I have always been the quiet one. I’ve never spoken up in classes, never could talk to the person standing next to me in the elevator, never been described as bubbly or charismatic. Every start of a new school year, ever strike of midnight on New Year's Eve, I had one resolution.
Just talk more, I'd tell myself. Be outgoing.
Read More“I am so anxious.”
Every May, thousands of graduates adopt this mantra as their go-to response to the incessant question pf “so, how are you?” As someone with a close familiarity with anxiety, I am hyper-aware of its sudden increase in use in daily conversations. This is the phrase I hear countless friends use, and very aptly so. We are anxious in every connotation of the word: we are excited, nervous, shaky, unsure, ready to get it over with, and ready to begin. We are all caught in the uncomfortable company of this ambiguous agitation, some struggling to get past it and others simply living in it for all it’s worth.
Read MoreBut how do I bring this simple home with me, pack it away in my carry-on and roll right through customs with? How do I bring simple home to jobs and bills and relationships and a mind that is ready to pick up its worry torch and begin its hurried dash once more?
Read MoreNot only am I the youngest manager, I am the youngest person period. I still contend with—and now embrace—those “she’s so young” jokes (one of my now-closest work friends called me “‘90s” for my first two months.) Daily, I learn something new about corporate culture, marketing or life.
Read MoreFrom having an almost zero balance to having more than a hundred bucks in my wallet at the end of the month, allow me to share some tips on how I saved money and recovered from my poor money habits.
Read MoreI graduated one year ago.
I often wonder what would’ve happened if me, at this present time, sat down with me, one year ago, to have a conversation over a margarita. What would I have said? Would she have listened?
Read MoreI have craved attention from dating apps and from boys I meet in bars. I have craved attention from social media followers on a picture I like of myself. If it didn’t get enough attention I didn’t like the photo anymore. I have craved the attention of employers reading my resume and of readers of my blog.
Read MoreI now sit at my computer, post-work, with the clock counting down to my next obligation. Once again, I ask myself to curate some kind of wisdom in my schedule. Instead of sitting, I feel as though I am constantly going. I must be on at all times and my head spins until it finally hits the pillow, if I am lucky. I have gone from sitting to standing to running and, still, I have trouble figuring out what exactly I am learning from it all.
Read MoreGrowing up, I was terrified of codependency. I never wanted to rely on anyone for anything. I didn’t want to look to someone else to give me self-worth, and I never wanted to let another being have the power to dictate my happiness. I wanted to be able to take care of myself. Perhaps this is something I was born with, or maybe I picked it up somewhere along the way.
Read MoreIn my past relationship, I had been with a guy who took gym selfies and posted them on social media. He also couldn't be bothered by texts through the week, unless it was to confirm weekend plans. He would curse at me as a joke and then expect me to laugh.
Why did I stay in this relationship? Why did I not run when I knew it was wrong? Great question!
Read MoreTo the graduates: On the night before my college graduation, I had a terrible stomachache.
My best friends and I went for a ceremonial last scoop at our favorite ice cream place, a place where I should have had a loyalty card or something by that point, and I could barely take a bite. My insides were roiling (and I promise, it wasn't a hangover; by then I knew the difference). I just felt sick and shaky and any other night, it would have put me right to bed.
Read MoreWhen I was growing up, my mom often quoted her favorite movie. “When the Lord closes a door,” she said, channeling Maria Von Trapp, “somewhere he opens a window.” Though I’m not one to live my life based on corny lines from The Sound of Music, I do think that there’s something wise about this particular platitude.
Read MoreLike everyone our age and younger, technology has been a consistent presence in my life—first Nintendo 64 games, then computer games (Zoo Tycoon, anyone?), then flip phones and long texts slowly typed on 3 letters-per-numbers keypads, then smartphones and Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and emails always, always on and notifications always, always crying out for attention, and here I am at stoplights opening emails and in elevators scrolling through Instagram and in bed responding to texts before my feet ever feel the carpet beneath them in the morning.
Read More“Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic,” J.K. Rowling wrote. My girl J.K. nailed it, because I firmly believe words can challenge and shape our perspectives on life. Below are 5 books that I have read multiple times and highlighted the ish outta the pages. I’ve included some of my favorite lines to give you a preview of the goodness you can expect in each book.
Read MoreIt was the phone call I'd been daydreaming about for months. The one that would justify the four years I'd spent getting my undergraduate degree and—to be honest—the one I was beginning to doubt I'd ever get. When my new boss told me I'd gotten the job as marketing and social media coordinator for Ramada hotels, I just about fell over. It took all my self control not to squeal or sob into the phone; this was what I'd been waiting for. This was the light at the end of a long tunnel.
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