#anyways baby has to learn how to truly live paycheck to paycheck for the first time in her life
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ummmmm
#last month i dropped a PRETTY penny on my vacation in seattle because i am an impulse buyer and the souvenirs were too cute#also STUFF is just expensive there like ??? coffees and meals and stuff in seattle cost almost triple what they do down here#and then last week i just contributed most of my $$ cushion on a downpayment for a new car#and then today i just bought almost 600 dollars worth of furniture on amazon prime day deals#and i still have to buy my halloween costume#ummmmmmâŚâŚ hahaâŚâŚâŚ.#i want to say something witty like âi am eating cardboard for the next 2 monthsâ but honestly?#i dearly love My Indulgences and idk if i have the wherewithal and intelligence to learn how to abstain#girls i do NOT know how to budget still#hoping and praying and wishing that work gives me an âend of yearâ (march) bonus but they are also not very kind about things like this so#i am scared to check my bank account like i want to VOMIT#one thing i am so relieved about is i already bought christmas presents and for my girlies like way back in august#so luckily that is not on the docket#anyways baby has to learn how to truly live paycheck to paycheck for the first time in her life#stay tunedâŚ..#OH HAHA ADDENDUM also my laptop broke this month#the screen is so fucked up that i have to use an hdmi cable and plug it into my TV if i want to do anything#and macbooks are of course EXPENSIVE#was considering buying a replacement laptop during black friday but#obviously i will instead be busy considering which nonvital organs to sell#and trying my best not to purchase more sweaters#i'm just annoyed at how expensive life is like#i'm not even done furnishing for fucks sake#i still need a bookshelf and a proper comforter set and a nightstand and a sofa and wall decor like im not even DONE#and my TMJ/neuralgia/whatever undiagnosed thing i have is still plaguing me and if i was smart i WOULD save money for invisalign but#living in an entirely empty apartment and hearing my voice echo back to me was just not something i could take anymore#enough WAS enough#it is severely damaging to my brain when i walk into what feels like a temporary storage unit#i want it to be a HOME#driving back from my parent's fully furnished home to my rat's nest was damaging my brain!!!! and also i want to implement all my fun ideas
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Hi typology Tumblr đŽâđ¨
It has gotten to the very sad point to where I genuinely can not type myself in any typology system so I wrote a little paragraph about me I apologize as it is all over the place but I did the best I could đŤ if anyone is willing to help type me Iâll be more than appreciative- unfortunately I canât offer much in return, maybe a follow and like spam? But thank you for reading this fair anyway and feel free to use anything I said in this intro to type me as well
Me: Okay so when I first meet someone- Iâm very shy but polite. I give compliments if Iâm trying to make friends with the person Iâm talking to. Normally I like to be approached first
With acquaintances Iâm myself but I dial down just a tad bit. My personality also adjust to the people Iâm around with acquaintances.
With close friends I can be kinda loud but Iâm very friendly.
Across all three scenarios Iâm very sarcastic but I remain polite depending on how close we are.
When Iâm by myself I enjoy listening to music while scrolling on Pinterest or TikTok. I do have an eye for aesthetics. I occasionally write poetry. I also can daydream when Iâm alone. When Iâm with others I am very practical and grounded and in the moment. When Iâm with myself in in my mind. I am EXTREMELY passionate and it can sometimes come off as rudeness. I am also very sensitive and donât take well to criticism of any kind Real life scenarios I have been in relating to me being passionate to my values- I value respecting teachers not only because they want the best for the class but because it helps the class flow better and acting out is honestly annoying so when push comes to shove I will say something like âRespectfully, shut the fuck upâ but I just want the class to flow slowly
Also- I highly value respecting boundaries and my ex friend did cross one of my boundaries before so I did cuss her out on her birthday and then ghosted her but like itâs not rlly even my fault fr
Also I can get to work and be extremely serious when need be but I often procrastinate. I also really like material things. I have a fear of fatal accidents and things like getting kidnapped but Iâm not a skeptical person. I also have a very playful personality with my friends. Iâm also learning a foreign language and enjoy it. I also get emotional sometimes. I could see a video of a new singer living paycheck to paycheck and their video only has one like and it breaks my heart. I could see an overweight dog and my heart breaks because obesity in dogs is fatal and that poor baby wasnât even trying to get fat. In response I get enraged with the owner/ whoâs responsible. Sometimes I get mad at the person whoâs also the victim because you know that artistic careers barely make anything but you chose it anyway now Iâm sad for you but you brought the life upon yourself Stress- under stress I get extremely nervous however I try my best to rise to the occasion
Fear- painful / undesirable death, experiencing any traumatic event, poor quality of life
Desire- to be happy , be everyoneâs favorite
1) Iâm focused on defending myself more than Iâm focusing on defending others but Iâll say something if I see something đ¤ˇââď¸
2) I value my autonomy but I will not hesitate to get other options. Following their advice tho might be a little diff
Authority- I to be in those positions. Loathe rude, stuck up, money centered , greedy, selfish authoritarians
Morals- very important. Would die on a hill for my morals. I keep an open mind to everything but my values and morals and truly do believe that they are correct
Success- in the sense of e3s I think fame, riches , etc but for me success is not living paycheck to paycheck, good social group, good career
Anger- I tend to be ready to express it but u funny way to get myself in trouble so I hold back sometimes. BIG BIG BIG EMPHASIS ON SOMETIMES
Opinions on certain things - Philosophy- very overrated. Itâs glamorized thought process
Politics - the vast majority of politicians running shouldnât be
Practicality- good to have
Intellectual- also good to have
Physically- keep yourself in shape ig đ¤ˇââď¸
Home and school life - Home- very tense, poverty stricken, argumentative, very chaotic
School- more relaxed, pressure on self , feeling not wanted by peers and feeling like Iâm annoying
Songs I relate to - groan by daisy and the scouts, ride by Lana Del Rey, watercolor eyes by Lana Del Rey
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could I dm you this? yes. but also asks are fun even though this question is mean so. how do Ed and Lorraine react to the Vietnam war?
Okay so my Ed and Lorraine are absolutely Kennedy Democrats, are both very excited and enthusiastic about the first Catholic president, but both are against the Vietnam War and US military intervention from the start. Ed's already fought in one imperialist proxy war, he's got the PTSD to prove it, and Lorraine just is truly repulsed by violence of any kind.
And also like, to go completely left field for a minute -- I've been thinking a lot about how teenage Lored were effectively trapped at 17-19 years old. Mostly financially, and in different ways. in 1951, Lorraine wouldn't have been able to have her own bank account. Women wouldn't have the right to open their own bank account until the 60s or have a credit card until the 70s -- her money would have been her father's, effectively. and while probably not maliciously, since she was a young woman she likely wouldn't have had much access to her pay checks unless she was cashing them directly. Ed, meanwhile, while trying to survive a negligent/abusive household, absolutely would have been spending money on things most teens wouldn't have to in order to survive... and that's before getting the draft notice from the Selective Service, which took away even more control of his own life.
So I see Ed and Lorraine getting married young (even for the 50s, they're a few years younger than the median, though the war was actively driving that age down) mostly out of making the most out of what they could together. Ed putting Lorraine on his bank accounts and asking her actively to manage them while he's away, and her depositing her paychecks into his account would give her more financial control in her life than most women of the era. Lorraine's engagement ring (the size of that goddamn rock) is even an insurance policy most women her age and demographic didn't have -- often when women fled marriages, it was only with their jewelry to sell. It's half about Ed's possessive streak, half him showing he's not afraid to give her the money to run, if she needed to.
Anyway -- the trauma of their late teens and early twenties is entirely rooted in the rising Cold War anxieties and the locus of harm done to women in the 50s and I fully see their pursuit of demonology and the supernatural as something Lorraine initially started while working as a secretary for the Diocese, something she did to stay late at work and help people she could physically reach while Ed was away at war. She initially started staying late on the days she knew Father Gordon would be bringing in a scared family or terrified couple or frightened soul in through the back door hours after everyone had left, staying to pray and keep herself nearby, to be an observer to a fight she could be party to. Father Gordon figures her out quickly, of course, asking what interest she has in demons and exorcisms, and figures out she's clever with records and archives, almost to an uncanny degree.
And then figures out to exactly what uncanny degree.
After Ed came home and became the husband instead of the boyfriend, it turned into something Ed could throw all his metaphorical demons onto and a healthy way to exercise his control issues and fear and anxiety that doesn't (generally) affect Lorraine because she's fighting with him side by side in this, when before they were separated by thousands of miles -- the beginning everyone's favorite Catholic battle couple very much rooted in Ed and Lorraine parsing out who brought home metaphorical demons from the war, and who brought home literal ones, and bringing them to Father Gordon when necessary. Rooted in Ed needing to be useful, to dusting off his Catholic school Latin and reading everything he could get his hands on so that he could continue to help, continue to fight.
Lorraine would have been pregnant with Judy during the heightening tensions with Cuba and as Kennedy is sending more and more military "advisors" to Vietnam and Cold War tensions flared the hottest they'd get in the 1960s and I can just see both of their control issues revving up, especially with a few-months-old baby in the mix. Just the two of them laying bed, looking down at their three month old baby girl, wondering if they'd all get nuked tomorrow. If war would be declared tomorrow. If they'd all be dead, if they brought her into the world just to die violently. It's like taking guns off the street. They can't control the White House, or the Soviets, or Cuba or China or or or -- but they know about demons, they know about spirits, they know about taking these bombs off the battlefield, in the war of good against evil, and this is a war they can be foot soldiers in together.
Lorraine would get a bit of relief in the March of '63 when Kennedy dropped married men with children to the bottom of the draft pool, and then dropped the age of the draft pool to 26, aging Ed out of the Selective Service entirely. And then in November, JFK would be assassinated, and the photo of Jackie Kennedy covered in blood, leaving the hospital hand-in-hand with RFK, would be on the front page of every newspaper in the country. It would be a jolt for both of them -- but it wouldn't fully hit Lorraine until seven years later, when she'd have her first vision of Ed's death and fully understand Jackie Kennedy's weary, "I want them to see what they have done to Jack."
After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in August of 1964, they fully throw themselves into taking cases almost full time. As the war heats up, Ed pulls back from teaching art classes at the VA. If he spends too much time there, he has to face how pointless the violence has been. If he spends too much time there, now, he has to face that he still doesn't know why he survived. Why he lived, and everyone else on board the ship with him died. Because he still doesn't know, he still is fighting to make his life matter in a way that makes sense to him. All he has is his sense of duty, a couple of college credits, and his hands. On good days, he knows that he's loved -- that Lorraine loves him so much it makes it hurt to breathe, that he's a good father to his daughter, who will never be afraid of him.
Ed has a complete PTSD relapse in 1966, with the beginning of the ground war and the full-throated resurgence of the American propaganda machine and military recruitment. He's back in the guilt spiral, the "I never had it that bad, I was only in the Navy for two years, I never had it that bad," just feeding into "why did I live when everyone else I fought with died," back and forth until he can't sleep, can only sleep when Judy sleeps, accidentally ends up adapting himself to her nap schedule and has to sleep with his hand on her chest, feeling her breathe.
