Tag: happiness
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Questions vs. Answers
Giving Yourself the Space to Ask Questions Lately I have been thinking a lot about the benefits that this blog has been having on my life. I have talked about how I feel lighter and happier for having a place to share my authentic thoughts. I began to wonder why this is. I know honesty… Read more
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Blogging vs. Therapy
Finding Mental Health Improvements Outside of Therapy I am a big fan of therapy. I think it is incredibly helpful when you are in crisis and also when you are doing well. It helps you to understand yourself and others better so that you can make informed personal choices about your life. It is empowering.… Read more
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Motherhood Highlight Reel
Motherhood & Social Media In Highlight Real by Emily Lynn Paulson, she talks about the way mothers compare themselves to others. It seems like an unlikely place to find competition. Who can bake the best bread? Change the most diapers? Have the best relationship with their kids (or at least look like they do)? But… Read more
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Gritting Your Teeth Over a Blessing
Both Blessing & Burden Can Coexist In Highlight Real by Emily Lynn Paulson, the author describes her fear over her fourth pregnancy. She was angry over the positive pregnancy test because she was already overwhelmed with three young children. She then reflexively had that feeling of “don’t you know how lucky you are” and “children… Read more
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Book #10- Reflections on “Highlight Real”
Book #10 Highlight Real By Emily Lynn Paulson Casual & Serious Lies of the Modern World This author talks openly about only sharing the highlights of her life and the casual (and serious) lies that accompany doing this. Part of the issue with the modern world is that, little by little, people drift farther away… Read more
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The Joy of Writing
Writing As Meditation This blog is helping reignite the joy of writing within me. I hadn’t realized that I lost it over the years. I was writing because I had to, either for school or work, or not at all. I really like the feeling I have after I write about my own thoughts on… Read more
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The Politics of Gift Giving
Unhappy Christmases I was reading the part of the book Hate Follow by Erin Quinn-Kong, where the fractured family is celebrating Christmas. I have had a lot of those types of Christmases in my life; where instead of eggnog there are eggshells, instead of cheer there is fear, and instead of angels there are devils.… Read more
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How Many Blog Posts Can I Write About a Single Book?
There is No Ethan: A Book With a Lasting Impact For my 2025 goal of reading 52 books and documenting it in blog posts, I typically write one or two posts about each book and move on. For my latest book, There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari, I have so far written seven blog… Read more
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Conveniently Timed “Sorry’s”
This blog post will contain spoilers for the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari. Kindly stop reading now if you don’t want to know these details yet. The Manipulation of Power & Powerlessness Several women were catfished by a woman posing as a man on an online dating profile in the early 2010’s… Read more
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When Intelligence Meets Manipulation
This post contains spoilers about the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari, kindly stop reading now if you do not want to know any details. When Bad Behaviour Meets Public Trust In the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari, a woman poses as a man online and catfishes several women. In… Read more
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The Importance of Healthy Relationships
Learning to Interpret Bad Behavior I have now written several blog posts about the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari. It is a true story of catfishing. Although I have begun to read my next book for my 2025 Book Reading Challenge, my mind keeps coming back to this story. In my own… Read more
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Why is it Always a Health Crisis?
The Use of “Health Crises” in Scams In the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari, the author was communicating with “Ethan Schuman” via a dating site. Ethan had a health crisis around the time when the author began to question the authenticity of his life story. He was offended that she could be… Read more
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Why Do Smart People Get Scammed?
I read the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari and one thing that I noticed is how smart the author’s conversations were with the person who was catfishing her. Their conversations were elevated and funny. They both came off as highly educated, well-travelled, and sociable people. She did not seem like the type… Read more
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Recognizing Abuse Online is Hard
Naivete Comes Before Fear Creatures of all types have a bad habit of not recognizing new dangers. The first wild game to encounter early humans did not run away in fear. They were easy targets. Kids do not know how to recognize danger. They are easy targets. We don’t understand the risks of new technology… Read more
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Early Thoughts on My 2025 Reading Challenge
Impact Over Numbers My goal in 2025 is to read 52 books to see how my life improves. I will be documenting this year-long journey in blog posts. I am now only a few books in but I have some initial thoughts on this experience. For starters, my overall goal is self-improvement. I want to… Read more
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Book #7- Reflections on “The Measure”
Book #7 The Measure By Nikki Erlick How Will You Be Remembered? I was sick recently and spent a few days in bed. I think small illnesses are great for my Reading Challenge because while there, I finished this book in 2 days. I will surely get to 52 books by the end of the… Read more
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Confidence vs. Self-Assuredness
I Don’t Want False Confidence, I Want Genuine Confidence I have been writing a lot recently about my low confidence and how I am struggling to get it back. While pondering this, I realized that I might be getting stuck in a negative perception of confidence and should instead seek a healthy self-assuredness. For me,… Read more
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Relief in the Realization: I’m Not Alone in Faking Bad
Stuck Thinking Things Are Worse Than They Are I was first introduced to the term “faking bad” in the book I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee. It refers to a tendency to view yourself as worse off than you actually are. It describes my overall mindset perfectly. I… Read more
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I’m Not Ready To Forgive
Forcing Forgiveness Just Causes More Problems While reading Judgment Detox by Gabrielle Bernstein, I noticed a pit in my stomach anytime she talked about forgiveness. Overall, I have an upbeat disposition but forgiveness feels like a thorn in my side. I am not ready to do that yet. Also, I think so often people feel… Read more
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Why Do I Have Low Creative Self-Esteem?
I drew this picture the other day but will regularly tell people “I am not an artist”. Sure, I do it as a hobby but I’ve never been formally trained. My general attitude toward my art is a sort of hands-in-my-pockets, playing-with-a-pebble-with-my-shoe sort of aww-schucks self-deprecation. Why? This low self-esteem is a terrible thing as… Read more
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The Types of Books I Will Choose
The goal of my Reading Challenge is to see an overall improvement in my life. What will that look like to me? Hopefully better relationships, greater happiness, increased creativity, and being a better person. As such, this goal will likely be reflected in the types of books I select. I will not however stick to… Read more
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How I Will Write
My Writing Approach During This Book Reading Challenge As I sat down to write my thoughts on the first book of my 2025 Reading Challenge, I felt myself being pulled into a familiar habit. That is, summarizing the book as opposed to focusing on the personal impact the book had on me. I am sure… Read more
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Measuring Success
Similar to my previous post about the rules for my 2025 Reading Challenge, I wanted to give myself a general direction for how to measure my success. This may be subject to change, but this is how I hope to see myself at the end of the year. Measuring Overall Success This may seem like… Read more
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Getting Started… Late
What Am I Doing? My challenge to myself in the year 2025 is to read 52 books. I didn’t start the year off with this challenge in mind. It wasn’t any sort of New Year’s resolution. In fact, as I am writing this, it is currently February 26, 2025. So yeah, a bit behind schedule.… Read more