#clarity and focus

[readsserenes]

Declutter Your Mind: A 30-Day Practical Guide to Stress-Free Living ebook

ebook Declutter Your Mind: A 30-Day Practical Guide to Stress-Free Living is your ultimate roadmap to mental clarity, emotional well-being, and a more focused life. This empowering guide offers simple, actionable steps to help you identify and eliminate mental clutter, develop healthy habits, and reduce stress. Over 30 days, you'll uncover strategies to improve mindfulness, boost productivity, and nurture positivity. Through practical exercises and motivational insights, this book shows you how to prioritize what matters, set boundaries, and embrace a calmer, more intentional way of living. Whether you're juggling a busy schedule or seeking a fresh perspective on life, Declutter Your Mind provides the tools you need to regain control, achieve balance, and unlock a stress-free version of yourself

GET BOOK NOW.

[motivatedsavages]

Get Your House in Order: Why Small Changes Create Big Growth

Overwhelmed by chaos? Small shifts in your space, habits, and mindset can unlock massive growth. Discover how to clear the clutter, focus your energy, and build momentum. Ready to take control? Click to learn more!

Get Your House in Order: Why Small Shifts Create Big Growth A life in order is a life in motion. Start where you are, build what you need. The Truth About Having Your House in Order Let’s get real for a moment. To have your “house in order” doesn’t mean your life looks like a perfect magazine cover or your bank account is bursting at the seams. It doesn’t mean you have all the answers, no…

[gpstudios]

Affirm Your Ability to Attract Opportunities and Resources

Affirm your ability to attract opportunities and resources with an abundance mindset. Cultivate clarity and openness, set clear goals, and inspire others by sharing your journey toward personal and professional success.

In a world abundant with possibilities, the ability to attract opportunities and resources is a skill that can significantly enhance both your personal and professional life. By affirming your capability to draw in these opportunities, you can cultivate a mindset of abundance, clarity, and openness. This positive outlook not only propels you toward your goals but also inspires those around you to…

[thinkscholar]

Unlocking Potential with Fear Setting: Conquer Fears & Make Informed Choices

Discover the power of fear setting, a technique championed by Tim Ferriss, to confront fears, assess risks, and make confident decisions. Dive into real-life success stories and see how fear setting can propel you towards personal and professional success

Fear is an emotion that can hold us back from pursuing our dreams, taking risks, and embracing new opportunities. It can paralyze us, keep us in our comfort zones, and limit our potential. But what if there was a way to conquer fear, not by avoiding it, but by directly addressing it? Enter the concept of “fear setting,” a transformative technique that empowers individuals to face their fears…

[a-path-by-the-moon]

[faronmckenzie]

Sometimes, the greatest act of self-care is creating distance; in the space between, we find the clarity and strength needed to heal, grow and focus on what is truly important.

[ksjanes]

Now is clear staring at me. What is waiting to move into the now, is unclear, unfocused, and unknown. Why is this the place my mind chooses to focus on? Why do I have to remind it to return to the now? Do I love a good mystery, is my curiosity so strong or I'm I bored with now? The unknown captivates me for so many reasons. I'm watching the mind, so clarity can be found in all states of mind.

K.S. Janes

[848ellie]

Inner Strength 🦅 Holding on to our inner strength helps us protect our dreams and nurture our goals. Like an eagle soaring high in the sky, we follow a clear vision and tap into our spirit to overcome obstacles. With every step, we embrace the journey, trusting our inner guide.

[wandoffire]

Crystals for...

Calming/De-stress

rose quartz, amethyst, blue agate, pink tourmaline

Anxiety

green aventurine, labradorite, turquoise, sodalite

Depression

smokey quartz, jet, lapis lazuli

Positivity

sunstone, black tourmaline, smokey quartz, citrine

Intuition

lapis lazuli, amethyst, moonstone

Weight loss

black obsidian, hematite, ruby, green tourmaline

Focus/Clarity

fluorite, citrine, lapis lazuli, clear quartz

Energy

citrine, clear quartz, orange calcite, carnelian

[in-tenebris-et-in-solitudine]

I will remove anyone from my life to protect the peace I've worked so hard for. Nobody took me out of the dark this time. I did it on my own, so who the fuck do you think you are?

[ramblingsfromthytruly]

healing from burn out~

sometimes doing anything is hard. sometimes you really really need to force yourself to get out of your bed - and it's a painful process. it may not happen today, it may not happen tomorrow, but you will heal.

today all i did was wake up, roam around like a zombie, and go back to bed.

but you know what, celebrate the small things too! you can't always be grinding, you're a human being, not a machine.

i brushed my teeth twice.

i completed my biology homework that i need to submit tomorrow.

i took a bath.

it was difficult but healing is difficult.

burning out is painful

but you will heal. it happens eventually if you want it.

