Day #273

I’ve always considered learning something new as a great personal challenge, and for me it’s just as interesting every time. So today's choice for a positive choice is really easy: I’ve spent most of the day using a new video editor, getting used to new programs on my computer installed by my lovely boyfriend.

I feel like I’m getting more used to it, and I managed to edit and (right now) render the video without any kind of bigger issues. I’m very proud of myself, as I’m as talented in the field of technology as a blind squirrel, this is almost a small miracle for me. Also, finally finding the time to edit the vlog from last weekend makes me feel a little bit better about my time management skills, though it’s still about a week late.

Turku Castle Vlog

This is the vlog recorded last weekend, I hope you enjoy it! Stay tuned for more youtube videos and clips! If you'd like to subscribe to my youtube channel, you can do so by clicking here! There you'll find a lot of extra material from the leftover posts, vlogs and a ton of other videos. Enjoy!
Also, click here to read the blog post from that day!

Day #272

Yesterday was partly spent at the library, since it was quite a while since I borrowed books and read something. I love the library, it’s so quiet and comforting, and I feel like I can really relax there (no matter how nerdy that sounds, it’s true). Books always make me feel comfort and calm, it’s been like that since I started reading, it’s such a pleasant escape from everything else.

I look forward to engulfing in these works, and yes there are books in Swedish, English and Finnish, because I like keeping my linguistic skills in check.

Kicking the Sugar

This week, me and my boyfriend have done something quite interesting. As students at a university, we eat our fair share of garbage foods, snacks and candy, so as a bit of a personal challenge, we tried cutting out sugar and garbage for a week. I think it was a bit more of a challenge for me than for him, I have a bit more of an addiction to eating junk and snacks (I often joke about that if you’ve ever seen me, you’ve probably seen me eating or drinking something), though some of them are actually healthy, for example I carry a huge torch for sunflower seeds.

I thought this would be really hard, but really, it wasn’t. Of course, there were a few exceptions to our rule; for example, we had whipped cream with pancake yesterday. But overall, it was quite easy, which was quite the relief, since I was actually a bit worried that I might have an addiction to sugar, but apparently not.

This is something I recommend everyone does every once in awhile, cut out all the little things you usually eat, mostly because it makes you realize just how addicted/not addicted you actually are to all those things. For example, if you get extra cranky when you don’t get your daily dose of sugar, you may have a bit of a problem.

Besides, eating something sugary or fattening is much more rewarding when you actually feel like you’ve deserved and been waiting for it.

(Photo source: Rodale Wellness)

Hide

I see everything that others do not

I see how your stomach is tied in a knot

How you’re suffering, no one can tell

You’re good at lying when going through hell

I see the shadows from the lack of sleep

How you follow others as though you are sheep

Is there any original thought left in your mind

Has your dear leaders already made you unkind?

Telling yourself you’re strong, you’re a fighter

But really, it’s your fault the world isn’t brighter

You wear a mask, you show us no anger or fear

yet I know nothing of your calm is sincere

You hide everything away, but I can see past

I know your mind isn’t built to last

There’s so much you should get off your chest,

see those you don’t talk you, know you the best

The Conjuring 2

The documentation of the Amityville haunting launches paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren’s careers forward, making them known for their work all around the western world. During a seance Lorraine is approached by a strange nun-like figure, which reappears in 1977 as the Hodgsons start experiencing odd things around their home. After Janet, one of the children of the family, is possessed by an elderly man claiming to have lived in the house, Ed and Lorraine are called to investigate the occurrences. However, they find nothing that proves the house to actually be haunted, and Lorraine has another vision of the nun in her husband’s study. Sadly, they deem the haunting to be a hoax by the family, and choose to leave, but as soon as they do, they realise there is indeed something sinister at work in the Hodgson house, much more sinister than simply an old man…

One of the movies that actually managed to scare me, the Conjuring 2 is quite impressive and will get shivers running up and down your spine, but most of the credit would have to go to the demonic nun (at least if you ask me), being one of the few characters on film that have actually shaken my core and scared me properly.

If you, by some miracle, are a horror fan and haven’t seen this movie yet, please do! It’s more than worth it. A good scare!