Lorraine calls in Chief, after Ed can't get out of bed for 72 hours and misses mass for the first time in his life. Chief, who comes up from Brooklyn to remind Ed of the time their entire ship exploded and Ed treaded water for eight hours and everyone else died. How they spent the next six months getting drunk whenever they weren't on duty and picking fights they couldn't get out of, and that one time they got thrown in the brig because Chief struck a superior asshole and Ed just followed him into the fight. (No, Lorraine does not know about that time Ed and Chief ended up in the brig. She will never know about that time. Judy will at some point in her early 20s learn about that time, when she needs to learn about how her parents are people, who have absolutely made mistakes in their lives.) "You and I spent six months drunk," Chief says, bouncing Judy on his knee in the kitchen over a cup of coffee, Ed refusing to look at him as he deep cleans the stove. "And then your dad died, and your sainted wife handled everything for you, and we realized we couldn't send you home to her like that."
"I still don't know why I lived."
Chief shrugs. "It doesn't matter why, son. The same reason any of us live, and any of us die. It doesn't matter. You have a little girl now who depends on you. She matters more than any goddamn reason -- you live for her, and your saint of a wife, and for all the people that you help. So that you can look them in the face, say you've been down in the hole that they're in now, and you know the way out."
Lorraine calls in Chief, because she absolutely picked a fight after mass that day without Ed, with Judy on her hip. Overheard Dorothy O'Malley running her mouth in the pew in front of her sounding like a national security ghoul and didn't even think before she opened her mouth and unloading the full force of her anxiety and anger on her. Only stops because she feels a gentle hand on her shoulder and Father Gordon murmuring in her ear, "Okay Mrs. Warren, you've made your point," while leading her away. It's the "Mrs. Warren" instead of the familiar "Lorraine" that jolts her back to herself, kissing Judy's head as she tries to shake herself out of it.
"Thank you," she tells Father Gordon, defeated.
He shrugs. "You don't come to confession until before Friday night prayer service. I didn't want you stewing on this all week." Pausing, he takes a moment to fondly tug on one of Judy's pig tails, making her laugh. "If Ed's not... feeling well, I know about that."
Lorraine bites her lip, knowing full and well that Father Gordon served as a chaplain in World War II. That seeing the violence of the Nazis firsthand is what convinced him that the Devil was more than a metaphor, that evil truly walked the Earth. Sent him on his own path, chasing darkness.
Lorraine nods.
"I could talk to him," Father Gordon says. "But it would likely come better from someone he served with."
When she gets home, she finds Chief's number in their phone book, and calls Brooklyn for the first and last time. He comes up the next day, and shoos her out of the house to do something for herself for the first time in months, telling her that he's more than equipped to look after a single three year old.
Ed goes back to teaching at the VA a few months after that, teaching art to the new round of mentally scarred children returning from war. He concedes to group therapy, and a few sessions with the VA psychiatrist to get something to take the edge off. He teaches at the VA until the troop withdrawals in 1970, reducing his class load as he and Lorraine take on more and more cases -- verging towards a hundred a year -- for the Catholic Church, and the media attention that comes along with that, the publicity engagements that help keep their bills paid, the articles and academic talks.
Even still, Ed occasionally brings home someone for dinner, just to make sure that they've only brought metaphorical demons home from war with them, not literal ones.
Sometimes it's literal ones.
#ask#rikertroi#otp: i forgot my pills#emily watches the conjuring#i cannot believe that Sam was just like#''I am going to give Emily an excuse to use her degree and hurt people''#this got... so very long
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â⥠guess the 21 YEAR OLD NOVEMBER baby just arrived to dallyeog! it makes sense, because AHN SEOJIN is just as RAW as the month of NOVEMBER. wait, why do they remind me of LEE GAHYEON? beyond that, they seemed OUTGOING & RESOURCEFUL upon first glance. i heard someone say theyâre sort of REBELLIOUS & SELF-SERVING though. i hope they get acquainted here in COMPLEX # 4 / APARTMENT # 6 / FLOOR # 3 ; they seem to have a lot going on with HER job as BUSKER (unemployed).( Bee, 24, she/her, cst. )
Hello everyone!!! My name is Bee ( the 2nd lol. She/her, 24, cst! ) and Iâm so happy to be in this group with my sad girl Seojin! Please add me on discord too, its so much easier to message there! bee121#9991 I will be posting links to her navigation but Iâll also put in a little bio under the cut with some plot ideas and connections I need filled out! Feel free to message me or like this post and Iâll come message you lovely people!! ââĄ
Profile || Wanted Connections || Plots || Full Nav Pin Board & Playlist for Muse!
â⥠STATS & BASIC INFO
âž Ahn Seojin is 21 years old, born November 5th, 1999 and the moment she was born her life was nothing but struggle.Â
âž Backstory!! Seojin never knew her dad because she was actually the result of a scandal between a man who was married with a family of his own and her mother. The two had a secret relationship for years before she came along, naively her mother thought he would do something for them but instead of physically being there for them he simply paid her off and forced her to never speak of the affair or the accidental kid. He gave them enough to get by on, or what he deemed was enough, and sent them away. Her mother had to work multiple jobs to keep them afloat and they were happy for a while with just the two of them. Her mother died her junior year of high school and she ended up dropping out to work because she wouldnât of survived if sheâd continued school. With no other family to lean on, any relatives on her maternal side disowned them the second they found out about her and she didnât even know her father, not that she would want his help anyway, she was on her own and did her best to get by. This resulted in her having to work any job that would give her a chance but it wouldnât be long until she was fired for stealing food or supplies she wasnât able to pay for, since most of her paycheck went towards trying to keep the apartment her mother and her had. It also wasnât long before she eventually lost that too and she was on the streets for a while, finding people to stay with or spending most nights in internet cafes or norebong bars. She finally realized that she could make more money singing in busy shopping districts, especially when its known for attracting tourists, and with this new âjobâ she was able to barely afford a new apartment! Now sheâs living in Dallyeog and life is looking up!
â⥠PERSONALITY
x Just like the changing and chilling weather of November, Seojin is quick to adapt to whatever life throws at her, no matter how dark or difficult it may be. She is very extroverted and comes off as extremely sweet and friendly, but she is quick to get defensive and although she is always dealing with something she rarely ever shares her personal issues with others. She likes to live in the moment and not worry about the past or the future, even if she does dwell and overanalyze everything in her life when she lays down to try and sleep.
x She likes fun above all else, any excuse to have a good time is something she is totally down for, anything that keeps things light and impersonal. When people try to get to know her personally she tends to take a step back, putting up a bit of a wall around herself for protection.
x She likes to be the center of attention, the life of the party, and she tends to surround herself with a lot of people and from an outsiderâs perspective you could assume that she was very popular and had many friends, but she never really let anyone get close enough to truly start to know who she really is. She is worried that people will think sheâs no good, broken, a waste of space- all that stuff, and she tries to make herself as likable as possible so that people will want to keep her around.
â⥠WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS
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Family Connection wanted!! Seojin never knew her dad because she was basically a âmistakeâ from the beginning, no one could know about her lest her fatherâs âperfect reputationâ be soiled by HIS mistake. He couldnât let his own family find out either so she wasnât even told his name, she took her motherâs surname which is exactly how she wanted it. She does eventually find out who he was and learns that she had a half sibling (or siblings) that were living in Seoul and she wants to learn more about them. Do they know about her?? Would they be mortified? Embarrassed? Angry? Would they be able to get along maybe..? After all, they are the only family she has now, so she feels like she has to try. || OPEN ||
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Much like a stray cat, Seojin is always over at other peopleâs apartments begging for food, she seems to always know when someone is cooking, and she tends to spend a lot of time on couches receiving love and affection while she talks about where she went out the night before. Her heat and electricity is often shut off at some point towards the end of each month because she is late on payments, which is also why sheâs always seeking out meals. (Rip her empty fridge lol) I am needed many muses who either donât mind her coming over for food or people who seem to have to just deal with her because sheâs cute and they pity her or just enjoy her company. || OPEN for many muses ||
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 As a way to deal with what sheâs been through, Seojin has been known to party and go out, sometimes more than she really should, and you can be sure that sheâd never turn down an invitation to have a night out on the town! She goes out often and makes it almost a game to find new places that are tucked away and usually have secret menus. If your muse ever wants a drinking partner, sheâs your girl!! || OPEN for many muses ||
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Wanna go on a picnic? Food and drinks on me! Or well.. The convenient store down the street! She may be a little bit of a clepto.. but itâs not because itâs an addiction, itâs because she needed to do this to get by, and itâs so much easier than paying for things! Sheâs gotten quite good at it too, she rarely ever gets caught anymore. Does your muse approve? Will they join in? Turn her in? || OPEN ||
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 âWould you light my candle~?â -Rent Seojin comes to your museâs apartment complaining that her electricity and heat is off and she needs a candle lit and maybe some time to warm herself up. She is looking for company and maybe a place to sleep, and she isnât too shy about how grateful she would be to them and how she would definitely repay them, make it âworth their whileâ. ( I get big Mimi vibes from Seojin in most ways but the junky part, she is more into alcohol than drugs. I just love this song so much and think a plot like this scene would be fun! ) || OPEN ||
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(more to come soon, if you have any ideas feel free to message me!)
#â⥠ahn seojin#â⥠runawayfairie#â⥠krp#â⥠apartment krp#â⥠intro post#â⥠more to come soon!!#â⥠i will be editing this a lot lol
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â° â§ Ë â magic is in the air ! oh wait - thatâs just our newest neighbor, MELODY ATLANTICA, the EIGHTEEN year old AQUARIST. theyâve been relocated from pastoral city, and so far the locals claim that theyâre INDEPENDENT and INSECURE, just like MELODY from THE LITTLE MERMAID: RETURN TO THE SEA. if you ask me, they seem like the type to enjoy MESSY BANGS AND THE SMELL OF THE SEA. apparently, they are UNSURE about entering rome pines, and i donât think their power of AQUAPATHY will help them this time. letâs just hope they can adjust to the new neighborhoodâŚâË âŽ
( Trigger Warning: Mentions of Mental Illness, Disease, Parental Death, Bullying, Underage Drinking )
S T O R Y:
She was an accident. They were too young, too dumb - it just happened. Melodyâs mother, Marina, was barely eighteen at the time and when she told Geoffrey, Melodyâs father, he left abruptly.Â
Marina was alone to deal with a difficult pregnancy, in which she struggled with prenatal depression. During this hard time, she heavily relied on the support of her older sister Athena and her husband, Triton. She moved in with them and the couple, with their seven daughters did everything in their power to help the young woman get back on her feet. Grateful and touched by the kindness Athena and Triton showed her, Marina offered them the position of her daughterâs godparents, which they gladly accepted.Â
Few weeks before going into labor, the woman decided to buy a locket as a gift for her future daughter. It was beautiful, with their last name engraved on the front and a picture, taken just a few weeks after her birth, inside it. The whole family was together, smiling. Marina decided sheâd give it to her on her first birthday.
Melody became, from her first breathe, the apple of Marinaâs eye. She just knew sheâd do anything for this little baby. If she could choose, sheâd never leave her side. But real life came along, and with it, the bills. As Melody completed eight months, the woman took two different jobs to provide for the child. For the first two years of her life, Melody spend most of her time in her godparents house with her cousins and with babysitters. The weekends, however, were exclusively for time with her mother. These were Melodyâs favorite days.
Athenaâs death was a very painful moment for everyone. Marina made sure to keep close to Triton, to honor her sisterâs memory and help him raising his daughters anyway she could. He was thankful to have her, and became something of a protector, a father figure, for both of the girls. They were family. All they had was each other.
Melody was a rather shy and observant child, only allowing herself to open up near people she trusted. It took a while for her to warm up to anyone, but as soon as she did, they could count that her big blue eyes would follow you wherever theyâd go. From a young age, she found comfort in being near water. Pulling her off a pool or a bath tub were difficult tasks. Luckily, this was a familiar feeling, that her mother encouraged as best as she could. The first time her mother took her to the beach, her powers manifested. She was three and enchanted to be able to understand all the creatures there. She felt understood by them. She felt like she truly belonged there.