[pekoeboo]

ugh. some thoughts.

really been trying to find the joy in drawing/writing again and honestly it's been such a challenge. friends have told me it's most likely depression that's making it hard to feel motivated and tbh they're probably right.

hoping to get back into being creative in the way I Want to be at some point tho. I miss it. there's still so much with my stories and characters that I haven't been able to share or explain and I wish I knew how without it feeling like this daunting, impossible task.

I don't know when I'll get around to actually sharing art again (or writing, if ever). was hoping that I'd manage to get some of my mental and physical issues in check recently for just long enough to get back into the swing of being creative, but that hasn't seemed to work. everything feels bad, both artistically and physically. I'm struggling to keep up with the frantic pace at which my brain comes up with story concepts and intriguing character interactions, even tho everything in me wishes I could turn it into tangible artistic expression so I can get it out of my head and share it. it used to be easy. I don't know why it's not now.

I'm just . tired, I guess.

[cosmos-daughter]

Leon Kennedy character analysis: the agent's endless struggle with guilt and dysfunctional romance with the spy in red.

I saw quite a few people complaining about Leon supposedly flirting with someone in Death Island film (not sure who or if he even does, the film is not out yet as I'm writing this) and accusing him of being out of character because of that, so I had to stop and write this. Seeing people acting as if Leon being flirty with women was something new or unexpected kind of shocked me, since that's been a character trait of his since 2004, then I got the context and apparently, the reason why they are upset over this is actually because Ada.

Apparently, some people expected Leon's flirty behaviour with other women to be gone on the events that are set after Resident Evil 6, because since his feelings for Ada were finally adressed in that game, many assumed they were probably in a relationship in a recent timeline, which explains why this is being treated like a case of infidelity.

Seeing that made me realize that some people, especially fans that are new to the franchise and joined the fandom after the remakes, don't quite understand what Leon and Ada actually have going on or what they mean to each other. It is much, much more complicated and deep than it actually seems, and I want to talk about it in detail here while also providing some canon information to prove the points I make.

Content warning: mentions of alcoholism, depression, suicidal ideation and unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Leon and Ada’s dynamic is tragically funny. Talk about an dysfunctional, unstable relationship. It is definitely not the healthiest. What they have going on is messy and complicated, sure, but that's what makes it entertaining for us, viewers, and what makes Aeon a appealing ship that many love, even if watching them can also be quite frustrating at times. They are the true meaning of star-crossed lovers — two people who love each other but aren’t able to be together, a love that’s doomed from the start — and that's why their relationship has always been presented and described as complicated.

Following their escape, their paths would cross from time to time, Leon as a U.S. government operative and Ada as a spy. Ada makes no qualms about using Leon when it suits her needs, but Leon is loath to bring himself to be done with her. They don't consider each other enemies, but it's hard to tell how they feel for each other. Complicated is the word that aptly summarizes their relationship.

[File from Resident Evil 6 "Leon and Ada"]

That makes two things clear: Leon has feelings for Ada, and he’s a hopeless romantic. He knows when she’s using him, he’s a smart man, but he can’t and doesn’t want to let go of her. Anyone can see that. Each time they interact you can practically sense Leon’s hesitancy through the screen, always seemingly conflicted, wary, as if going through a dilemma of “which one is more important: love or duty?", because even if she’s the woman he loves, that doesn’t change the fact that she’s shady and has worked for the opposite side before — for the people that produce bioweapons — and Leon's determination to keep fighting despite of how exhausted he is comes precisely from his hatred of people who make use of bioweapons and his desire to end this for good. Loving her or not, as long as he's not sure of what her true intentions are, he can't fully trust her. Putting the lives of innocent people at risk is something that Leon will never do by choice, after all, he lives and fights for that, to protect. He'd do anything to stop something like Raccoon from ever happening again. It's the only thing he has left. The only part of his old self that didn't die after the outbreak in 1998 is his urge to protect. Serve and protect. The self sacrificing hero.

Krauser: What is it that you fight for, comrade? Leon: My past, I suppose. [Optional dialogue from original RE4]

In RE6, he protects Ada from Chris and Helena when they try to kill her, but he’s not sure himself if she’s innocent or not. His uncertainty becomes even clearer during the final scene before they part ways again, when he asks her: “What are you? Why are you helping us?”. He's unsure of her goals, whose side she’s on, why she does what she does or what he means to her, but even confused and likely curious, he doesn’t go after her for answers when Helena tells him to. He chooses duty, like a good soldier would.