The Belko Experiment

An ordinary day at the office for Mike Milch quickly turns into something completely different when new security guards show up at the doors at the remote office building. A new employee is informed that every employee has a chip implanted in their skull, in case of kidnapping (due to the security risks of their jobs and the high crime rate in the country). But the new security guards and Dany, the new employee, are far from the only changes around the office. Suddenly, after the last employee arrives for the day, a message is played through the office, instructing them to kill two of their co-workers, otherwise more will be killed at random. The building has been completely shut down, made impossible to escape. First believed to be some kind of sick joke, the employees don’t take the threat too seriously, but soon enough they notice the senders of the message are in fact very serious.

As a horror movie, the film was more unsettling than scary, and found place for some quite grotesque camera work, fine acting and interesting psychological scenes as the 80 employees all struggle to stay alive. An interesting study in the human psyche, but not a great movie, I wouldn’t exactly recommend this film. However, the appearance of Michael Rooker was a pleasant surprise.

Life Update (Quite Possibly The Longest Post Ever)

My days have been filled to the brim lately, with all kinds of activities, including classes, lab sessions, looking for an apartment, struggling to find inspiration and time to work on the blog, and still trying to maintain some kind of social life.

My classes are going well (thanks for wondering, if you did), I feel like I understand most of the new material and it’s pretty much smooth sailing, if they didn’t take up so much damn time that is. I try to attend everything, but since some of the classes crash on my schedule, I have to prioritize between attending classes and studying alone, something that’s both hard and easy at the same time, depending on the class itself. The group assignments I’m in are going good so far, even though the other’s schedules often don’t match with mine since I’m taking so many classes this year I try to do my part of the assignments.

As for the apartment searching, it’s not going all too well. It’s high season on small apartments in every city filled with students at the moment, and I’m really feeling it. I try to stay optimistic though, which is so far pretty easy, since I don’t really have any kind of pressure but my own to find a new one: I still have my old place, and I’m not in any particular hurry, though I would love to move out as soon as possible. I actually have two apartment showings to attend today, and I’m looking forward to both of them.

As for the blog, I’m not 100% pleased with how it’s going: I feel I have a hard time finding stuff to write about some days, and other times I don’t find the time to get all the ideas out of my head and down into my documents. I think it’s the stress that’s getting to me creatively, and all I can do about it is hope that I’ll get through it. Creative frustration is one of the worst things to experience, if you ask me, because it has a tendency to affect everything else in my life as well. If I can’t get out my ideas one way or another, I often end up getting frustrated about everything else as well as my ideas, and I know I annoy the people around me during these periods of my life. But hopefully, this dreadful period where I vary between “I can’t get enough time to write everything down” and “I have nothing at all to write down” will pass soon and I’ll be back to my creative, happy and not so stressed self.

As for my social life, it’s been blossoming lately. Despite being busy with everything and also being exhausted a lot of the time, I try to make time for everyone in my life and see them as often as possible. I spend a lot of time with my boyfriend and my best friend, but also make time for social events as often as I can without emotionally falling apart from a too busy schedule (you all know I value my own, private time and need it to feel like I’m staying sane, haha). I, for example, attended Österbottniska Nationens gulisintagning (which is what first year students go through here at ÅA, often involving fun tasks and challenges, and it was amazing! (No, this is not my first year here, but other students are allowed to attend as well, and I regret nothing!) Meeting the first year students is often a lot of fun, because it makes you think back at how confused and stressed you were your first year, when nothing really fell into place but you somehow still managed to stay alive and have a lot of fun in the process. If you’re a first year student reading this (not just at ÅA, anywhere in the world): You’re going to have a great time and you’ll make tons of new friends! The world will seem so much bigger and brighter, and I’m so excited for you to experience this!

Overall, I think life is going fine. I’m stressed, like everyone at any university ever, but it’s okay, because everything I’m experiencing right now is insanely positive! A huge thank you to my best friend who keeps me afloat during all of this, and to my boyfriend who supports all the weird ideas I get! I love both of you, so very much!

I realise now that I’ve been rambling on for quite the while, so if you made it this far: congratulations, you’re probably more patient (or bored) than most of my followers! Thanks for sticking around, and I hope to see you all soon again!