Years passed. They were able to move to a place of their own, not far from Triton and the girls. As Melody started school, Marina got promoted, which allowed her to spend more time with her daughter. They were inseparable, a truly dream team. Nothing could go wrong. Until it did.
It was the day after Melodyâs eighth birthday. It started as a series of migraines. A few days latter, some black dots in her vision field. She told herself it was stress, work was asking too much of her. Nothing out of the usual. The symptoms came and go. Until the day she passed out in the middle of the living room.Â
It all happened too fast. Melody called her godfather, desperately crying, and minutes later, he was there, driving them to the hospital. The doctors did everything in their power, even magic wise, but they just couldnât tell what it was. Three months latter, she didnât resist.
Melody felt like her world was crumbling under her feet. Sheâd refuse to talk, eat or move, sometimes for days straight. Triton, worried for the girlâs health, made a decision. He hunted Geoffrey, told him his daughter needed him, and after a not-so-friendly conversation, with threats included, he agreed, reluctantly, to take care of her.Â
So she moved in with him. It was rough. They were getting to know each other as father and daughter. She had to get used to moving to a new place, a new school, to be far from her godfather and cousins, while still dealing with her grief. He had to get used to having a child around, a challenge heâd never imagine heâd have to deal with. At first Geoffrey tried to be as supportive as he could. Heâd help her pick what she wanted to decorate her room, buy her school supplies, drive her to and from Tritonâs house to see her family. But it didnât last long. Their relation became closer to that of two roommates. He was absent most of the time, providing her with money and disappearing for days or even weeks. She was stuck there, alone. Melody learned quickly that sheâd have to rely on herself for anything she needed.
That became especially hard once she started in her new school. Her father had enrolled her in a private school and people there werenât as nice as she hoped. Theyâd judge everyone by their appearances and their powers. Melody didnât quite fit in, not really worried about brand materials or how she could make money with the power she had, honestly sheâd much rather use her comfortable clothes and spend the afternoon sitting near the water, talking to the animals there. The other students started to bully her, severely. Theyâd make jokes about her lack of money, her aquatic friends and her dysfunctional family. Theyâd call her a âcharity-caseâ, a âweirdoâ, a âburdenâ. Little by little, the girl started to believe them.
Melody dreaded going to school, having to talk to other people. She started to daydream of a different reality. When her cousins called and asked about her life, sheâd lie. Sheâd describe one of her illusions and tell them all about how wonderful her father was and how she adapted easily to school. After all, she barely saw her cousins anymore. She didnât want to burden them with her problems.
By the end of Elementary school, Melody would spend most of her free time alone, walking around the city. She didnât feel safe at school and didnât feel comfortable at her fatherâs house. One of those day, she got lost and ran into a gang of teenagers who tried to rob her. However, they took pity on the young, nervous girl, and decided to welcome her into their group.Â
They werenât the greatest influences, but they would protect her and she finally felt like she belonged somewhere. The group spent most of their time drinking and causing trouble in the street - Melody realized that alcohol made it easier for her to communicate and be friendly. Even though she wasnât involved in most of the action, learned how to pickpocket someone, to break into cars, and even houses. The group was known as frequent visitors of the police station. Luckily for Melody, she could get away easily, being the younger and having the sympathy of one of the officers who worked there and always let her off with a warning and a mild scolding. Little by little, their group disintegrated. Some were arrested, some just sort of fade away.Â
Melody was almost seventeen, and she felt more lost than ever. One afternoon, one of her cousins called presented her with the opportunity of working half-period in the town aquarium. Nothing seemed better for the girl than the chance to spend countless hours near their marine friends and get payed for this. Her powers helped her immensely and as soon as she graduated high school, they offered her the position full time. She accepted, enthusiastically. She was a part of the team. Things were finally starting to look up.
N O W A D A Y S :
The fire took everyone by surprise. It was terrifying. They were evacuated and, overnight, they found themselves in this whole new place - Rome Pines. The government did all they could to help the relocation, but Melody felt the anxiety of having to adapt to a new home, having to meet people setting in.
At first, she looked for her godfather and her cousins and was relived to see they were all safe - for them, the feeling was mutual, once it had been a long time since they last saw the girl. Once she met with her father, they agreed there was no point in living together anymore. He promised to send her some money monthly so she could start her own life and left. This was the last time she saw him. She found a place near the university campus, for the first time after a long time, she had a place where she felt truly at home.
She got to keep her job. Rome Pines aquarium is not a sight to behold, none of that. Itâs a very simple place, but at least sheâd still have a paycheck while being able to be close to the water and talk to her closest friends.
P E R S O N A L I T Y :
Melody is still very quiet and observant, and sometimes she gets easily lost in her own thoughts and lose track of time. The girl has a sarcastic sense of humor, which doesnât cross the line to be malicious. Sheâs not the most sociable person - she spends most of her time by herself and itâs very rare to find her outside without her earphones at max volume - but sheâs also very loyal and kind to the people who gain her trust. Melody has an aura of a person who had to grow up too fast, and sometimes people are surprised to learn or be reminded of how young - and fragile - she really is. Sheâs got a sweet tooth and an addiction to caffeine, and sometimes has to be reminded to have a regular meal instead of just living off take-out fast food and jelly beans. She uses lots of Converses sneakers and wears her motherâs locket around her neck - she never takes it off.
#{ the princess of disaster -- melody atlantica }#{ you know these waters -- bio }#{ w o a h  this got so LONG I'M SO SORRY }
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Ryuu wakes up a week after his twenty-fifth birthday with a fully formed frontal lobe, the remnants of dream that didnât even have the decency to be wet, and an unfortunate realization.
âGin.â
Sheâs already up, of course, sipping at a coffee, but then, sheâs always been the more functional one. Ryuu would argue that itâs because sheâs younger and therefore spent less time in the slums before their lives found some stability in the Port Mafia. Gin would argue that itâs because Chuuya raised her instead of Dazai.
âI believe I may haveâŚfeelingsâŚfor Jinko.â
She doesnât look suitably impressed by the earth-shattering news.
âDo you want a regular cake or a cupcake tower at the wedding?â
Ryuu is so shocked by her lack of shock that he actually answers.
âCupcake tower.â He shakes his head. âDid you hear me? I have feelings for Jinko.â
âItâs kind of too late to go back to calling him Jinko when youâve been calling him by his real name for over a year.â
âI have feelings for-!â
âI heard you the first two times!â
âThen tell me what Iâm supposed to do!â
âI donât know!â she snaps, although she sounds more exasperated than mad. âWoo him? Marry him? Bear his weird tiger babies?â
âThatâs physically impossible. Also, no?â
âI donât know what you want here,â she says. âGeneral dating advice wouldnât work on you two.â
âDating?!â
âFucking hell.â She sounds so frustrated that Ryuu is sure sheâs about to throw a knife at him just to get him to shut up. âTry talking to him.â
âNo.â
âThen eat shit and die!â
Ryuu isnât quite sure who else to ask for help. He almost goes to Chuuya, but considering Chuuyaâs â arrangement? Relationship? â with Dazai, Ryuu thinks that might actually make everything worse. Whatever those two are doing, he doesnât think itâll work for anyone else.
So he takes the second option presented to him: he shoves those feelings right back where they belong and forgets they ever existed. Or tries to.
See, Ryuu is good at anger. He recognizes it in himself, knows now how to ramp it down or let it take him as necessary, knows how to use it, TED talk to follow. What is he supposed to do with something so much softer?
It should be easy to ignore. But like an amorphous block, the soft edges of the feelings squeeze out no matter where he tries to shove them down.
Ryuu doesnât think Atsushi has noticed anything is off. Heâs sure Atsushi would have said something by now otherwise. As an adult, Atsushi has all the observation skills of a detective and none of the reticence for sharing his observations that he used to. The new confidence is annoying, and has led to annoying things like Ryuu being forced to buy Atsushi food all the time, and in general, Atsushi is somehow more annoying than when he went running scared from Ryuuâs every glare.
And Ryuu has feelings for him anyway. His taste leaves much to be desired, and he needs to come up with some synonyms for annoying.
This systematic denial works for all of two weeks, and Ryuu is ready to celebrate the success of creating a new normal so seamlessly that Atsushi hasnât even noticed they have a new normal, when it all goes to shit.
They donât have quite as many people to beat into the ground to protect Yokohama as they did when they started their partnership, but every so often, a new group thinks itâs a good idea to disturb the peace. Ryuu and Atsushi, for their efficiency alone, are the best choice for dealing with it.
Some syndicate from Europe seems to think they have the right to expand into the Asian market, and theyâve set their eyes on the port of Yokohama for their first step in. They donât have nearly the same aversion to city-wide destruction that the Port Mafia do, which makes this the Armed Detective Agencyâs problem too, and, consequently, Ryuu and Atsushiâs problem. Theyâre in charge of stopping and containing a Gifted vanguard while the combined strategic might of Dazai and Mori deal with the rest of the syndicate.
Itâs a tough fight, but Ryuu gets to let loose and use his Ability to the fullest. His deal with Atsushi to not kill is long since over, but he developed habits during those six months that he hasnât bothered to shake, and the fight isnât the bloodbath it could be. Still, when the last person raises their hands in surrender, Ryuu is almost gasping for breath. He may have learned to work smarter instead of harder, but working smarter is hard on him in its own way.
âGood work today,â Atsushi says, wiping blood from an already-healed cut off his mouth. Even after all this time, the praise still sends a thrill down Ryuuâs spine.
Then Atsushi lifts his head, and his eye are so wide, and he looks so happy, smiling without reservation at Ryuu, and Ryuu doesnât know what his face does, but it must be pretty spectacular because Atsushiâs smile fades.
âAre you okay?â he asks. âYouâre not hurt, are you?â
âIâm fine,â Ryuu says, turning on his heel to get away from Atsushi and the emotions he wears so openly. He needs to find a bar, one Atsushi wonât follow him to, and he doesnât stop to consider the implications of skipping their post-mission dinner arrangement for the first time in years.
When Chuuya finds him, heâs getting systematically drunk.
Which, granted, doesnât take much, Heâs always been a bit of a lightweight, probably due to how severely underweight heâs been for most of his life. Thatâs not quite the problem it used to be, and one shot isnât enough to take him out at the knees anymore, but he doesnât even have to use his fancy mafia paycheck to get well and truly plastered.
âSo I know Iâm about to sound like a hypocrite, but itâs barely five,â Chuuya says, and while his words are chiding, his tone isnât. Ryuu is still working on reading peopleâs intentions, but Chuuya has never been hard. Heâs worried. âWanna talk?â
âStupid fucking Jinko and his stupid fucking doe eyes,â Ryuu mutters before he can stop himself. Heâs had six shots. He wishes he had a better excuse.
âOh, so itâs that kind of drinking,â Chuuya sighs. He raises his hand to catch the bartenderâs attention, elegant and confident in one motion. âWhiskey for me. Water for him.â
âIâm fine.â
âAkutagawa.â
Chuuya rests his hand on Ryuuâs head, and Ryuu is almost ashamed of the way he leans into the touch immediately. Despite all the jokes even he himself makes, heâs not a dog. Still, to have someone touch him without even the intention of hurting himâŚitâs nice. Itâs uncommon. Itâs, perhaps, something that shouldnât be so uncommon from a superior.
Heâs so drunk.
