17 Things you should try in 2017

Every year, we all hear the same thing. It’s a new year, it gonna be a new me!

For most of us, this might be a new hair style or a new boyfriend. Maybe you got a new job. Now I’m not saying that these are minor things, these are pretty big life changing moments. But what we tend to do is try one or two BIG changes once a year rather than doing little changes throughout the year. Which I think is most excited when you have something to look forward to more often than just once a year. So I came up with a list of things you can do anytime, and throughout the year. Pretty much everything on the list is either free or can be made affordable on any budget. So, without further ado here is my list of “17 things you should try in 2017.”

1. Read a classic novel

I truly believe that these days, reading is undervalued and under appreciated. Most of us just wait for books to become movies to learn their story. Which is sad, because reading really promote imaginations and stimulates the brain. Over the last few years, I think books have been trying to make a come back. With novels like Twilight, Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Grey, Which I think all go down in history, But nonetheless, there are some novel that are timeless classic that talk about and were written when times were very different from the one we live in now, but still, have messages that can translate even today. Some classic novel you can try are:

•  Pride and Prejudice
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Wurthering Heights
• Lord of the Flies
• Fahrenheit 451
• The Scarlett Letter
• Misery
• Gone With the Wind
• Uncle Toms Cabin
• The Green Mile

2.Watch a classic movies

Just like with classic novels, classic movie have changed and involved quite a bit over the years. Not just the type of movies made, but the way they are made. From silent films to movies shot on 4k cameras with CGI. And even though the way we see and hear films has change, the experience is still as wonder. It fun watching classic movies because not only do you get to see how over the years stories change and develop to fit current times, but you also get to see how far technology has come. Also, there are just a few films that no matter what year it is, will always be a great film. Such as:

• The wizard of Oz
• Psycho
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• Rear Window
• One Who Flew Over the CooCoo’s Nest
• The Birds
• Some Like It Hot
• Night Of The Living Dead

3. Try a new meal from around the world

I LOVE FOOD!! I love trying new and different foods. But I don’t do it as often as I think I do. Like, I think the last time I really tried something new was sushi. Which was about five years ago. Living here in America, I don’t think that some of us really take advantage of what we have here. We are lucky enough to be the home of many international cultures here. So most likely, you could probably find international grocery store or farmer markets the sell all kinds of food from all over the world. So don’t be afraid to try something new. It could be delicious

4. Volunteer/ donate

A lot of us like, comment, and share post all over your social media to show our support for   a cause. But out support usually ends there. Something is better than nothing, but we could all every once in a while step up and do just a tiny bit more. Something as simple as donating used clothes or volunteering out time to a local cause means so much to somebody else.

5.Hand write a letter

Something that use to be the default way to communicate has become almost completely obsolete thanks to technology. Most of us just text, tweet or email someone when we want to talk to them.But something about a hand written letter, words written on paper with pen, just feels so much more personal. I really think it could make anyones day!

6. Make something

Thanks to sites like pinterest, finding D.I.Y projects are easier than ever. You can make anything from beauty products like lip balm to bookshelf. usually at cheaper prices than you could buy in the store, plus, it’s exactly how you want it.

7. Have a “you” day

Us humans, are social creatures. Most of our days, we are around people, at work and at home. You might not feel it, but sometimes being around people all the time start weighting on you. Worrying and dealing with your our problems and the problems of other around you, you just need a breather. One of my life mottos is to make you to love and take care of yourself, while you’re taking care of others. Too often do we forget to do this. So take a “you” day. Use some vacation time away from work or use a day off to do nothing but you. See a movie, treat yourself to a spa day or nap all day, whatever you want to do. As long as it’s what you want to do, have fun!