Damnation takes place months before RE6, and the film very directly implies that Leon and Ada got intimate at some point — probably a couple of times — but their behavior towards one another in RE6 is enough evidence that their involvement never developed into a serious relationship, it never went past a couple of intimate nights.

(Another proof that they weren't in a relationship during RE6 is the fact he shamelessly flirts with Helena at the beginning of the game and he would never do that if he was in a relationship, since loyalty is a big thing of his character too).

What I make up of their relationship from the content Capcom gives us and what they’ve been hinting since 1998 is that they’re less than lovers, but definitely more than friends. I believe they have that kind of relationship that sometimes, Ada shows up at Leon’s doorsteps at night after a long time of not seeing each other and they both missed each other terribly and are also undeniably attracted to one another, so maybe they do sleep together and share a tender, vulnerable moment (that they never really speak of later) and when Leon wakes up in the morning, her side of the bed is coldly empty. I imagine they have physical but not emotional intimacy, and even if they both know how they feel about that deep down, it doesn't matter — neither of them have the luxury of doing feelings. They don’t belong to each other and are free to do as they please, but none plan on moving on from one another. It’s two screwed up humans afraid of commitment loving in the best way they can: messily.

It's also important to mention I believe there's a reason why Leon accepts to be in a relationship like this even if he knows it's not good for him and yearns for more (even if he doesn't admit it, he's a big softie: emotional, romantic, loves people and company, of course he wants more than that). I'd say the reason it’s not only because he loves Ada — even if that's the biggest part of it — but also because he doesn't think himself worthy of having a loving, stable relationship. Leon is an alcoholic who suffers from depression, traumatized, barely has any free time to rest and also works in the most dangerous job in the world that could get him killed anytime. Basically, this man is not very boyfriend material and he's aware of it.

He'd most likely spent the entire time thinking the other person deserves better, deserves someone present in their life and who can give them the love and attention they deserve. With Ada, he’s able to fulfill his emotional and physical needs without having the responsibility of having an actual relationship and without hurting anyone's feelings, because Ada doesn’t expect more from him too. They both know they can't go there. A romantic relationship is probably something he no longer knows how to deal with, ever since his life has changed so drastically. Hell, he can barely take care of himself. So he's fine with the little that Ada gives him, he has to be, and he'll accept whichever parts of her she'll allows him to have. He knows that she’ll never be his, so he has to be fine with having her only for a night. It's no news for anyone that Leon Scott Kennedy is the master of self-sabotage, no one is more cruel to him than himself. Everything in his life is a mess, his love life would hardly be any different.

Now, my favorite part to talk about and the main point of this whole analysis: Leon's insecurity regarding being unworthy of love and peace originates from his survivor's guilt trauma. I will always talk about how cruel and visceral Leon’s case of survivor's guilt is, because it's part the character's essence, you can't have Leon without it. That thing is tied to him. It's a stain on his soul. It will always be with him, even if he manages to heal one day. Since Raccoon City, he lives with an immeasurable amount of guilt regarding every single person that he "failed" to save and protect, knowing they're gone while he’s still alive is too much for him and that results in a worrisome self-destructive behaviour where he thinks he doesn’t deserve to be happy or a normal life, a break from the horrors. He needs to live the rest of his life miserably, fighting incessantly against bioweapons until his last breath, because this is the very least he can do to make amends with everyone he "failed" to protect, and he holds into that failure like it's a hand. A workaholic fueled by guilt and grief.

(EDIT: Leon's voice actor, Matthew Mercer, pretty much confirmed this by saying that Leon holds himself accountable for every death that happens on his watch even if it's out of his control in a interview for the Death Island movie. I know he's the voice actor and not the writer, but since he understands his character perfectly, I find that worthy of mentioning).

Resident Evil: Damnation only further proves his crystal clear guilt issues. The scene where Leon stops Alexander from shooting himself, he says the following:

“The option of taking our own lives no longer belongs to us. Once we start using these, [the gun] we owe it to the people who died alongside us, we have to continue living.”

This whole interaction, Leon stopping a man from killing himself and his words hits differently when you remember that in the original RE2, he actually considered following the same path, and the only reason he didn’t was to protect Sherry and make sure she was safe (this part doesn’t make a lot of sense in the remake since Leon doesn’t meet her until the last cutscene, but we’re referring to the original events here). The reason why he accepted to work for the government in the first place was to ensure they would keep Sherry safe and allow her to live a normal life without being subjected to experiments (a promise they didn't keep, as we see in RE6), even if we all know he didn't have a choice and they offered him out of politeness. He still did all of that for a girl he barely knew. Self sacrifice is a vice of his just as much as alcohol.