âDo you want my advice?â Chuuya asks after the bartender sets both of their drinks down and Ryuu throws back half the tall glass of water.
Ryuu is silent for just a beat too long.
âKid,â Chuuya sighs again, not angry or even exasperated, as is more common with him and Ryuu recently. He sounds faintly amused. âI know weâve talked about this. Youâre allowed to say no to me.â
âItâs notâŚâ Ryuu tries. âI justâŚâ He has to parse it into words, the fact that after Gin, Chuuya was the first he thought to turn to, and why he didnât in the end. âI donât know if I, necessarily, want the answer I think youâll give me.â
âWhat answer do you think Iâll give you?â Chuuya asks. His hand is still on Ryuuâs head, pulling until Ryuu is very nearly tucked into his shoulder.
âTwo options,â Ryuu says. âSomething I canât use, or something I wonât want to.â
âAh.â Chuuya takes a sip of his whiskey. âYou know Iâve had relationships with people other than Dazai, right?â
âThatâs where the something I canât use comes from.â
âSo my relationship with Dazai is too fucked up, but all my other relationships are too normal?â Chuuya asks, summing it up entirely too well.
âI donât think I can do normal,â Ryuu says. âIâm pretty sure he canât either.â
âI canât tell you how to fix that,â Chuuya admits. âIf I knew, I wouldnât be where I am. Which isnât a complaint, by the way. Iâm happy. But Iâll admit parts of my life are less than functional, and thatâs down to choices Iâve made. That being saidâŚâ he gives Ryuuâs hair a little tug until Ryuu is truly resting on his shoulder, head momentarily stopped from spinning, ââŚI doubt Nakajima would kick you out of his life for anything at this point.â
âYou think I should talk to him too,â Ryuu says.
âGinâs smarter than you give her credit for.â
âShe told you about this?â
âI just know sheâs the only other person youâd tell about this,â Chuuya says. âYouâre not actually that complicated.â
âI talk to Higuchi about stuff,â Ryuu pouts. He wonât admit heâs pouting.
âYouâre not cruel to her anymore,â Chuuya says. âSo no, I donât think you wouldâve told her about this.â
âI want another shot.â
âYou should probably be done for the night,â Chuuya advises. âListen. I donât know how this is gonna shake out. I donât know Nakajima well enough to guess what heâll do. But I do know you, and I can tell you that youâre gonna be okay.â
âYou think?â
âI think it would take another city-destroying disaster for you to not be okay,â Chuuya says. âAnd that wasnât an invitation. Iâm enjoying the peace. Itâs good for business.â His phone chimes. âYour ride is here, and youâre cut off.â
âYou called a car?â
âLike I said,â Chuuya says, getting to his feet, âI know you.â
Having a superior care so openly about him is still a bit of a new experience, and rather than try to examine anything Chuuya said, Ryuu just collapses into bed when the driver drops him off, hoping heâll just forget everything by the morning. He doesnât, of course, because that would be too easy.
Things were fine between him and Atsushi before, but suddenly, thereâs a new tension. Ryuu panics, convinced Atsushi knows, but after a day of careful observation, heâs almost positive that Atsushi actually doesnât. Atsushi isnât shying away from the parts of their alliance that Ryuu, a few years ago, had reluctantly labelled as friendship. He doesnât have a problem with their casual conversation, and their shared food arrangements have picked up again without so much as a mention of one missed.
In fact, the only thing that has changed is actually something Ryuuâs seen before, just not in years.
Theyâre friends now. Beyond just tolerating his presence, Ryuu does like having Atsushi around. He even has these new mushy feelings that make him a little sick to his stomach if he thinks about them too hard. But none of that changes the fact that sometimes, Atsushi annoys the ever-loving fuck out of him.
Snapping at Atsushi usually only gets Ryuu an eye roll now, or sometimes a shut up if he says something particularly spiteful, but ever since Ryuu bailed on dinner, every time he snaps at Atsushi, instead of the customary dismissal, Ryuu gets a flinch like he used to when they first started working together.
And seriously, what the fuck? He knows Atsushi isnât scared of him anymore. For one thing, theyâve proven a few times that Atsushi can beat him into the ground if he wants. For another, Ryuu has calmed down a bit and Atsushi has stuck around enough to figure out how to exist in the same space without killing each other. They havenât had a serious fight in years.
Ryuu canât figure out what Atsushiâs sudden problem is, and doubly canât figure out why it wouldâve started after he skipped buying Atsushi food once. Itâs almost enough to push the mush feelings that started this whole mess to a backburner, only surfacing when Ryuuâs eyes linger too long on the clean, lithe lines of Atsushiâs body, and he knows heâs not the only one who stares, anyway.
And then a new group surfaces. A remnant faction of the Guild that has apparently spent the better part of five years biding their time and preparing to take revenge on both the Port Mafia and the ADA. Since Ryuu and Atsushi were the ones to take down Fitzgerald, the faction prepared the most for them. From the beginning of an attack they only had the slightest warning for, Ryuu and Atsushi are methodically separated from everyone else.
Theyâre losing. Badly. Ryuu doesnât know where any allies are except for Atsushi, and then only because Rashomon still has a tendril on him. Blood pours down his leg from a shot above his knee, and Ryuu resists the urge to favor the leg in case he has to run again. He ducks into an alley and slides down the wall, trying to catch his breath, get his bearings. He hasnât had to legitimately fight for survival in a long time, and though his life has made him no stranger to pain, heâs not as young as he used to be, and his body protests when Ryuu tries to demand movement from it.
âAku.â
It seems Atsushi has found him. Ryuu doesnât even bother to snap at him for the nickname. Atsushi picked up the habit a few years back, saying Ryuuâs name was too long for him to yell, and Ryuu has begrudgingly gotten used to it, only putting up token protests now. He hurts too much for those, though.
âWe have to get clear,â Ryuu tells him.
He heard some distant explosions heâd bet his coat are Chuuya, and where they find Chuuya, theyâll find the Black Lizard â theyâll find Gin â and theyâll find Dazai, or at least Dazaiâs mind, talking through an earpiece and entirely out of the fight, safe where heâs most effective. Those allies would be enough to turn the tide, if only Ryuu had any damn clue how they could get clear.
âI have an idea,â Atsushi says.
âThat is not your area,â Ryuu counters. He canât help himself. Everything hurts.
âI know youâre mad at me, but trust me on this,â Atsushi pleads.
âIâm notâŚâ Ryuu is so taken aback he needs a second to organize a response. âWhy would I be mad at you?â
Generally speaking, heâs almost never mad at Atsushi anymore. If he isâ itâs a fleeting anger, gone as soon as he recognizes it. He has no clue why Atsushi might think heâs angry enough to revert their relationship back five years.
âBecause you skipped dinner, and you made this faceâŚâ Atsushi trails off, and RyuuâŚ
His taste leaves so much to be desired. Atsushi is an idiot, all personal growth aside, and Ryuu realizes, with a degree of horror, that he feels something very close to fond.
âThatâs not why,â he says, voice gruff, and heâs once again lost control of his face. Atsushi searches his eyes, and Ryuu sees the moment the truth dawns on him.
âAre youâŚ?â
âYou said you had an idea?â Ryuu interrupts. He keeps his eyes off Atsushiâs face.
âI do,â Atsushi says. âI need all of Rashomon.â
Ryuu instinctively holds his Ability closer. Heâd given all of her to Atsushi earlier, a standard play when theyâre in an all-out fight, but it only works when Atsushi takes all the hits. After he got shot in the leg, he pulled part of her back.
âDo you think you can hold onto me?â Atsushi asks.
âWhy?â
âI wonât be able to hold onto you.â
âYouâre going to get us both killed,â Ryuu accuses without heat. He can already feel himself relenting.
âTrust me,â Atsushi begs.
Ryuu does.
âI guess another trip with the worldâs worst Uber driver isnât the worst way to go,â Ryuu sighs.
Atsushi crouches in front of him, hands careful on Ryuuâs leg as he clambers onto Atsushiâs back. It aches, but Ryuu holds with both his arms and hopes for the best.
âUse Rashomon to amplify the jump,â Atsushi tells him. âAnd leave me plenty of slack.â
âSlackâŚwhy?â Ryuu asks, but Atsushi is already gone under his hands, replaced with a tiger. âOh.â
Atsushiâs muscles bunch, and thatâs all the warning Ryuu gets before they take off into the sky.
The tiger canât fly, but the jump is so powerful, especially with the added strength of Rashomon, that it feels like a near thing. They soar above the building theyâd been sheltered behind, over the heads of their enemies, and by the time anyone thinks to attack, itâs already too late.
âEast,â Ryuu shouts above the wind. With the new vantage point he can get a better idea of where Chuuya is. Atsushi canât answer him, of course, but he obeys anyway, touching down and running towards the explosions. Theyâre almost to relative safety when a strike from the side sends them both sprawling.
An Ability user approaches them, hands crackling with something obviously dangerous. Ryuu doesnât stop to think. He just attacks, Rashomon rushing the man in furious tendrils. He pulls back at the last minute, and when the dust clears, the man is unconscious and full of holes, but still breathing.
Ryuu is just turning to see if he needs to pull emergency first aid skills out of his ass when he gets an armful of re-humanized Atsushi and a pair of lips hitting his own like a punch. He doesnât even have time to respond to the kiss before Atsushi shoves him back by the shoulders.
âWait, shit!â
Atsushi regrets the kiss. Atsushi regrets him.
Ryuuâs hand twitches towards the phone in his pocket. He can leave this all behind and start a new life. In Iceland. He can use the Duolingo app Chuuya made him download to learn the language. Heâll herd sheep. Heâll change his name to Sven.
âI was supposed to ask for consent first!â
âWhat?â Ryuu â Sven â asks.
âIâm supposed to ask for consent before I kiss you!â
This doesnâtâŚfeel like rejection. Sven â Ryuu â takes his thumb off the Duolingo app.
âYouâve been thinking about kissing me?â he asks.
âI wasâŚI meanâŚâ Atsushi flushes red. âFor a while now? I never thought youâd want me to, but then you did, andâŚâ
Leave it to Atsushi to charge right through all the hesitancy Ryuuâs been feeling. He always has been the kind to leap before he looks.
In a better world, theyâd have time to let this play out like a shoujo manga, time for them to gaze into each otherâs eyes, time to work up to a kiss much softer and slower, something a first kiss deserves to be.
But itâs not a better world, and theyâre still not safe, but theyâre close enough to allies that they can make a run for it.
âWe have to get out of here,â Ryuu says. He can already hear enemies approaching. Atsushi lets go of his shoulders, and they both start running, Ryuu limping on his bad leg. âAnd Atsushi?â
âHm?â
âBuy me dinner first.â
Ryuu doesnât watch Atsushi take that for the consent it is, but he knows the message is received when Atsushi reaches out to squeeze his hand as they run, letting it drop so they can move faster. Theyâll probably have to talk this out when theyâre safe, because Gin is right; they need to talk. But now they both know itâs not one-sided, and itâs as good a starting place as any.
In spite of the pain in his leg and his lungs, in spite of the danger theyâre still in, Ryuu canât help the grin that spreads across his face as he runs, Atsushi by his side.
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SAINT FRANCES
There's an extremely eccentric movie going on within the conventional confines of "Saint Frances." For me, one of the signs of adulthood is when you realize that nobody has things figured out. Even the most put-together person has demons, weak spots, flaws. Anyone who acts like they're perfect, or acts like they have all the answers, are basically waving red flags around announcing the contrary.