8.Binge watch a show

Believe or not, we have been binge watching shows since before we were calling it that. When tv channels would have “marathons” all day. With the invention of On-demand, and streaming site like Netflix and Hulu its easier than ever to sit in bed for hours, eating junk food and watching episode after episode after episode(Just one more!) I absolutely LOVE binge watching. I love being able to start a show and not have to wait to see the big twist a whole week later. I’ve binge watch Dawson’s creek, Dexter, Pretty Little Lairs, just to name a few. Some shows I even binge before ever new season, like the Watch Dead and Game of Throne. EVERY. SINGLE.EPISODE.ALL.OVER.AGAIN. A couple of shows I recommend:

• The Walking Dead
• Luke Cage
• Daredevil
• Black Mirror
• House Of Cards
• Orange Is The New Black
• Westworld
• The Night Of
• Stranger Things

9. Get a plant My recommendations (founded on hdtv.com)

Wanna take care of something?  That you can watch grow and bloom and be proud of without having to worry about paying for college tuition in eighteen years? Maybe you don’t want to have to worry about coming home and finding that your couch is chewed up. Look no further, you need a plant. Plants are great ways to care for something without having to worry about killing it. plus they are pretty and some can even improve the air quality in your home. I listed a few easy pants to take care of down below.

• Aloe
• Snake Plant
• Rabbits Ear
• Dumb Cane
• Cactus

10.Go one day without technology

*sigh* clearly we are a technology obsessed world. We work, play and live on our phones, tablets, and tvs. We are probably on them more than we do anything else through the day. we don’t eat, sing happy birthday or sleep before putting its social media. Not to say this is a bad thing. Like I said before, we are social creatures. But too much of a good thing can be bad. So maybe just drop everything for one day. Read a book, draw a picture. If you can drop everything all together, maybe just turn the tv off for a day or log off of social media. Reminisce when times were simpler.

11. Take A class

There are a few different website online that let you take classes for free. One that I use is coursea.org. They have a bunch of different classes in a range of topics like history or coding. It’s a great way to learn something new as well as brushing up some knowledge you already have on a topic. You can even try an in person class at your local community centers like yoga or kickboxing.

12. Watch the sunset/sunrise

Two of the most beautiful times of the day and most of us miss it. I consider myself a selenophile. That doesn’t mean I have an unhealthy obsession with Selena Gomez. But I do have an obsession with the moon. So I often look up at the night sky. But I never really get to see the sun set or sunrise. Which is equally as beautiful. Seeing it makes you realize that even in this crappy crap world, there is beautiful. And the most beautiful things in this world are free.

13. Make a full course meal

I really love food. Did I say that already? How often so we actually have Full-course meals.(Which up until I was writing this, I was calling a four-course meal… silly me) Most of us just eat dinner with a couple of sides. Maybe dessert. But an actually full course meal is:

1. soup hot or cold(Who wants cold soup?)
2. a salad
3. appetizer
4. entrée/main meal
5. dessert

These are commonly seen at big events or parties but really, you can have them whenever you want. You can make it as big or small, as fancy or plain as you want. How ever you do it, Bon appetite!

14.Write A poem

There are many different types of poems out there. Like haiku’s

Flying in the sky

Forgetting the ground below

Makes me feel so free

or acrostic

Making

Images

Reflect

Reveal

Oneself

I’ve been writing poetry since I was about seven,  and I have always loved it. it’s something that I don’t do as often anymore and I think most of us don’t do. Maybe before they are afraid they can’t rhyme. But honestly, not all forms of poetry even require rhymes like free verse. Another thing I think that stops people from writing a poem is that it’s not cool. But look at it this way, rapping is a form of poetry. Poems over beats. That sometimes doesn’t make sense. And sometimes sexually objectified women.

15. Watch a documentary

I love documentaries. They are awesome. I’ve learned a lot from documentaries and they are alway interesting. I love watching the light-hearted ones about the animals kingdom, which can get kinda heavy if you happen to catch one where a shark is eating a dolphin. Then I want some of the ones about darker topics like serial killers, those are the ones that really get your mind going. Some of my favorites are below

• 13th
• Planet Earth
• Supersize me
• It’s a Girl
• Dark Girls

16. Tell someone how you fell about them

Too often to hold back how we feel. Feel about our jobs, our relationships even our family. it eventually takes a toll on you and sometimes we just end up snapping! So if there is someone in your like that you don’t feel like appreciate you or respect you. Let them know!

We all have our limits and it important to make sure that in any situation that you are not taken advantage of. On the flip side, maybe you have someone in your life that is absolutely wonderful. Someone you couldn’t imagine your life without and maybe you’re the one that needs to show a little bit more love. Let them know too. It’s just as important to let the people we love know that we love them, as it is to make sure you’re getting love back.