Autumn

I love autumn. I love the colors, the weather (yes, even when it’s pouring rain) and everything else about it. I love to curl up beneath a blanket, drinking tea and reading or writing a book, I love drinking hot cocoa and the fact that I get to see the stars again. I enjoy sitting outside, watching the leaves change colors.

So please enjoy these very autumny pictures! (And yes, I know that a lot of my blogging has been pictures as of late, but those of you who've been sticking around since the beginning, know that sometimes I just bombard you guys with pictures).

Day #268

Yesterday was spent with tons of selfcare, just sitting around with my boyfriend. We watched a ton of Scrubs (one of Theo’s favorite shows, which he talked me into watching and I do not regret it), and by a ton I mean like 6 episodes, so really quite a lot. I realised I have fallen in love with J.D., Elliot and Carla, I think they’re adorable, and I feel like I can relate to J.D. a lot. I also find that this tv-show is one of the very few shows that actually make me laugh.
I feel like the stress is getting to me lately, and I really needed to just relax and do absolutely nothing for a while, just follow along in the made up stories and the familiar characters. I often forget my need to properly relax, which I can only really do when I'm watching a tv-show/movie or reading a good book, an activity where I can engage in something completely fictional and forget the problems of my own every day life and engage in someone elses completely.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Men Tell No Tales

Henry Turner, the son of Will Turner, loses his father at an early age to the curse of the Flying Dutchman. Once an adult, Henry continues to search for the trident of Poseidon, which is said to contain all the power of the seas to reach his father. He is told that Jack Sparrow is the key to the trident, and goes on a search all over the seas. On one of his journeys, he encounters Captain Salazar, a man cursed by Jack when Sparrow was young. Salazar and his men kill everyone aboard the ship except Henry. Once Henry gets away, and then arrested, he encounters young Carina, accused of witchery because of her knowledge of science, and both are sentenced to die for their crimes. They bump into Jack in the jail cells, and bond together to find the trident of Poseidon.

On the other side of the ocean, Captain Salazar and Captain Barbarossa form an alliance to find Jack, so that Captain Salazar may finally be able to get his revenge.

As a longtime fan of the franchise, I was thrilled that the new movie came out, and I absolutely loved it (now that I’ve finally found the time to watch it). The performances of the actors (although slight changes in amount of screen time) remain as perfect as usual, and the performance of Johnny Depp makes me just as happy as usual. I highly recommend this movie, as it granted quite a couple of laughs, a few thrills, and a nice romantic story to complement all of it.

Day #266 Åbo Slott

This Saturday me and one of my best friends, Sara, went to Åbo Slott (=Turku castle), one of the most beautiful castles in Finland. It’s a popular tourist attractions in the city, and I’ve always loved it since my first visit. Due to me vlogging the visit, I won’t tell you too much about it, but enjoy these few pictures! The vlog will be released as soon as I find the time to edit it, so hang tight!

Day #267 Autumn

Yesterday, taking advantage of the absolutely darling autumn weather, we went out for a walk (we= me and my boyfriend). The colors filling the world out around us, the sunshine and the energy in those we met on the streets were amazing, with of course the added bonus of getting a bit of a move on and actually exercising a bit, something which both of us have been lacking lately. Enjoy a few pictures!

Married People Can't Show Skin

I’ve seen post after post just like this one, and it honestly makes me so frustrated that there are people stupid enough to post this type of thing online. This is incredibly stupid, and this is just one of the many posts I’ve seen on different kinds of social media.

First of all; the way you dress doesn’t indicate if you’re in a relationship or not (unless it’s a wedding/engagement/promise ring or something along those lines). Does a man wearing a tshirt mean he’s single? In a relationship? Is it the same for pants? If a woman wears a skirt, is she single or is she married? (You see my point, I assume). I have never worn a garment and thought “now people will know I’m in a relationship, and I will never do something like that.

Second: if a married woman has one more button open than another woman who’s also tied the knot, why would that indicate that woman A is more unhappy with her union than woman B? Because, when you’re happy, you automatically cover up more skin, is that it? Because I’ve seen plenty of happily married and women in great relationships wearing bikinis at the beach, but you know, they should probably wear swimsuits instead to cover up some extra skin to show their happiness. If a woman goes out with her husband and wears a short dress, does that mean she’s unhappy with her marriage, or did she simply thing the dress was cute and her legs looked particularly good that day?