This is the feeling I got from "Saint Frances," a first feature from Alex Thompson, with screenplay by Kelly O'Sullivan, who also stars, as Bridget, an adrift thirtysomething, watching her peer group watch movies online "settle down" around her, wondering what the hell happened to her life. Admittedly, this is a pretty well-trod path, and so the eccentricity comes from the feeling that every characterânot just Bridget, but everyoneâis in just a little bit over their heads. So many films offer up pre-packaged easily-digestible ideas, with risk-averse empowerment messages. It's truly refreshing to watch a film where nobody has anything figured out, where life proceeds messily and imperfectly. "Saint Frances" is unpredictable in a very human way.
In the opening scene, Bridget sits at a party, listening to a man describe a dream he had the other night. He seems to find his dream fascinating. When she tells him she's a "server," he says, supportively, "You're still in your twenties. It gets better." "I'm 34." Embarrassed, the man comes up with an excuse to leave the conversation. The opener is spookily accurate in its observational power. Even casual conversations come loaded with preconceived notions and assumptions. If she is still a waitress at 34, then she is dangerously unambitious, and clearly not even worth flirting with (if describing your dream in excruciating detail can count as flirting.) O'Sullivan's script is excellent in these small moments: she has a very good ear for how people judge each other (either overtly or not), and how difficult it is sometimes to see past the surface of things, especially if you are wrapped up in your own problems.
Bridget is very wrapped up in her own problems when she gets a summer gig as a nanny for Frances (Ramona Edith Williams). Frances' mothers, Maya (Charin Alvarez) and Annie (Lily Mojekwu) have just had another baby, and need help with their rambunctious fearless six-year-old, who is also somewhat pissed off at being displaced by her baby brother. Frances makes the inexperienced Bridget work for her paycheck! Compared to Bridget, Maya and Annie are settled, responsible, adults. But there are fissures beneath the perfect surface. Annie is a lawyer, working extremely long hours. Maya is in a state of increasing postpartum depression, deteriorating before Bridget's worried eyes. Bridget's "this isn't a relationship, we're just hooking up" thing with the sweet-tempered Jace (Max Lipchitz) has resulted in a pregnancy and then an abortion. Bridget is determined to take a practical view of it, but her response is complicated. She doesn't seem to take seriously the trauma her body has experienced. Her blood is constantly flowing in Saint Frances.
Let's talk about the blood, so present throughout it's almost another lead character. Waking up after having sex with Jace for the first time, she realizes she got her period, staining the mattress. She is mortified, of course, but Jace is so good-natured about it it becomes their first shared joke. Tampons, pads, leakage, stained underwear, being caught out without a tampon, the whole "gross" nine yards ... this is all so much a regular part of a woman's life it's almost banal (in real life, anyway), and yet it's rarely dealt with in film, and certainly not as forthrightly as it is here. There's an electrifying moment when Bridget and Maya, both devastated about different things having to do with their bodies, suddenly find it all hilarious and start laughing so hard they're in tears. There's a somewhat forced scene where a bitchy woman at a Fourth of July picnic reprimands Maya for breastfeeding in public, but a real point is being made. Often the policing of women's bodies comes from other women. And so women are left even more isolated, ashamed of their bodies, wondering why "it"âwhatever "it" isâcomes so easily to other women. That's the big lie: that you, and you alone, are having a hard time. The world wants you to think this, wants you to think you're a huge screw-up. But what if ... nobody knows what they're doing?
This all comes to a head in a powerhouse scene between Bridget and Annie. Annie has barely been a presence thus far, because she is now the sole breadwinner, and her job is extremely demanding. Bridget is so self-involved she hasn't really noticed that something has been brewing in Annie. When Annie finally opens up, in a beautifully written monologue, the passion and pain Mojekwu brings almost stops the film in its tracks. It's heartrending. I liked "Saint Frances" very much up until that moment, but it was that moment that I fell in love with it. Because Annie, competent responsible Annie, got to be three-dimensional too, and in that moment she ceased being a peripheral character in a movie starring Bridget, and became the star of her own story. As we all are. If we could only come outside of ourselves enough to notice. It made me think of those gorgeous lines from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Hyperion":
Believe me, every man has his secret sorrows, which the world knows not; and oftimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad.
The need to seem like you have it all figured out, that you are all put together, is an insidious by-product of the self-help culture we live in, and this is especially true for women. The idea is that if you're not "eating, praying, and loving" across the continents, and learning and growing and changing according to schedule, then the problem must be you. Bridget may be the central character but she isn't the only one who "learns and grows and changes." What happens during her summer gig is a group event, an upheaval in four lives, four people churning around in chaos towards a future, not knowing what they're doing, trying to understand each other, often failing, sometimes succeeding. It's beautifully done.
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Someday He Will
I donât do a ton on social media these days. I read some things on Twitter, and use it as a source to find news I care about. Other than that, I donât do a whole lot.
The other day I was taking a cursory glance through Facebook and Instagram and as you may have also experienced, these forms of social media have become breeding grounds for parents to laud â and lament â certain achievements in their childrenâs lives.
Oh look, baby Rutherford turned 3 months old! I canât believe heâs enjoying tummy time so much!! I canât believe Millard is already 5! He goes to Kindergarten in the fall. Where has the time gone⌠Chester got his first paycheck, would you look at that  Your dad and I are so proud of you, Grover, we wish you and Frances nothing but the best for a happy and healthy marriage!
If youâll look past my obvious use of presidential pseudonyms, Iâm sure youâve seen all of these types of posts. And, if you have kids, Iâm sure the sense of pride, or anxiety, or a mix of the two is very familiar to you depending on how old your kids are.
Many times as I see this type of content, I quickly glance past it. I may make note of what little Millard is up to, on the off chance that I run into his mom at an event and need to do a quick catch up.
In most cases, though, I keep moving past the potty-training milestones, the birthday height measurements and science fair projects. Not because they arenât impressive, but simply because that type of content has never really done much for me. I donât have kids, and Iâm not a mom�� Every once in a blue moon, Iâll see a dad post about something their kid did, but, from my experience, 95% of the time, itâs moms posting this type of thing.
However, recently something happened in my life, and I want to share it for the sake of all the moms out there â especially the boy moms out there.
As my friendsâ boys have grown older, I have seen the general sentiments in their posts change from excited when they walk, to proud when they go to kindergarten, to anxious about how fast they are growing by the time they reach later elementary school age, to a bit of eye rolling over how âboyishâ they are in middle and high school, back to proud again after that once they get through the gauntlet that is the teenage years.
Moms, I know you worry. I know you wonder your babies may turn out. What happens when your relationship with your son changes?
I hate to break it to ya, but he wonât always be so cooperative when you want to take his picture, or let you drop him off at school. There will be times in college where he wonât pick up the phone, or answer your text. Heâll very likely try to go on some sort of trip without telling you; there may be a few significant others he hopes youâll never find out about, and there will undoubtedly be 1,000 times where youâll ask yourself who is this child now?  That canât be the same kid who used to rest his head so contently on my shoulder after a bottleâŚ
Will he ever appreciate you, Mom? Will he ever truly understand how much you care for him? Will he ever stop and notice all the ways you have tried to prepare him for the life ahead of him?
The answer, I can assure you, is yes, someday, he will.
--
For me, that someday came barreling at me completely out of the blue last week.
My mom was on vacation with my dad. They were touring a few National Parks in Utah. This is the kind of trip that my mom lives for. Nature. Hiking. Exploring. Free entry into the national parks via her lifetime pass, and reciprocity to visit other gardens along the way due to her membership benefits with the Morton Arboretum âŚ
If you know my mom at all, thatâs like a Mount Rushmore of benefits.
Anyway, on Monday morning, June 17, my mom sat down at breakfast to write me a letter. This letter, that youâll see below, embodies everything that is great about my momâs and my relationship.
She included so many little details in this note that were not only important to her â but she also knew that I would appreciate them. And, for the first time in my life, I think I was able to fully appreciate them.
First of all, she sent the letter on stationary from the (potentially) world-famous Bumbleberry Inn and Motel. How do I know this? Because she went through the trouble to get her hands on Bumbleberry stationary. I picture this process, where you have an extremely zealous traveler coming up to a Bumbleberry employee and asking if they have stationary, or something in which she can use to send a note to her son. Thereâs a chance the paper could have been left for guests in each of their rooms, but this is full-size stationary, not a sheet off of a tear pad. So, at least in my version of how the events went down, my mom had to ask for this. And, knowing her, she would most definitely do that!
The top of the note not only has the date, but it specifies that it was Monday morning, and that it was written during breakfast. Not only is this thoughtful letter-writing technique commonly practiced in eras gone by, but, as I have learned, this is how my momâs brain works. Every time I go on a trip, be it for work, or pleasure, she asks, okay, Monday, what did you do Monday? And after weâve gone through Monday, and gotten sidetracked a few dozen times, sheâll always come back to it in her mind, and say, okay, Tuesday, what was Tuesday?
For years, I have had to bite my tongue and not say, Mom, okay, do we have to go through every day of the trip as if itâs being used in a legal deposition? And yet, somehow, to read âMonday⌠Breakfastâ at the top of this note, it finally clicked. This is her. This is how her mind works. This is what she wants to tell me, and this is how she structured it in her mind. The realization that she was getting great joy out of this changed everything for me.
She started the letter with reference to her favorite writing utensil â the trusty Ticonderoga #2 pencil. Itâs a long running joke in our family that Mom always has a Ticonderoga #2 behind one â and sometimes both â of her ears. As soon as I saw that the letter was written in pencil, I knew it was a Ticonderoga #2, but reading her reminder made me smile.
I wonât break down for you every part of this note that touched me so personally, because there is so much layered into the way she wrote it â from using certain exclamation points in places where I knew she would use them â to the way she used parentheses. They mean more to me than they could ever mean to you.
Thatâs not the point of this post.
The point of this post is to be a reminder of how uniquely special a motherâs relationship can be with her son.
It takes time, and for a long time, my mom was putting in effort to connect with me that went without being fully realized on my end.
She sent me notes like this in college that I opened, read, and glanced at the articles sheâd cut out of the newspaper thinking I would like to read them, and I didnât read them, or at least not all of them.
She put together a photo scrapbook of a class trip I took in middle school, and I probably looked at it for five seconds back then. As I was cleaning out my house to move about two years ago now, I found that little scrapbook and I marveled at the effort and the care she put into making it and preserving those memories.
The common theme may sound like itâs just a factor of building a foundation, and waiting 30 years, but I think thereâs also more to it than that.
Iâve written more about that here, but the short version is this:
Invest in what your son(s) likes now. Thatâll no doubt change, but the thing heâll come to appreciate most when heâs in his 30s and beyond is that you took the time to know him. That while you may not have been super interested in baseball (the thing I liked most throughout most of my formative years) or trucks, or toy cars, or video games, or Marvel movies, purely the fact that you wanted to take part in his life with him matters. A lot.
Heâll brush you off at first. And probably for the entire span of when heâs like 11 through 25âŚ
But itâs worth it.
I look at the relationship I have with my mom now and it brings tears to my eyes.
Her methods may not work for you. They may not feel authentic, and your kids may not respond to them the same way that I did. Heck, the way my mom and I connect is not the same way she connects with my brother. But, she has her own connection with him, and they bond in ways that are equally unique to his personality. But they do connect. And it is special.
As I close, I will end with a call to enjoy the journey.
I laugh a little that Iâm giving advice to moms â me?
But for many of you that will read this, I know you. I know your moms, and I know the amazing connections you have with them.