"To tell you the truth, I even thought about ending it — several times, actually — with just a quick bullet to the head. But I didn't give up. Sherry needed me. She was a 10-year-old girl thrown into a hellish environment with monsters after her, so I had to pull myself together for her sake. She was our reason for not giving up — especially for Claire.”

[Leon and the Raccoon City Incident]

Leon feels forced to continue this exhausting loop of constantly sacrificing his own mental health and safety in this miserable and dangerous line of work because he believes that he owes that to his fallen comrades and every victim of bioterrorism. Consequently, he also gives up on his chances of having a normal relationship and life, of having a family in the future. He’s seen drinking a lot in Damnation, including during the day, alone in his room. I think that’s pretty self explanatory.

Then we have RE Vendetta — the peak of Leon's depression — where he's seen drowning in alcohol even more during a mental breakdown after losing his whole team being the only survivor yet again. More people dead at his commands, following his lead, more people dead because he can't be the super-hero he wishes so badly he was, all that while he still breathes and gets to see another day. Leon doesn't have a lot of stability in his life and he loses people important to him all the time, yet he never gets desensitized to it.

He questions if living is really worth it in the film:

“I keep fighting... and fighting and fighting, and instead of seeing an end to this shit, it just keep getting worse. Is this what my life is supposed to be? Fighting the living dead and bastards that make them? What's the point of it all?”

The accumulated years of misery finally led Leon to his limit. He is beyond exhausted, he knows it’s not fair to him, he shouldn’t have to live like this, he’s desperate for a little bit of normalcy, yet he still goes back to fight. He can't run away from duty, and he sure as hell can’t turn a blind eye to bioterrorism no matter how tired he is. Vendetta is set one year after RE6, so it’s clear that his thing with Ada hasn’t evolved since then, and it seems that it's been a while since they last saw each other, and maybe that also adds on the reasons why Leon snapped, since she's the closest to a constant in his life, the only thing he can always count to come back to him, even if he doesn't knows when.

It’s not hard to believe a man like that would avoid a serious relationship at any costs. But doing that is not easy for him, Leon is very emotional and so incredibly lonely and touch-starved, he wants the love, even if he doesn’t think he deserves it. While I have no canon evidence about this, I can see him being the type who gets one-night stands once in a while, just when he’s feeling too alone and in need for a distraction and relief, I think that he feels a little needed and loved when he’s touching and being touched by the other person, even if it’s only for the night. But he refuses to emotionally connect with the person, not only because his heart belongs to another, but because he doesn't want to risk someone falling for him; Leon is very emotionally intelligent and responsible, he thinks of people's feelings, considers them, and takes it very seriously.

I see Leon’s womanizer behaviour as a coping mechanism for his loneliness and his own way to lighten the mood and make those women not panic during the situation of absolute chaos and danger they're usually in with him. It's also simply because he enjoys women, obviously, I'm not denying that, but his flirting never bothered me because of how respectful he is — he never takes it too far or makes them uncomfortable by being inappropriate. There's a reason why all the women he flirts with, especially those like Hunnigan and Helena — who have serious personalities & don't seem the type to enjoy that kind of men — end up adoring him and seeing him as a dear friend. We can also tell he's not playing with them and trying to make them fall for him by the way he only flirts straight up shamelessly with the strong-type of women who he knows won't fall for him, and with the soft type (like Ashley or Manuela) who might actually have a crush on him, he's more careful and mostly friendly — ocasionally teasing and a little light flirting too, but that's just his way of being playful. Leon is a charismatic, charming man by nature, what can he do about it?

So, considering all this, it's pretty much clear why a relationship is out of the question for him, no person in their right mind would want to subject themselves to be in a relationship in which your partner is completely secretive about their work life, or having to live with the anxiety of going to sleep at night not knowing if they're still alive when they leaves for their missions; people want a relationship for security, stability, reassurance, comfort and peace, not to be tormented. With Ada, Leon doesn’t need to worry about any of that. She isn’t going to ask him questions nor is she going to stay up at night worrying if he’s going to come back home, because they don’t have that kind of relationship. And it's not that Leon would hate having that kind of relationship, especially with her, it's the opposite, he secretly craves it. I think there's nothing he'd love more than laying with the person he loves on his arms at the end of a long day, seeing their face lit by the rays of sun in the morning, doing the typical clingy couple things, the casual affection; but he has a job to do and he knows he can't have both.

