Response to an "Existential Bummer"

"Existential Bummer"

Filmmaker Jason Silva's words inspire me. Some days I go through the motions and forget to stop and appreciate the beauty that surrounds me. I forget to smile at strangers or take a minute to realize the seasons are changing before my eyes. One day I will be gone. Everything will be gone.

As Silva says, I think we've all felt nostalgic for something over something we haven't lost yet. Days we haven't lived, places we haven't been, time we haven't yet spent. I find myself worrying about things that may never happen while I could be out making something more of my life. I want to vow to live life a little harder. Say yes more often. Follow my dreams even if I am uncertain of where they'll lead me. Love without reservations. I will recognize the transience, but I'll hold onto the love and make it last. "I do not accept the ephemeral nature of this moment. I'm going to extend it forever, or at least I'm going to try." 

Me Without Makeup: A Post About Loving Yourself

In the midst of all the concealers, cleansers, treatments, and creams I sometimes lose sight of what is truly important: loving myself without any of the additions. Loving my skin blemishes, freckles, moles and all. So drumroll please...here I am in all my bare-skinned glory.

As all of you must know by now, I love beauty products. I stroll down the aisles of Target looking for the newest skincare treatments hoping that I will find a life changing product to end any and all skin issues for the rest of eternity. Because that will change the world--kidding! Recently I've been thinking about the kind of person I am and the kind of person I hope to be. I want to inspire, motivate, and instill hope in future generations (or really anyone!). I want to be someone people can look up to. I want to, dare I say, change the world. And although talking about beauty products can't change the world, perhaps I can inspire just one person to be confident and love herself. No one is perfect, no one looks flawless all the time, and everyone has bad days.

I've always looked up to strong female athletes like Angela Ruggiero, Cammi Granato, and Wilma Rudolph because they're strong and fearless and have paved the way for women in sports. To be as successful as they have been they had to be confident and love themselves every step of the way. I'm sure there were times they didn't feel beautiful or confident, but guess what? They went out and fought tough battles and are now legends.

I want to be like these strong women who are beautiful and passionate and happy with their bodies and their lives. I've never been unhappy with my body, but as a girl I do sometimes feel pressure to look a certain way. I've hidden behind concealer for years and it's time to stop. I'm almost 21 years old and it's time to feel proud and beautiful and happy with who I am when nothing is covered up. I've picked at blemishes leaving scars, another issue I'm currently working on. I'm no where near cured of this habit, but I've gotten exponentially better. I have finally realized that most people will not notice if I forgo the makeup for a day. If I don't wear concealer to cover up my imperfections, the world does not end. As much as I love makeup and the way I look all done up, I've come to love myself not wearing makeup as well.

I dare you to go a few days without any makeup at all! It's scary and it's revealing, but I promise you'll feel more confident and love yourself just a little bit more!

When I Read This Book Review - Beautiful Creatures

“I said it, just like that. No stupid jokes, no changing the subject. For once, I wasn't embarrassed, because it was the truth. I had fallen. I think I had always been falling. And she might as well know, if she didn't already, because there was no going back now. Not for me.” 

by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures is a fantastic read for fans of Twilight, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and other paranormal romance novels.

This book came highly recommended from my cousin who reads everything! We have very similar taste in books so I definitely trust her opinions. The first thing I noticed about Beautiful Creatures was the point of view. Finally, a book with a male narrator. It's fun to read from a teenage girl perspective because I was a teenage girl and can easily relate to those characters, but once in awhile it is a nice change of pace to read from a teenage boy perspective. It is also a new take on paranormal romance because in many books, like Twilight (which I still love, so I don't care what anybody says), the male love interest is the one with the super natural abilities. In Beautiful Creatures, Lena has special abilities and is the character with strength, physically and mentally.

Ethan Wate, the protagonist, lives in the small southern town of Gatlin, South Carolina where nothing ever changes. He's always dreamed of a way out of his boring life until one day Lena Duchannes shows up and nothing is ever the same. Lena is the town shut-in's niece and is labeled a weirdo from the moment she steps into the school. Little do her classmates know, Lena is a Caster with special abilities. Through a series of weird dreams, Ethan feels he already knows Lena in a special way. The two can't stay away from each other and begin to form an unbreakable relationship. The problem is that Lena turns sixteen in just a few short months and that's when she will be chosen for the Dark or the Light. The story follows the trials and tribulations of their relationship and the moment of truth for Lena's fate. 

I loved this book and am eagerly awaiting a trip to the library to pick up the next one.

As always, I'm always looking for book suggestions so if you've read anything life changing recently just let me know!

When I Read This Book Review

Don't worry, I'll take your suggestions for a better title on upcoming book reviews!
I recently finished reading a book titled All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps by David Isay.

This collection of stories encompasses everything I look for when choosing a book. There's romance, there's happiness, there's hardship, and let me tell you, it even brought me to tears. 

All There Is is a collaboration with StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization that aims to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. They travel around to cities all around the United States and invite people from all backgrounds and walks of life to share their stories. This particular collection is the love stories StoryCorps came across in their 10 years of recording history. 

I usually don't tend to read a lot of non-fiction stories; I'm a giant Twilight, Hunger Games, Shiver, The Scorpio Races kind of girl. And I'm proud of it. But when I grabbed this book off the bargain shelf and began reading the first story, I couldn't put it down. I ended up standing in the middle of the book store with tears welling up in my eyes because the stories were so real and sweet. Love stories in fiction novels always make my heart swell up with unreal expectations, but these real people sharing their lives with each other touched my heart in a completely different way.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys love stories. For me I'd give it a 9 out of 10. Pretty darn good! Have any book recommendations? Leave me a comment! I'd love to hear what books you are loving.