17. Write a letter to yourself

This could be your past self, present self, or future self. But have a conversation with you. Reflect on your wants and needs, hopes and dreams. Your current life journey and your life plans. Take some time out of your day to let you know you love you too. Do a little bit of self-reflection and figure out where you are in your life and what you have to do to improve it. If you’re right where you want to be, what reflect on what you had to do to get there and what you love most about life right now. Because if you can’t love you’re self, its hard to love anyone else.

That’s the list. I myself and going to try to do everything on the list as well. If you aren’t already, make sure to follow my blog, and let me know in the comments below if you’re going to try this challenge so to speak. Thanks!

Psychological projection

You must never feel like you, yourself are not good enough. And it’s easy to feel that way, when the world around you seems to consistently disagree with you. 
Your job, your finances, your relationship. It seems like the odd are against you.

And I’m saying you, but that’s just because it’s easier to project onto others than it is to self reflect. 
It’s hard to look at your self and tell your self, “I need to be better, I need to be stronger.” It’s hard to look into the mirror and convince yourself that I am good enough. That you are trying as hard as you possible can just to stay happy. Stay afloat in the crazy, raging, wild waved sea of life. 
You tell your self things like, “even though I’m in this shitty situation, I will learn from my mistakes” but it doesn’t really help. And you try to explain to yourself that the pain is just temporary, and will be over soon, but you don’t really believe that.
You believe in the good of those around you, so therefore, they must be good. But you just keep waiting for that side to show. And you’re  patient, and can wait, but you’re not so sure that they are. And nothing scares you more than not knowing what someone is thinking or feeling about you. Because you have no control over it.

And not having control over what others think, say or feel about you is the absolute worst thing in the world.
Not having control is one thing you can never change. Think about it. 

You can never, completely,have full control of anything. Life is full of too many probabilities. Too much chance. You feel this the most at work. Especially if your in a position where you work with the general public mostly. Such as retail or sales.

You have no control over the attitude of the customers that come in, even if you yourself have grade A customer service and remain professional even in high tense situations. You have no control over your co-workers, and you might like about half of them, but the other half kinda cancel that out and you end up just hating everyone there. The sight of your job makes you mad and just the thought of having to get up every. Single. Morning. To go there damn nears makes you literally sick. But still, everyday, you get up and go and count down the minutes till your weekend begins again.
Second worst, not having your voice heard. Not having your voice respected. You feel this mostly in your relationship. That no matter how many conversations you have about the same thing. Nothing ever changes. And the lack of changes is your fault. You know you aren’t perfect in the relationship. You know that you have things to work on, and because of that, all you asked for was patients and understanding while you try to figure that out. But you’re consistently told that you’ll never change. That nothing will ever be different. You’re made to look like some Godzilla-king kong monster bitch that just keeps fucking up. Even if you have tried and tried your hardest to work on your broken things. Even if you accept them as broken and are patient with their recover, you still can’t get that same respect and patience back. Then your stuck wondering what to do. Because when you fuck up, its bad, and when you apologize for fucking up, it’s still bad. So what do you do? Bite your tongue, fake the funk. Or stand your ground and pray for the best? 

Third worst? Well, one and two makes you feel so awful that eventually, you start to believe the things they say. You start feeling like you aren’t good enough. You start wondering what is it about you that is making everyone around you crazy. And sometimes you have to look at you and figure it out. Because sometimes what the rest if the world does is just psychological projections. Saying how they feel about themselves and their lives and trying to make it seem like it’s you that is broken in order to feel better about themselves.

Even as I’m explaining this all right now, I, myself and am reflecting my feels about myself, on to you. Because being in a state when you feel like you are mentally self harming yourself with negative thoughts, is still a form of self harming. And self harming like any other addiction or bad habits can only be healed when you admit to the problem, but admitting to the problem means admitting you’ve made mistakes and that you may have been wrong. And sometimes, that’s the hardest thing in the world! Here, I have taken the first step to healing myself and making myself a better person. It’s doesn’t happen over night. Change doesn’t just happen. And rather or not anyone else can see my changes, as long as I know that I am working to make myself better, then I will get better.