Most people would say this is “just a picture on social media”, and it is. But the message is still there: If a woman is in a happy relationship she should be covering her body.

I’ve been in a happy relationship for a few months now, and nothing about the way I dress has changed in the least. I still wear my dresses when going out, and I still wear my shirts the same way as when I was single. And you know what? If a person I was in a relationship even once tried to tell me that I shouldn’t show so much skin, I can assure you there would be quite the amount of yelling and most probably, dumping that person to follow.

Your relationships status, or your partner for that matter, should never dictate how you dress, no matter if you’re a man or a woman. You should always make the decision.

A Quirk

In my many years of being sociable to the point of exhaustion, I realize now that one of the favorite aspects of getting to know a new person, is according to me, to get to know their quirks. All the little things people do when they’re alone, all the tiny things that they do without thinking about it. Humming, spinning their plate while they eat, walking around with gum in their pocket at all times, the odd favorite songs and how high pitched their voice gets when they sing and don’t hit a single note.

A person’s special little things, the things they share with no one but the ones closest to them is what make them so special, so amazing to be around. All the things they love and are insecure about, an unusual guilty pleasure food, a special way they make their coffee in the morning… The small details of their lives.

Getting past a person’s shallow edges and into their actual personality is such a privilege and an amazing opportunity to view yourself from a completely new perspective, because taking part in another person’s passions can open up an entirely fresh way to view yourself. A person’s quirks can easily become something that you both share.

What makes people truly beautiful isn’t how well they blend into society, all the things that make them fit into a group. What makes a person into a beautiful and fascinating one, is the things that separate them from the “regular” crowd, their quirks and flaws.

When we meet a person for the first time, we tend to focus on the obvious things about them. Haircolor, the type of clothes they wear, what they smell like… But when we get beneath the superficial surface of someone, they turn out to be so much more. An irrational fear of bugs, a love for papaya or military green, a passion for photography or archery, the fear of being judged… For me, the people who have shown me their quirks, flaws and passions, are always going to be the most special and beautiful ones.

Stressed and Blessed

   I'm feeling exhausted lately, and I don't know how to cope with that. I fear the stress is getting to me, and thought I try to stay positive I can't help but feel negatively towards a lot of the things happening right now. I think the worst thing is to not be able to find an apartment (so far, I've applied for 5 and not gotten one) that I both want and can afford, and it's starting to get to me.

  I'm thinking of going home for a weekend soon, so that I get to see my family and relax a bit in-between all the stuff going on here at home. I miss our pets too.

  However, no matter how stressed and tired I am, good things keep happening to me. I keep meeting my friends, I'm doing pretty well in school… In short, despite not feeling too well at the moment, I think my life is going pretty great.

  I keep complaining about stress, but honestly I don't think I'd rather want a calmer life. I think if I wasn't stressed and there weren't tons of things happening at the same time, I would be pretty bored.

Panic Room

Meg Altman and her daughter Sarah moving into a house recently owned by an eccentric millionaire after Meg’s divorce. One of the first nights in their new home, a break in occurs, forcing the two to stay put inside a panic room built by the previous owner, desperately trying to reach people on the outside without a cellphone signal. Sadly, the objects the burglars are after, are locked inside the panic room with Sarah and Meg, a room that can only be opened from the inside.

The concept of this American thriller was interesting; the entire plot of a movie circulating around the existence of a single room. And though the movie itself was interesting, somewhere along the way you just got lost and it was no longer as fascinating as it was in the beginning. The characters are good, the plot is good, the script is good, but something unknown was left disregarded, not making me able to stick with the movie throughout.

I honestly wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone, unless you’re very bored and you’ve already seen all the previous movies posted on my blog.

