Lets talk resolutions

Alright so I’m not ordinarily one to go all new year new me but I haven’t written anything since iv started school so I decided to do a little life update for y’all.

Getting straight into it, 2020 kinda sucked and I think I can say that speaking for a lot of us. Since coming home from living abroad I realized how much things change when going to college. From a disconnection from high school relationships, the self-discipline needed to actually attend my 8 ams, and trying to find a place on a campus of 50,000 students- I had my own personal reset.

This whole transition was amplified amidst a global pandemic. As I was boarding my 23-hour flight home, Trump announced the expansion of travel bans to and from European nations. Living on my own, working in a city, and just dealing with the everyday unfamiliarity of being in a foreign country enhanced my curiosity and creativity. So, when I returned home full of wanderlust and excitement to reunite with my friends and family, I was absolutely devastated by a 3-week stay at home order due to covid.

I decided to try to make my first semester of college seem as conventional as possible…moved into an apartment, tried to work D2L, and even joined a sorority. The onset of the pandemic has brought unprecedented changes to higher education and to be honest I have no idea what is going on. Even living off campus, a virtual semester of college doesn’t compare to the experiences pre covid. Just like most first-year college students, I started my first semester excited to learn about my major and desperate to branch out to new friends. My freshman orientation that usually entails walking around campus, learning about organizations, and an overnight in the dorms-virtually consisted of me flipping through PowerPoints and trying to figure out if any on campus amenities would be open(which literally nothing was).

Anyway although going to a BIG 10 party school sounds exhilarating and has its perks- my first semester of college was not what I was expecting it to be. I found myself nowhere near where I wanted to be and looking for every excuse to get the hell out of Michigan. I think a lot of people like me have struggled with having so much time to ourselves and not knowing what to do with it. So instead of spending the rest of this pandemic binging gossip girl, sitting on tiktok, and watching my twenties wither away I thought id write down some goals resolutions to look back on in hopes to not repeat the nightmare we called 2020.

1. Wake up EARLIER

Ok I know I know this ones pretty cliche but my roommates (hey Jules) can validate this for you that if there is a day that I am awake earlier than 11 am I am not okay. Even with my 8am class, I was absent from 100% of the time and would usually just get on the zoom to get the attendance points. The benefits from waking up early and sticking to a sleep schedule are exponential from reducing stress levels and increasing energy. Soooo in 2021 im going to just about force myself out of bed at 8 am everyday and see what happens.

2. Read a book once a month

Being a bit ADHD does not help with my obsession of self-help and philosophical books. Iv always loved reading because it to calms me down and puts me to sleep~ I am currently reading The 48 laws of POWER by Robert Greene. Some other favorites id suggest if your looking for a good book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK by Mark Manson, You’re not Lost by Maxie McCoy, and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

3. Build a better budget

I dont know about you guys but I dont think iv ever sat down and looked at the ways I spend my money to the tea. One thing I wish I knew before I went to school is that college makes it especially easy for you to absolutely blow through cash. I recently downloaded an app called ‘Mint’ that is suppose to be like a money tracking AI to help you save more and track your expenses. Meanwhile ill be waitressing to try and make the money that I blew back from last semester so if your ever looking for a good restaurant where you can get an even better super cool fun waitress hml.

4. Discover new music

Over the past few years I have really kinda grown out of my rap/pop phase and started listening to more alternative/house. However I’m always looking for new ways to discover all different types of genres of music and I am not exactly sure how to do that. Im a big Spotify girl and had Spotify before it got its hype. I thought id drop my favorite playlist to find new music and my playlist atm below and please drop some comments with some suggestions.

5. Take make more time for Meditation

During isolation iv gotten very into mindfulness and meditation. The benefits of practicing mindfulness are truly astronomical. It is improved my general mood, physical and mental health – taking time to meditate each day has seriously increased my energy, focus, and sociability. Some mindfulness apps I use and you should totally try out are Calm, Insight Timer, and HeadSpace.

6. Use less screen time/social media

When I’m bored the first thing I go to is social media. I dont exactly think its a bad thing cause I love how it gives me the ability to invent myself however it can be a waste of time when you get distracted. Instagram has a cool TIME feature under- Your activity- in settings that lets you put alerts for how long you spend on the app-lets say you set reminders when you’ve spent say 30 min on the app that day it will basically tell to get a life and get off kinda like that ‘are you still watching?’ feature Netflix has. So in 2021 I am challenging myself and you to actually pay attention to how much time we spend on our phones and be more present.

7. Become a Plant person

This is really random but I saw online that having indoor plants can boost your mood, productivity, and creativity. I can’t say I know the actual facts behind this but ever since I became a plant mom last week and brought home a bunch of tropical plants randomly- Iv been loving the concept. Now its only been a week and god knows how long ill be able to keep them alive but especially now when a lot of us find ourselves trapped in our rooms all day its really sets the vibeee.

8. Focus on Myself/Future

Spending time by myself all during quarantine and now being home from college has given me a lot of time reflect on isolation. I realized how much time and energy I waste on thinking about the past and things I can’t change rather than focusing on bettering myself. I have come quite the self-care queen if you ask me. I have tried just about every beauty hack face mask bs there is to try, created some at home workouts, and got into painting/drawing. The next thing I wanna master is adobe photoshop/indesign since they are great marketing tools and ill prolly have to learn them eventually… I am currently trying to figure out the best way to learn and if there are any good classes online.

9. Stress more Sustainable Fashion

Guys… STOP SHOPPING ON SHEIN and other fast fashion brands. Fast fashion poses environmental and societal problems, especially in developing economies. According to non-profit Remake, 80% of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24(how would you like working in a sweat shop).Shein imparticularly describes itself as  “an international B2C fast fashion e-commerce platform (that) focuses on women’s wear, but also offers men’s apparel, children’s clothes,” blah blah and it upholds the philosophy that “everyone can enjoy the beauty of fashion.” Besides the seemingly low quality and virgin oil-based textiles, the main question is posed of who his even manufacturing these items for that cheap of a price (no like literally there is so evidence of where Shein manufactures their clothing or who even founded the company) and worse than that they sold a swastica shaped necklace on their website common guys

10. Post more Blogs

I made this blog for a reason- I love sharing with people and writing. Even though I’m not the best at the latter, this platform serves as a practice space for me to evolve and develop my own writing style. Science shows that sharing your resolutions, passions, and ideas with people makes you feel closer to already achieving it (s/o Dr. Oz) so sorry if this bored you but your already putting me on the right track. Please please feel free to leave a comment of things you might be interested in me writing about as I am going to try to post a lot more it can be anythinggggg, life, relationships, spirituality, art, college, except politics I’m not gettin in that butttt thank for reading lets make 2021 our betch.

xo

S