I also know how hard it can be to know how to navigate all that goes into raising a son. I certainly wouldnât want to have been fully responsible for raising meâŚ
Many of you have husbands who will play their own role in helping you raise your boys, and they will do their part, no doubt. And your boys â if theyâre anything like me â will gravitate heavily to their dad at certain times. And thankfully so. Thatâs obviously normal. Enjoy the connection thatâs built there, too.
But, as most any boy would tell ya, thereâs just something special about the relationship we have with our mom.
If you wonder in the back of your mind if your little guy will ever fully appreciate you for all that you are, and how much you care about him.
Someday, he will.
--
Okay, enough out of me. I hope my words made your hearts smile a little bit. Go moms!
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Another post about love...
Iâve been told that my ex-boyfriend thinks I have a âfucked up perception on loveâ and another ex-boyfriend has convinced himself I never actually wanted to date him. I apparently came up with reasons to break up with him because he refuses to take responsibility for mistreating me. So, Iâve been sitting here, thinking that my lack of healthy relationships are a product of my own doing and who I am.Â
But, today, I sat down with my friend who is 27 and has 2 children. We have a very open friendship and she has always been honest with me, whether I wanted to hear it or not. Sheâs one of the only mature adults I have in my life and I often look to her for motherly advice and guidance.Â
Her fiance has a bad rep. Everyone thinks heâs a piece-of-shit, and I have firsthand seen him mistreat her (under the influence of alcohol only), and every other time, theyâve seemed so content with one another. I could never ask my mom about her idea of love, because her relationships are always unhealthy in some sort of way, sometimes subtle and sometimes not. I donât have contact with my dad, and even if I did, heâs not very open about emotions (if he even has them). Heâs had a failed marriage, a failed relationship with my mother, and his marriage with my step mom doesnât seem to be the most pleasant either.Â
So I asked my friend how she does it and how theyâve done it together. She told me the troubles theyâve gone through, which I wonât go into too much detail about, because that seems very personal and itâs not really my job to tell the whole world about her journey with her future husband, but it was truly inspiring to listen to. Everything was so rushed for them. For example, they were meant to be a one night stand but then they started hooking up regularly. Within weeks, she had moved in with him because she was with him all the time anyways. Within the first month, she discovered she was pregnant. I canât imagine learning someone while knowing youâre carrying their child. That seems so out of order.
They struggled with money. She had lost her job for being pregnant and they were only living off of his income with bills to worry about and a baby on the way. They were living paycheck-to-paycheck, and anyone who has lived with a significant other like I have, knows the kind of stress finances can put on a couple. Thereâs so much to worry about- food, rent, car insurance, gas, necessities. Itâs hard to be happy when you donât know where your next meal will come from. They were arguing all the time, trying to maintain the stress that comes with being in a relationship. She said they even went through a phase where they were so awful to each other that they were mentally abusive to one another.
This reminded me a lot of my first love, because although I wasnât pregnant with his child, we were living off of his income while I was still in high school and attempting to get my diploma. Our priorities were in very different places at the time- he was worrying about making his car look better and I was the voice of reason, telling him we needed to save our money, even though I didnât always handle it the right way. So I asked her how she got through it, because knowing me, I wouldnât have put up with it; I would have just left. She said that he needed patience and they sat down and discussed how they were making each other feel. Now, they discuss everything instead of arguing.Â
She told me that leaving is sometimes the right thing to do but there will be a person who comes into your life who is worth working for. Relationships and love are a lot of work. For a long time, her fiance argued with her about it and thought that love should come easily with the right person, but thatâs not really how it works, obviously. You and your perfect someone will not necessarily be the same exact person. Everyone is different, but itâs the effort you put into a relationship and that you are willing to put into a relationship that really counts for something.Â
With this story, I thought about what it would be like if I had just stayed with my first love; like what if I just sat down and talked to him instead of letting our negativity get the best of us? What would have happened if we got through that rough patch and found a way to grow with each other? And thatâs something I dwelled on a lot when I was getting over him for the year and a half that it took. I thought a lot about what it would be like if we just tried a little harder, but he is happy now with who he is and who he is meant to be. And, while my friend got her dream job because her fiance pushed her to do so, my ex was not as supportive about my dreams and in a lot of ways, he held me back.
Love is so much more than just butterflies in your stomach or increased heart rate or really fantastic sex. Love is about understanding one another, or at least trying to. Itâs about learning one another and accepting their past because you have one, too. I think thatâs something Iâve really struggled with. I have really struggled with the pasts of my significant others, and I have found someone who refuses to talk to me about it because he doesnât want me to spiral downhill again. Curiosity killed the cat after all, right? I know someoneâs past is important because it shapes who you are, but I suppose there are some things that donât need to be discussed until the moment is right.
Love is learning one another and accepting them for who they are, flaws and all. Itâs looking at someone and knowing youâre going to get through any rough patch that life has thrown you. It is so much more than sweet nothings and late nights. Itâs more than similarities, itâs also holding onto the differences as well. Itâs trusting the other person enough to not worry when they go to work or they come home late. Itâs never questioning who theyâre talking to or whatâs on their phone. Love is not this fairytale where some prince comes and saves you from all of the sadness in your life, because there are going to be sad moments in a relationship, but itâs working through those moments to fulfill happiness in the end. Itâs messy and not always perfect and there are going to be fights and arguments and there will come a point in time when you need space from one another, but itâs knowing things will be okay eventually.Â
I wish I had known all of these things before and maybe my first love could have been my last, but I set him free to be whoever he wanted to be, just like I am so much happier and so much more mature because of my relationship with him. I am ready to fall in love and I donât know who thatâs going to be with, or when itâs going to happen, but Iâm very excited for it now that I have a realistic intake on it.
I know this is really long and so many of you will scroll past this but if one of you-- any of you-- reads this, I hope you really let this sink in.Â
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Obedience & Joy, How Do They Relate?
This fall I went through a dark season. It could have been hormones and living in a dark basement, at least they were contributions. I found myself complaining a lot, feeling angry and needing to be understood. I was just grumpy, most of the time. In reality, I had so many things to be excited about with building a new home and expecting a new baby.  It boiled down to my perspective. I realized that I was letting my circumstances rob me of my joy.  Proud of my epiphany, I shared with a friend who spoke truth to me. She said I did have a lot to be grateful for, my perspective should probably shift, but really circumstances and things arenât what bring us true joy anyway. So I began praying for God to fill me with real joy, like he had done before and to shift my perspective off myself. Where does true joy come from?Â
We think that if we do what makes us happy, we will be happy. If we focus on us, we will feel joy. But that happiness is circumstantial and fleeting, donât let it lure you in. Yes, our new home is lovely and our quality of life is better living here than in momâs basement, but itâs not where joy comes from. The newness will fade away and then what? I have to find the next temporary high to bring me joy, the baby, then a new car, career shift or vacation. That is exhausting and frankly expensive! We do have an enemy that wants to steal our joy by distracting us from our true purpose, diminishing our passions and causing dissension in our relationships with others and with God. He wants us to have a skewed and selfish perspective of what is true and plants those thoughts in our heads. Joy is not only an act of discipline and practice mentally, but a natural response to having an attitude of gratitude, celebration and obedience toward God. Richard Foster said in his book Celebration of Discipline that âwhen we determine to dwell on the good and excellent things in life, we will be so full of those things that they will tend to swallow our problems.â
For so long I looked at obedience and discipline as dirty four letter words. They made me cringe, mostly because they just donât sound fun, they sound like the opposite of celebration and me being forced to do things by sheer will that I donât want to do. You know what, might as well throw the word budget on the list as well. Anyone else with me? Sometimes that does feel like truth, when we are too caught up in ourselves. We donât want to let go and forgive that friend who wounded us. We donât want to seek out Godâs plan for us, because what if it is too scary or uncomfortable? Or worse, what if it involves too much sacrifice of my time, finances or fun? Those are lies my friend. They are not the true heart of God. He aligns our desires with his when we are in relationship with him. He calls us to do things that align with the way heâs uniquely designed us, with just enough discomfort that we do have to rely on him instead of ourselves. But in that, we experience joy. Just like when your own child listens and obeys and is so excited for you to see that they have. It brought them joy to obey. I look at us the same way in the eyes of God.
Iâve been reflecting a lot about joy since that conversation and where it really comes from. Foster would say it comes from obeying Godâs will. And after some reflection I agree. When you are acting in confidence that you are in line with Godâs plan, it not only brings peace of mind, but comfort when you face the inevitable obstacles. A mentor of mine in Mary Kay said once that one of the best gifts she was ever given was the gift of having to rely on God for her needs instead of a paycheck/stable company. That outlook has stuck with Jake and I as we have continued a entrepreneur, non-corporate job lifestyle for over 5 years now. Â It was a perspective shift to trust and obey where God was calling us to go. When I started my Mary Kay business it was on a whim, I donât tend to overthink things. I didnât pray about it, I just signed up because for some reason I wanted to. I didnât overthink the process, if Iâd be successful, how Iâd find the time, etc.. and once I signed up, I just tried my best to figure out how to make it work. But really, I had been praying for an opportunity to get me out of my current job. It wasnât until months after signing up that I felt God tell me this was the opportunity I had been praying for. If he told me before I signed up I probably would have over thought it and put too much pressure on myself! I needed the time to grow and learn before I was remotely prepared to handle the next step God was calling me to. Little did I know how it would grow me over the next 8 years! But most importantly, God put that desire in my heart to do his will when I didnât even know that is what I was doing. But I was praying. Trust your discernment in those situations, he is leading you even when you donât hear clear answers. And if you make the wrong move, he has the power to stop it.
A few years after leaving my job to pursue my own thing, I saw Jake losing his contentment at his corporate position. I always knew heâd be his own boss some day and prompted him to start searching for side projects. When an opportunity came about for him to replace his corporate income with his side gig, I encouraged him to leave. God had grown my faith during that time in my own business to see the evidence of how he could continue to provide for us. Without those experiences, I would have been to fearful, some might call it practical, to encourage Jake to leave a nice, corporate job he was moving up in for a risky, unsteady start-up. In the end, that business didnât pan out as we hoped. There were a lot of ups and downs to say the least, but God continued to provide for us financially through opportunities we felt led to take. He moved us to a loft with the most flexible and generous landlords during seasons we werenât sure how weâd pay our rent. He opened up past side projects for Jake to work on during seasons his startup had no funding. He even opened up a position at our church for me, when I was not looking for a job, but I took it anyway. In every instance, God opened up new opportunities and grew our faith to try them out. Today, just three years after letting go of his startup and beginning his own consulting business again, Jake has been the Chief Technology Officer for his very first client for almost a year now and has the biggest client to date for his consulting business, where he is able to fully employ his brother. That client came from a Mary Kay party. Â I donât say that to brag on Jake, even though I think heâs pretty great, I say that to brag on God. Jake has never had to do any marketing, business finds him. That is clearly God and not coincidence. And you know what, the past 5 years have been the most joy filled years of our adult lives, even when there has been the most uncertainty.Â
God has a plan, and it is beautiful when we trust it. It is much to be celebrated and find joy in. Yet even with all that evidence of Godâs work through our obedience to take the first step, I still found myself in a dark, joy lacking place. None of us are free from allowing lies to creep in and shift our perspective. For me, it was more than shifting my perspective to the good in my life, though that was the first step. We often think that we need to think about what circumstances need to change in order to feel joyful, which may be the case, but usually that thought process leads to more destructive or selfish behaviors. It sends us down a rabbit hole of searching out more things that donât truly cause real joy, instead bring guilt or shame. Joy is a heart issue, since it stems from having an attitude of celebration in life and obedience toward God. My prayer is that if you are reading this and feeling discontent, joyless or just cranky like I was, that youâll not only remind yourself of the good gifts in your life that God has given you, but be willing to seek out his will and obey it. It might feel like the opposite of what will bring you joy, but thatâs a lie the enemy wants you to believe to keep you stuck in your funk. Not sure how to hear Godâs voice to know how to obey? Start by reading his word and start asking him. He will meet you there.