A Letter Home (After Moving)

Dear mother, I’m sorry

I’m not the same as before

Dear brother, don’t worry

Nothing scares me anymore

Dear father, you’re welcome

I’ve finally gone my way

Dear sister, you’ve become

stronger since you chose to stay

Dear bestfriend, I miss you

I wish you could join me

Dear lover, what did you do

going where I can’t be

Insidious- Chapter 3

Elise Rainer has retired after her husband’s death, no longer taking on cases of the paranormal. She keeps to herself, alone in her house, until one day when a young woman comes to visit, Quinn Brenner, begging her to contact her mother, who passed away from cancer. Quinn attempted to contact her mother on her own, but after a strict warning from Elise, promises not to repeat the offense. However, Quinn’s mother can’t be reached by Elise, and the young woman is sent back.

When in New York, Quinn suffers an intense car accident, getting hit and forced to spend time in a wheelchair at home until her legs heal up. But upon her arrival home, she soon notices that something isn’t as it should, and starts to wonder if something more sinister is at work. Her father calls upon paranormal investigators, who confirm that Quinn when attempting to contact her mother, instead managed to contact something completely different, which is now ruining her inside and out.

Not a personal favorite, the movie didn’t manage to scare me all too much, though it was an interesting concept to follow along, and as the prequel, it of course added information that has been missing from the first two movies, for example how the relationship between Elise, Specs and Tucker came to be.

Although not a good horror movie, it is a good film altogether.

Day #262

Today has not been an easy day for me, and the only positive thing I can really find, is me being able to push through (though I would never be able to do that alone, thank you so much darling).

The stress of absolutely everything seems to be getting to me, more now than ever before, and I’m struggling to remember everything that’s supposed to be done if it’s not written down in my calendar. Though I chose this for myself, all the stress is by my own doing, I can’t help but wonder what I was thinking (sometimes). I’ve started to keep up (at least a bit more) with the blog, publishing almost three posts a day on the regular for a couple of days now, and it’s feels amazing! This post marks today’s third, and afterwards, I’ll continue working on the posts for tomorrow.

I feel so wonderful, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to feel stressed and still accomplish things, and I’m taking that as a sign of things getting better. I’ve never been good at handling stress, but maybe, just maybe, I’m getting a little bit more talented in that particular area. At least, I hope so.

An Income Through The Internet

"How much do you make through your blog? What does it feel like now that you have your creative work as an income? Is anything different than you thought it would be?" These are questions I get asked quite a lot since people noticed the ads popping up on my blog, and now I'm here to answer some of the (very, very many) assumptions about working online.
Often when people see a blogger, a youtuber or any other kind of online celebrity, they tend to see only the exterior. Maybe the pretty makeup, the amount of comments or readers, or maybe even just knowing that the person has a following is enough. Working online, big audience or not, just seems glamorous (I know, I’ve been there too).

But I can tell you, from my own first hand experiences, that blogging and working online is not as glamorous as it seems. Most of you know that my blogging is part of my income nowadays, although it’s a very small part of it, but that does not make me in any way famous, and I still remember all too well what kind of dreams I had for my creative work online. I was going to make it big, and I was going to get there fast, because who wouldn’t want to read about the same things as I did?

The first thing I noticed it that it takes one hell of a lot of time to build an audience. The small audience I have now, I’ve built up during an entire year. Being an overnight sensation isn’t something that happens to all the people working out there, no matter if you post on a blog, youtube, instagram or make online comics!

The second thing that came to my mind when asked about what was different than I thought it would be when it came to running a blog, is the amount of time it consumes. I can easily spend several hours a day in front of a screen, either writing blog posts, reading other blogs (which is more important than you may think), browsing social media looking for trends and posting on other social media. You’d think your favorite online celebrity just sits down and writes a post/makes a comic/records a video/whatever they do, in 15 minutes. It doesn’t happen that way.

One example of this is my posts, take a short one (a movie review for example). It’s just a couple of details from the movie, a few opinions about it, and then whether I recommend it or not. At least that what you’d think. The fact is that only writing a post takes at least half an hour, and that’s before I’ve looked through it for errors, rephrased half of it because I didn’t like it, double checked all the details and found fitting pictures to post with it.

The truth is, working online is just as time consuming as working at any other place, you just don’t see it, because all you can see is the finished result. And you know your favorite fashion blogger, who always looks flawless in every picture they post? They’re probably editing those photos and writing their posts in a pair of cozy pants and a sweatshirt. People who work online are people too, just because their job is different from yours doesn’t mean they don’t put in as much effort or time as anyone else.

