirdness of ASMR like:

Amazing ASMR Experience - Rhett and Link from Good Mythical Morning

and

The Most Disturbing ASMR Video from CollegeHumor

I suggest for anyone who needs to chillax, you go ahead and check this odd phenomenon out. If you can handle weird and you aren't afraid of someone looking through your YouTube History, then ASMR is for you. 

Among many of its kind, here are some videos for newbies to ASMR:

What is ASMR? by GentleWhispering

What is ASMR? 30 different BINAURAL triggers to find yours! By Olivia Kissper

What is ASMR? 40 fast triggers to find your TINGLES for relaxation | binaural | Olivia kisser

What Is ASMR? An explanation by Emma WhispersRed

Go explore! Honestly, it is one of the most helpful things I have found for dealing with my anxiety when I need to occupy my thoughts, but don't want to feel like I'm mindless. ASMR is like a spa for your brain and there is so much of it on YouTube that it never gets old. 

Real Talk | The Veggie Stigma

opkansas.org


When I was a freshman in high school, I became a vegetarian and since then (the last seven years (holy sh*t that’s a long time!)) I have been on and off varying forms of vegetarianism.  For the last year or so, I have eaten meat, but haven’t touched dairy. And just recently, for about the last few weeks, I stopped eating meat for ethical reasons. There are some people in my life, a lot actually, who give me a stank face when I say things like, “I don’t eat dairy products,” or when I first declared my vegetarianism seven years ago. The only reason I ever quit vegetarianism in the first place was because I felt so pressured by people all the time. I was always made to feel like I was a burden to feed even though why I was doing what I was doing felt right.

Frankly, I don’t understand it at all. I’ve encountered people personally offended by my choice of diet. My best guess is that it is their form of defense mechanism somewhere very internally protecting them from having to be around me. The stereotype about vegans/vegetarians is that we will preach to you about your wrong-doing to the world. Sometimes that is true. As I have done research whether it be scholarly or videos from YouTube, I often come across people who blatantly attack other people and spew venomous facts at them. Personally I think that it is the worst method of getting the message out about veganism. No one wants to be verbally assaulted.

With anything, really, you’ll find extremists and I personally will never be one. That’s why I get really angry when someone looks at me like I have insulted them when I say I’m vegan. That’s why I haven’t out right told anyone yet. I’m just sort of phasing into it discreetly, but still I get, “Why aren’t you getting the chicken on your chipotle?” with a caustic tone. For some reason, it really annoys people when I won’t eat meat. Again, it might be a subconscious reaction to try to shut me down to avoid any sort of Vegan Propaganda speeches. To anyone reading this that eats meals with me, the only time I will tell you information is if you A) ask me specifically to know more, or B) tell me I am stupid for my choices.

I will make it clear that I don’t think meat eating is wrong, I just have a problem with the way meat is mass produced and how it affects the animals’ lives. If you’re a Katniss-type and hunt wild turkeys and deer, that’s awesome. You’re living like a natural human. I wouldn’t turn down venison. This might seem pretty weird, but that’s just my choice. I encourage anyone to seek some information about factory farming, but I won’t go so far as some whacked out people I saw in a forum the other day. They said they won’t attend a holiday gathering where animal products are served. I think we can all agree that that sucks for everyone. And I promise not all of us are like that.

So I will leave you with the hopes that if you ever encounter a non-meat eater type human, you won’t make them feel weird about it if they haven’t tried to make you weird first; also to encourage you to not plug your ears if they do try to preach. They do it with good intentions.

How to Make Your Period Suck Less

So you’re a woman that menstruates. I’m sorry.

I know that a lot of the time PMS and cramps can feel unimaginably painful. Depending on how bad it is for you the pain can feel anywhere between a mild unpleasant stomach cramp (lucky) to actually writhing in pain because your body feels like it’s full of hot lava and a flailing, ravenous animal has gone loose in your uterus.

At my worst, I would feel like I needed to go to the hospital because something felt like it was going to burst. Advil didn’t help, and I couldn’t handle eating… It was awful.

I did some research about why period cramps suck so much, and how I could fix them. It was so bad that I would have to make sure that I was not doing anything the day I was supposed to get my period because I was totally bed-ridden. A lot of results showed up about diet and lifestyle choices, and that the only way to get rid of cramps was to do something about it before they start. Once you have them, there’s very little you can do.

My advice to the world of females is to log your period so that you can plan ahead. Usually a week or two before my period starts; (while I’m PMSing) I start to cut out greasy and sugary foods (and sometimes meat) from my diet. Mind you that I do not drink coffee, pop, or alcohol whatsoever. I have many reasons why those do not exist in my life, but the biggest incentive to someone who likes those things is that they make menstruation SO much worse. If you have a hard time with your cramps or PMS, stay the hell away from pop especially. It utterly destroys your system.

I know that diets really aren’t everyone’s thing, but if it’s only for those two weeks before your expected period date, it’s not that hard to do.

The Julia-Science-Logic (totally not real or credible, but I believe in it) is that if you treat your body well while it is creating the lining of the uterus that it is going to shed, you’re going to have an easier time dealing with the shedding of this lining. The more prepared/healthy your body is, the better it will function.

The only things that I can suggest for bad cramps the first few days of your period are tea (nettle and raspberry leave are great), heating pads, and getting out of bed. I find that the longer I wait to get going in the morning, the worse my cramps get. If I’m up right away, my body gets a head start on feeling good.

My goal in life is to get as many women as possible to understand that their periods are not a bad thing, and the first step in understanding that periods are good are to lessen the pain that they cause us.