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New Post has been published on http://fitnessandhealthpros.com/fitness/ggs-spotlight-jill-mclean/
GGS Spotlight: Jill McLean
Name: Â Â Jill McLean Age: Â 35 Location: Salem, Oregon
What does being a Girl Gone Strong mean to you? To me it means being strong and confident on the inside and out. It means not being afraid to show off my âgunsâ while also wearing lipgloss. It means not being afraid to be more, to take up space and to encourage other women to do the same by lifting one another up.
How long have you been strength training, and how did you get started? Iâve been strength training for about seven years. I first got started with a popular home DVD workout series that I borrowed from my sister-in-law. I followed that program for about nine months. I saw some great results, and thatâs when people started pouring in with the âHow did you do that?â questions. I quickly learned that I absolutely loved helping others find ways to get strong, and thatâs when I decided that I wanted to be a personal trainer. In order to learn about the field, I decided to hire a personal trainer (who, spoiler alert, ended up becoming my best friend and business partner!). This helped me hone my craft, but it also gave me a lifting partner who was as in love with lifting heavy stuff as I was!
What does your typical workout look like? I always start out with core and pelvic floor exercises for my warm-up. Even though Iâm 16 months postpartum, I still find this a very important part of my exercise program. After that, I start getting into my lifts. Usually they include some type of body weight exercise, barbell and kettlebell exercise. The format looks a little like this:
Core/Power
Push/Pull (Upper and/or lower)
Finisher
A lower volume, higher intensity approach has helped me gain strength without exhausting all of my energy, which is a precious commodity these days with a toddler.
Favorite Lift: The Turkish Get-Up. It is just a flat-out awesome exercise that makes me feel pretty badass.
Most memorable PR: When I got a TGU with the 28kg bell on each side. This PR actually happened for me twice. Once before I had my son, and once after. Training postpartum has been a whole new animal. Itâs been like training with a totally differently body that Iâve had to take time to honor and get to know. So, Iâve nicknamed my PRs after baby as PPPRs (postpartum PRs).
Top 5 songs on your training playlist: I usually donât workout with headphones, so whatever is playing in the gym is good enough for me. But, I usually have to stop and jam to any of five:
Turn Down for What â Dj Snake Feat. Lil Jon
Bad Romance â Lady Gaga
Rock and Roll â Led Zeppelin
Moves Like Jagger â Maroon 5
Sail â AWOLNATION
Top 3 things you must have with you at the gym or in your gym bag: Lip gloss, water bottle, chalk
Do you prefer to train alone or with others? Why? I usually enjoy training with others. Thereâs just something about surrounding yourself with like-minded people who want to enhance their life and feel good.
The energy of a good gym is hard to beat. You never leave feeling worse.
Most embarrassing gym moment: My husband and I met at the gym where we both worked. Normally, I work out in the evening, but because I knew he would be working out there at the same time, I started doing my lifts at lunchtime to you know, impress him with my dedication and super sweet moves of course. I had band-assisted pull-ups in my program, so I got up on the box and went to slide the band around my  heel, only I missed!
The band snapped me right in the crotch. So, there I stood with one leg on the box and the other hiked up to the heavens in the band looking at my crush. He didnât rush over to help me, just stared. And I blurted out, âIâm fine!â No worries, he married me anyway.
Most memorable compliment youâve received lately: âYouâve been kicking butt. Iâm proud of you.â A compliment from my cousin Heidi on my progress with my business lately, which means a lot to me because entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart!
Most recent compliment you gave someone else: âI am digginâ those pants!â A compliment I gave another woman at the gym who was wearing these awesome red workout pants that I totally dug.
Favorite meal: Paleo pizza, hands down!
Favorite way to treat yourself: I love getting pedicures. I could just fall asleep in those comfy chairs.
Favorite quote: âSurround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you, even when you donât see it yourself.â â Edmund Lee
Favorite book: I am a big Stephen King fan. My favorite book is The Stand. Itâs unbelievably long (1,153 pages in the uncut version), and I read it in one summer. It had me riveted, and I cried near the end.
What inspires and motivates you? Â Other strong women. Iâve spent a good amount of time over the past couple of years really finding my tribe. Just like one of your awesome T-shirts says, âStrong women lift each other up.â
Iâve surrounded myself with strong women, and it has truly inspired me to do things that I would have never done before.
Iâve already spent too much time playing small and taking up less space. Spending time with strong women has helped me reach beyond my borders, find my true potential and dream big! BecauseâŚ..why not?! Go for it!
What do you do? I co-own a personal training business with my best friend Cara Turnquist called Movement Duets. We specialize in pre and postnatal training with a focus on core and pelvic floor health. Weâve been running our signature online group training program Fit Mom Foundations for about a year and recently started offering in-person training services in Salem, Oregon as well. I also work part-time as a chiropractic assistant.
What else do you do? This should come as no surprise but my main hobby is weight lifting! I love challenging myself to reach new PRs. I also compete in the Highland Games, which is an awesome extension of what I already love to do. The difference is that not only do I get to lift heavy stuff, I also get to let it go! Itâs awesomely therapeutic, and the Highland Games community is filled with some of the kindest and most amazing people that you will ever meet. I also recently started going out line dancing with Cara which is super fun because the place we go to offers lessons at 7:30 p.m. and weâre home by 10:00 p.m. Perfect for us, because #grandmastatus. Iâm not the best at it, but at the very least I can follow directions, not run into people, and have a lot of fun.
Describe a typical day in your life: I wake up around 6 a.m., hop in the shower, and get ready for the day. After that, my son Jack usually wakes up, and we have a quiet nursing session. This is also when I check my task list for the business, to make sure that I know what I need to have done for the day. Then Jack and I both eat breakfast, and I get him ready for the day. After dropping him off at the babysitterâs house, I head to the gym where Cara and I teach our Mommy and Me classes, pre/postnatal strength training classes, mobility classes, and do individual training sessions and table work. After work my husband (Sam) and I regroup at home with Jack to eat lunch. We usually take a little down time before going back to the gym for my own workout. After that, we head home for the day. Jack usually goes down for a nap in the afternoon and this is when I get my writing for done (blogs, emails, social media posts, etc.). After my writing work is done, the rest of the evening is dedicated to family time.
Your next training goal: 32kg Turkish Get-Up on each side. Iâm coming for ya!
What are you most grateful for? Iâm most grateful for my husband and son. Ever since the day that I met my Sam he put me first. He always goes out of his way to make sure that Iâm taken care of and that I feel special. When I said that I wanted to quit my full-time job to pursue building up my business, he barely even flinched. He said that I had to go for it. Heâs been supportive every step of the way. He also helped give me the greatest gift that I Â could ever ask for, our son, Jack.
What life accomplishment are you most proud of? Giving birth! The labor and delivery of my son changed me in a million and one ways. I never knew that I was capable of such an amazing miracle.
Which three words that best describe you? Funny. Strong. Kind.
Whatâs a risk youâve taken recently, and how did it turn out? I had been working full time at a corporate gym for almost three years when I even first thought about starting a business with my best friend. When I was about to go on maternity leave, my boss at the time gave me an ultimatum: when I was ready to return to work, I was either to work solely for his company or my business. Even though I wasnât taking home a paycheck from it and it had absolutely zero security, I chose my business. Cara and I went all-in. We shaped and molded this beautiful business of helping moms and moms-to-be have fit, healthy pregnancies, successful postpartum recoveries and strength and support during this transitional time in their lives. Our business continues to build, grow, and change and itâs absolutely amazing seeing how it all continues to unfold.
Whatâs the coolest âside effectâ youâve noticed from strength training? Getting strong on the outside and seeing that strength seep into all other aspects of my life. It truly inspires self confidence and strength on the inside as well.
How has lifting weights changed your life? If it werenât for me borrowing that workout DVD set from my sister-in-law, I never would have ended up where I am today. I never would have seen what my body can do. I never would have pursued a career in the fitness industry. I never would have worked at the gym where I met my best friend and husband. I never would have started my business. I never would have shared my story with others.
Lifting weights changed everything. Absolutely everything.
When did you start the Moms Gone Strong, why did you decide to start, and what helped you make the decision to start? I started the Moms Gone Strong program when I was 29 weeks pregnant. I decided to start the program because I knew that how I had been exercising before pregnancy wasnât necessarily appropriate for how I should be exercising during or even after for a while! I believe that every good coach should have a coach, and as a trainer myself, it was really nice to not have to think about my workouts or do my own programming. I was so excited to hear that this was something that GGS was now going to be offering that I couldnât not do it! It was really great to work so closely with Molly and Jessie during the pilot program, and at 16 months postpartum Iâm still continuing to work with Jessie.
What was your biggest challenge in the Moms Gone Strong program? My biggest challenge was my ego. Haha. Prior to becoming pregnant I was already a regular exerciser, and I loved heavy lifting. It was hard for me to let go of heavy lifting for a while, but it was the right thing to do for me and my body. I found my way back to it safely.
Throughout my pregnancy the âI canâ vs. âI shouldâ struggle was constant.
What has been your biggest success from the Moms Gone Strong program? One of the things that my mom friends have told me throughout the years is that after having a baby I should expect to pee my pants. I refused to believe that this had to be the case. I was diligent about my core and pelvic floor exercises and not placing too much stress on my core and pelvic floor, and I am happy to report that it paid off! Iâve had minimal postpartum issues, and I can say with conviction that peeing your pants after you have a baby might be common, but it is not normal. Prevention and healing can happen!
What do you like best about the Moms Gone Strong community? Motherhood can be really, really lonely if you let it be. I really struggled with depression during the first few months after my son was born. Having a community of like-minded women who relate, love, and support you throughout this crazy journey of motherhood made a huge difference. No more crying alone and Googling, âIs it normal toâŚ.?â I just leaned in and asked my sisters.
What is the habit youâre currently working on most? Continuing to do safely do more heavy lifting thatâs appropriate for my postpartum body.
How has Moms Gone Strong changed your life? It brought on so much more body awareness on my part. It helped me to really tune in and learn what âlisten to your bodyâ truly means. Itâs helped me make smart decisions about exercising during pregnancy and after. And itâs introduced me to so many amazing women.
What would you tell a woman whoâs nervous about starting Moms Gone Strong? Whether youâre a regular gym goer or a first time exerciser, this program meets you where you are. The programming is smart so you donât have to wonder if youâre doing the ârightâ things, and the community is a safe place to come as you are and get support along the way.
What do you want to say to women, in general, who might be nervous or hesitant about strength training? I know what itâs like to walk into a gym and not know where the heck to start. Iâve been the one who walked around the weight room, reading all of the instructions on the different machines and hesitantly trying them out, hoping that no one was looking at me. Donât let fear keep you from starting. Go with a friend. Hire a trainer. Reach out, donât hide out. You never know how picking up a weight might change your life. It certainly changed mine.