I, by no means, consider myself an online celebrity, I’m just an ordinary woman who run a tiny blog in one of Finland’s most gorgeous cities. I get a small revenue from my blog, and if I can realise online celebrities are people, then so can you.

~ (Photo sources: The Viral Zone (upper) and poorlydrawnlines.com (go support the artist!) )

It - Chapter One

After watching the movie It yesterday, I was quite impressed. As always, when you have a favorite movie and someone decides to try to make a movie based on the same book, you worry that it’s going to get ruined for you. Thankfully, for me, it didn’t.

It tells the story of the children in Derry, in Maine, a small town with not too many interesting events, if you ignore the amount of people who missing and/or turn up dead, almost six times the normal amount. After one of the local kids disappear, young Georgie Denbrough, his brother spends almost an entire year in misbelief, determined that his brother was murdered, not just taken by the storm sweeping the town at the time.

The following summer, Bill Denbrough and his friends realise that something much more sinister than the storm is at work, something horrifying enough to make them see all their worst fears, though most often it portrays itself as Pennywise, the dancing clown. In an attempt to bring justice to his brother, Bill and his friends decide to take on the being by themselves since no adult would believe them, naming the creature It.

As an enormous fan of the first movie, how could I do anything but love this one? The talented (although surprising) portrayal of Pennywise by Bill Skarsgård and the impressive acting of Finn Wolfhard in my personal favorite character was a nice addition to the story’s already compelling tale. I wouldn’t say I prefer the new movie, I do find it very hard to not be biased when it comes to the great work of Stephen King, but it is an impressive film, making me laugh more than it scared me (though the well thought through jump scares were a nice touch), playing on a kind of childish humor I remember very well from my early teen years. It's as pleasant as it is, at times, horrifying, with a great job by the actors and the director. Easily one of the best films I've seen in quite a while! I would recommend this movie, not just to horror fans, but to movie fanatics in general. It’s definitely worth it!

Day #261 Productivity

Productivity is a strange thing for me; it either works at 100% capacity, or it doesn’t work at all. I either do everything, or I do nothing. Today’s been one of those positive days, where I’ve actually gotten quite a lot of work done, publishing four blog posts, finishing my part of a group assignment, and taking some notes for my statistics class. I also went to another apartment showing, which I view as yet another step towards getting my new home, which I both need and look very much forward to.

On days like this one, being productive makes me feel really good about myself and what I do, I feel like I’ve actually worked towards my goals and accomplished something, and I honestly don’t think there is a greater feeling than that.

I love the sense that I’m always moving forward, getting things done, aiming upwards, towards bigger, better things, that I’m working towards my goals instead of just waiting for them to be achieved.

10 Ways of Relieving Anxiety and Stress

Continuing on the previously set theme of positivity based on this post, I thought I’d tell you some of the things that calm me down when I’m experiencing stress or anxiety, so that you’ll learn a bit more about me, or use them yourself if you like.

1. As no surprise to anyone, number one is writing. No matter if it’s poems, novels or just a regular short story or narrative, I love it, and for me it’s the best way to both prevent and handle stress and anxiety. Expressing my emotions in writing is, and will probably continue to be, one of my favorite ways to handle almost everything.

2. This is a really common one, and shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, or who has been following the blog for a while. Music. It’s a common way for anyone who has ever experienced stress, anxiety or even depression to get by, and thus it was quite obvious for me to start using it too. Even if it’s just a song or two between classes, or a two hour session filled with every kind of music imaginable, to be surrounded by music allows me to really relax.

3. The third one, drawing, isn’t really a surprise either. Though my drawings are more often scribbles than anything serious, I still love it. Creative expression is something that I’ll always be fond of, no matter what I’m trying to get through, and even if it is mostly scribbles it continues to be very fun, and what’s more; relaxing.

4. The fourth is company, but this is very case-specific. If you’ve ever been stressed, or had anxiety, you know that sometimes you feel like you really need company, sometimes you’d rather be left alone for two weeks straight, and the sensation of this can shift within a couple of hours, or days. But when it’s one of the times when company turns out to be helpful, it’s one of the best things to battle hard emotional experiences.

5. Although controversial, I often take part in comfort eating, most often different kinds of nuts and seeds, orange juice or chocolate. When kept in control, comfort eating is not such a bad thing, there is a huge difference between having a few pieces of chocolate and eating an entire bag of chips by yourself. When done in moderation, eating snacks is actually quite helpful, and as you lose more calories when you’re stressed, you don’t have to worry about weight gain either!

6. Another obvious choice, books (or movies if you prefer those). Getting to let go of ourselves for a moment and live in someone else’s world, following along in their adventures or just daily life, is incredibly relaxing. Personally (depending of how much time there is) I prefer books, but movies are quite alright as well.

7. Number seven, exercise, is also well known. It’s been proven that getting up, stretching or going for a small walk in the middle of a work session, helps with focusing and helps prevent sleepiness and boredom. I personally prefer taking short walks throughout the day, every couple of hours getting up and moving around to maintain my focus and relieve any tension that might have been building up in muscles and joints during a long writing/study session.

8. Although a bit mundane, chewing gum helps me a lot. Something about the movement repeating itself over and over again seems to help me calm down even in situations where I go in feeling nowhere close to calm. The easiest things are often the most effective, which number nine will also point out.

9. Liquids are important, more so than you might think. During feelings of anxiety and tension, your body uses a whole lot of water, especially if you exercise to lessen these emotions. Although not preventing the strenuous feelings themselves, liquids certainly help against making the matter worse. And more often than not, prevention is the best thing you can do.

10. Planning ahead, again a personal thing. I do this whether I’m stressed or not, and if you know me, you probably also know that I bring a calendar around with me everywhere I go. I like to keep track on things, especially when I’m stressed or have a lot to do in general, it helps with handling everything in order of importance, and it relieves a lot of stress and anxiety to have it all down on paper. It’s something most people don’t think about, but some may take a huge comfort in.

Feel free to use these in your daily life, whenever you need them. They help me a lot, studying, looking for a new apartment and all the other things I’m involved in right now makes a perfect foundation for stress to build on, and I do whatever I can to manage it.

Do your best!

Everyone will always tell you to do your best, not matter what it’s about. Your school, work, social life… Just do your best, and everything will be okay. Something that I’ve noticed in the past weeks, more and more, is that people around me start to drift away from what doing your best is supposed to be.

Doing your best isn’t losing sleep over assignments, forgetting to eat because you’re too busy, neglecting your social life or not taking proper care of yourself. It’s not skipping all the things that are important in your life, to spend more time working on the thing you want to exceed in. Doing your best is putting in the effort to accomplish your personal goals within a field.

Doing your best isn’t getting up ridiculously early to study, or going to sleep at 3 a.m. because you had to finish an assignment, and it’s not sleeping a total of four hours when you’re trying to reach something. It’s not skipping meals or eating junk food “because there isn’t time” to cook or to even eat at all.

When you do your best, you exceed. And when you do, you should do it within physical and mental limits. Doing your best doesn’t mean you should feel awful if you don’t reach a certain goal, or that you should sacrifice your personal health to reach it. Doing your best just means trying, within your personal limits, to reach something that you realistically can achieve.

So do your best, because I really believe that you always should. But don’t sacrifice something important just to exceed.

Insidious - Chapter 2

In the 1980’s Lorraine Lambert calls upon her friends Carl and Elise to find out what’s been haunting her son, an old woman appearing whenever the mother tries to take a picture of young Josh. The boy is found to have a remarkable talent, astral projection, and through hypnosis, he forgets everything that’s happened to him.

Several years later, after the horrifying events in Josh’s family, he is under investigation for the murder of Elise, and his family is forced to stay with Lorraine until the police are done investigating their home. However, upon their arrival, Renai realises something is wrong, the hauntings haven’t stopped despite them having their son back. Soon, the family starts unraveling the mysteries regarding Josh’s childhood, and Renai slowly realises that when Josh used his abilities to get their son back, something else came back in her husband’s body, taking his place.

Not quite as scary as the first one, Insidious 2 shows us more of the events that brought the Lambert’s to their knees in the first movie, more based in the cinematic “real world”, showing a new twist to memories and history. The clever twists and turns, and the very realistic history of the villain (probably in part inspired from actual events) makes way for an enjoyable film, more appaling than scary.

Recommended!