Exercises To Do And Avoid During And After Pregnancy
There are so many myths about exercising during and after pregnancy, it can be hard to know if youâre doing the ârightâ thing. Our education materials are carefully vetted by OB/GYNs, PhDs, Registered Dietitians, Womenâs Health Physiotherapists, and Pre and Postnatal Exercise Experts, and we have put together this FREE handbook where youâll learn:
The best exercises to do during and after pregnancy
Exercises to avoid during and after pregnancy
Originally at :Girls Gone Strong Written By : GGS
#Jill, #McLean, #Spotlight #Fitness
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GGS Spotlight: Jill McLean
Name: Â Â Jill McLean Age: Â 35 Location: Salem, Oregon
What does being a Girl Gone Strong mean to you? To me it means being strong and confident on the inside and out. It means not being afraid to show off my âgunsâ while also wearing lipgloss. It means not being afraid to be more, to take up space and to encourage other women to do the same by lifting one another up.
How long have you been strength training, and how did you get started? Iâve been strength training for about seven years. I first got started with a popular home DVD workout series that I borrowed from my sister-in-law. I followed that program for about nine months. I saw some great results, and thatâs when people started pouring in with the âHow did you do that?â questions. I quickly learned that I absolutely loved helping others find ways to get strong, and thatâs when I decided that I wanted to be a personal trainer. In order to learn about the field, I decided to hire a personal trainer (who, spoiler alert, ended up becoming my best friend and business partner!). This helped me hone my craft, but it also gave me a lifting partner who was as in love with lifting heavy stuff as I was!
What does your typical workout look like? I always start out with core and pelvic floor exercises for my warm-up. Even though Iâm 16 months postpartum, I still find this a very important part of my exercise program. After that, I start getting into my lifts. Usually they include some type of body weight exercise, barbell and kettlebell exercise. The format looks a little like this:
Core/Power
Push/Pull (Upper and/or lower)
Finisher
A lower volume, higher intensity approach has helped me gain strength without exhausting all of my energy, which is a precious commodity these days with a toddler.
Favorite Lift: The Turkish Get-Up. It is just a flat-out awesome exercise that makes me feel pretty badass.
Most memorable PR: When I got a TGU with the 28kg bell on each side. This PR actually happened for me twice. Once before I had my son, and once after. Training postpartum has been a whole new animal. Itâs been like training with a totally differently body that Iâve had to take time to honor and get to know. So, Iâve nicknamed my PRs after baby as PPPRs (postpartum PRs).
Top 5 songs on your training playlist: I usually donât workout with headphones, so whatever is playing in the gym is good enough for me. But, I usually have to stop and jam to any of five:
Turn Down for What â Dj Snake Feat. Lil Jon
Bad Romance â Lady Gaga
Rock and Roll â Led Zeppelin
Moves Like Jagger â Maroon 5
Sail â AWOLNATION
Top 3 things you must have with you at the gym or in your gym bag: Lip gloss, water bottle, chalk
Do you prefer to train alone or with others? Why? I usually enjoy training with others. Thereâs just something about surrounding yourself with like-minded people who want to enhance their life and feel good.
The energy of a good gym is hard to beat. You never leave feeling worse.
Most embarrassing gym moment: My husband and I met at the gym where we both worked. Normally, I work out in the evening, but because I knew he would be working out there at the same time, I started doing my lifts at lunchtime to you know, impress him with my dedication and super sweet moves of course. I had band-assisted pull-ups in my program, so I got up on the box and went to slide the band around my  heel, only I missed! The band snapped me right in the crotch. So, there I stood with one leg on the box and the other hiked up to the heavens in the band looking at my crush. He didnât rush over to help me, just stared. And I blurted out, âIâm fine!â No worries, he married me anyway.
Most memorable compliment youâve received lately: âYouâve been kicking butt. Iâm proud of you.â A compliment from my cousin Heidi on my progress with my business lately, which means a lot to me because entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart!
Most recent compliment you gave someone else: âI am digginâ those pants!â A compliment I gave another woman at the gym who was wearing these awesome red workout pants that I totally dug.
Favorite meal: Paleo pizza, hands down!
Favorite way to treat yourself: I love getting pedicures. I could just fall asleep in those comfy chairs.
Favorite quote: âSurround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you, even when you donât see it yourself.â â Edmund Lee
Favorite book: I am a big Stephen King fan. My favorite book is The Stand. Itâs unbelievably long (1,153 pages in the uncut version), and I read it in one summer. It had me riveted, and I cried near the end.
What inspires and motivates you? Â Other strong women. Iâve spent a good amount of time over the past couple of years really finding my tribe. Just like one of your awesome T-shirts says, âStrong women lift each other up.â
Iâve surrounded myself with strong women, and it has truly inspired me to do things that I would have never done before.
Iâve already spent too much time playing small and taking up less space. Spending time with strong women has helped me reach beyond my borders, find my true potential and dream big! BecauseâŚ..why not?! Go for it!
What do you do? I co-own a personal training business with my best friend Cara Turnquist called Movement Duets. We specialize in pre and postnatal training with a focus on core and pelvic floor health. Weâve been running our signature online group training program Fit Mom Foundations for about a year and recently started offering in-person training services in Salem, Oregon as well. I also work part-time as a chiropractic assistant.
What else do you do? This should come as no surprise but my main hobby is weight lifting! I love challenging myself to reach new PRs. I also compete in the Highland Games, which is an awesome extension of what I already love to do. The difference is that not only do I get to lift heavy stuff, I also get to let it go! Itâs awesomely therapeutic, and the Highland Games community is filled with some of the kindest and most amazing people that you will ever meet. I also recently started going out line dancing with Cara which is super fun because the place we go to offers lessons at 7:30 p.m. and weâre home by 10:00 p.m. Perfect for us, because #grandmastatus. Iâm not the best at it, but at the very least I can follow directions, not run into people, and have a lot of fun.
Describe a typical day in your life: I wake up around 6 a.m., hop in the shower, and get ready for the day. After that, my son Jack usually wakes up, and we have a quiet nursing session. This is also when I check my task list for the business, to make sure that I know what I need to have done for the day. Then Jack and I both eat breakfast, and I get him ready for the day. After dropping him off at the babysitterâs house, I head to the gym where Cara and I teach our Mommy and Me classes, pre/postnatal strength training classes, mobility classes, and do individual training sessions and table work. After work my husband (Sam) and I regroup at home with Jack to eat lunch. We usually take a little down time before going back to the gym for my own workout. After that, we head home for the day. Jack usually goes down for a nap in the afternoon and this is when I get my writing for done (blogs, emails, social media posts, etc.). After my writing work is done, the rest of the evening is dedicated to family time.
Your next training goal: 32kg Turkish Get-Up on each side. Iâm coming for ya!
What are you most grateful for? Iâm most grateful for my husband and son. Ever since the day that I met my Sam he put me first. He always goes out of his way to make sure that Iâm taken care of and that I feel special. When I said that I wanted to quit my full-time job to pursue building up my business, he barely even flinched. He said that I had to go for it. Heâs been supportive every step of the way. He also helped give me the greatest gift that I Â could ever ask for, our son, Jack.
What life accomplishment are you most proud of? Giving birth! The labor and delivery of my son changed me in a million and one ways. I never knew that I was capable of such an amazing miracle.
Which three words that best describe you? Funny. Strong. Kind.
Whatâs a risk youâve taken recently, and how did it turn out? I had been working full time at a corporate gym for almost three years when I even first thought about starting a business with my best friend. When I was about to go on maternity leave, my boss at the time gave me an ultimatum: when I was ready to return to work, I was either to work solely for his company or my business. Even though I wasnât taking home a paycheck from it and it had absolutely zero security, I chose my business. Cara and I went all-in. We shaped and molded this beautiful business of helping moms and moms-to-be have fit, healthy pregnancies, successful postpartum recoveries and strength and support during this transitional time in their lives. Our business continues to build, grow, and change and itâs absolutely amazing seeing how it all continues to unfold.
Whatâs the coolest âside effectâ youâve noticed from strength training? Getting strong on the outside and seeing that strength seep into all other aspects of my life. It truly inspires self confidence and strength on the inside as well.
How has lifting weights changed your life? If it werenât for me borrowing that workout DVD set from my sister-in-law, I never would have ended up where I am today. I never would have seen what my body can do. I never would have pursued a career in the fitness industry. I never would have worked at the gym where I met my best friend and husband. I never would have started my business. I never would have shared my story with others.
Lifting weights changed everything. Absolutely everything.
When did you start the Moms Gone Strong, why did you decide to start, and what helped you make the decision to start? I started the Moms Gone Strong program when I was 29 weeks pregnant. I decided to start the program because I knew that how I had been exercising before pregnancy wasnât necessarily appropriate for how I should be exercising during or even after for a while! I believe that every good coach should have a coach, and as a trainer myself, it was really nice to not have to think about my workouts or do my own programming. I was so excited to hear that this was something that GGS was now going to be offering that I couldnât not do it! It was really great to work so closely with Molly and Jessie during the pilot program, and at 16 months postpartum Iâm still continuing to work with Jessie.
What was your biggest challenge in the Moms Gone Strong program? My biggest challenge was my ego. Haha. Prior to becoming pregnant I was already a regular exerciser, and I loved heavy lifting. It was hard for me to let go of heavy lifting for a while, but it was the right thing to do for me and my body. I found my way back to it safely.
Throughout my pregnancy the âI canâ vs. âI shouldâ struggle was constant.
What has been your biggest success from the Moms Gone Strong program? One of the things that my mom friends have told me throughout the years is that after having a baby I should expect to pee my pants. I refused to believe that this had to be the case. I was diligent about my core and pelvic floor exercises and not placing too much stress on my core and pelvic floor, and I am happy to report that it paid off! Iâve had minimal postpartum issues, and I can say with conviction that peeing your pants after you have a baby might be common, but it is not normal. Prevention and healing can happen!
What do you like best about the Moms Gone Strong community? Motherhood can be really, really lonely if you let it be. I really struggled with depression during the first few months after my son was born. Having a community of like-minded women who relate, love, and support you throughout this crazy journey of motherhood made a huge difference. No more crying alone and Googling, âIs it normal toâŚ.?â I just leaned in and asked my sisters.
What is the habit youâre currently working on most? Continuing to do safely do more heavy lifting thatâs appropriate for my postpartum body.
How has Moms Gone Strong changed your life? It brought on so much more body awareness on my part. It helped me to really tune in and learn what âlisten to your bodyâ truly means. Itâs helped me make smart decisions about exercising during pregnancy and after. And itâs introduced me to so many amazing women.
What would you tell a woman whoâs nervous about starting Moms Gone Strong? Whether youâre a regular gym goer or a first time exerciser, this program meets you where you are. The programming is smart so you donât have to wonder if youâre doing the ârightâ things, and the community is a safe place to come as you are and get support along the way.
What do you want to say to women, in general, who might be nervous or hesitant about strength training? I know what itâs like to walk into a gym and not know where the heck to start. Iâve been the one who walked around the weight room, reading all of the instructions on the different machines and hesitantly trying them out, hoping that no one was looking at me. Donât let fear keep you from starting. Go with a friend. Hire a trainer. Reach out, donât hide out. You never know how picking up a weight might change your life. It certainly changed mine.
Exercises To Do And Avoid During And After Pregnancy
There are so many myths about exercising during and after pregnancy, it can be hard to know if youâre doing the ârightâ thing. Our education materials are carefully vetted by OB/GYNs, PhDs, Registered Dietitians, Womenâs Health Physiotherapists, and Pre and Postnatal Exercise Experts, and we have put together this FREE handbook where youâll learn:
The best exercises to do during and after pregnancy
Exercises to avoid during and after pregnancy
1. Select Your Handbook
Handbook for Moms (and Moms-to-be)
Handbook for Trainers (who may also be Moms)
2. Enter Your Information
Learn More
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