I don’t agree with the usage of the word ‘toxic’ to define his relationship with Ada, because that makes her seem like a horrible person when it’s not the case; none of them is forcing the other into this relationship, they both just fall in with it because they know that this is the closest to a romantic relationship that people like them can afford to have. And also because this relationship isn't entirely bad for them — we don't know much about Ada, unfortunately, but we know enough about Leon to have a guess that what he has with her is enough to provide him at least a little bit of comfort, and God knows he needs it.

Even if we don't have enough content of her like her feelings, traumas and motivations to write a fully detailed essay, we know that even if she doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve like Leon does, Ada loves him too. And yes — she uses him to reach her goals during her missions, plays little games with him, but I believe the latter is part of a façade (I'll get into this later), and she never did anything to hurt him or put him in danger. She’s a focused, calculative woman who will play dirty to get what she wants, yet she often goes out of her way to help Leon every time he’s in trouble instead of considering it a nuisance. Coming from someone like her, that means a lot. She’s the one who throws him the rocket launcher in RE2 during the fight against the Tyrant, she’s the one who stops Krauser from killing him in RE4 (original, in the remake it is Luis' doing), she goes against Wesker’s orders to keep him safe, and helps him many times in RE6 and Damnation too. Ada is always watching him from the shadows and would never let anyone harm him. The way she trusts Leon becomes evident with how she always lowers her guard around him in a way you never see her doing with anyone else — like that choking scene from the original RE4 (it was cut from the remake), no other person would be able to catch her off guard like that. She's at ease around him.

Something else I noticed is how Ada only acts cool when in front of him. In the original RE4 you can see how she puts that unbothered, cool and mysterious woman show on when face-to-face with him, but as soon as he isn't watching her, the façade drops and she looks at him as if he's the most precious person in the world, she has the biggest heart eyes for him, even if she doesn't let him see it. I believe the only time she showed it to him is when he saves her from Saddler and asks her if she's okay, to which she replies with a weak "I've been better", and gives him the softest smile ever. There is so much tenderness in that look she gave him. Also, the way she talks about him: in the original Separate Ways she compliments his skills, intelligence, and refers to him as "practically a genius"; it's obvious she admires and respects him immensely.

My point with this is that the reason why she does that, the reason why Ada doesn’t give too much to Leon, is because she knows it’s just going to make things more difficult for both of them. After all, leaving would be much harder after hearing a “I love you”, after making promises or plans. They both know how they feel too, so there is no need for words. As I said before, their love isn’t exactly the healthiest, it's probably something that hurts them both, but as long as they can see each other again, they can endure the pain that comes with the separation.

Like Leon said himself, she's a part of him that he can't let go, but no matter how much they cherish each other, the end never changes; Leon and Ada are always meant to go to their separate ways.

[eastbluecrewed]

strategy for getting through final weeks of school year. draw sabo 1 billion times

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

This may sound strange coming from me, ardent Chuuya analyst and fan, but I’m uh… not 100% sure how I feel about the changes to the new cannibalism stage play… I’m happy he’s getting some more main story focus but idk. Idk. However, I want to wait and see what happens with the stage play before I’m too critical, because I know how much love and effort get put into these productions - they’re always absolutely wonderful and I am excited to see the hard work of the backstage crew and cast.

[uncanny-tranny]

how old were you when you started testosterone? i want to start before i’m 18 so i don’t have to deal with that while applying to/starting college. i want to have it all figured out by the time i leave home. i thought 16 would be a good age because i also want to start while i’m in high school so i can catch up to the other boys and pass better. but my mom has been reading studies and she says it interrupts brain development and doesn’t want me starting hormones until i’m at least 18. but i don’t know if i can make it that long and i really don’t want to have to wait.

I started when I was an adult since it can be simpler, so I don't know on that end if it will be easy for you.

However, it is odd to me to say it will interrupt brain development as though hormones can stop your brain's development. Your brain will still develop, and indeed, it will continue to do so even after you are over eighteen. I won't contest that hormones might alter your brain in the way it responds to stimuli, but it won't be stunted. Like... you've already got testosterone in your body, and what HRT does it raise those levels to what is more "typical" as if you were a cisgender, perisex (i.e., not intersex) man.

Here's a 2020 metastudy I found about this if you want to read on your own, which includes studies done on those seeking both testosterone and estrogen treatment.

Much of these discussions are hindered by small sample sizes. However, with data, it seems as though hormone treatment isn't drastically reducing cognitive abilities, as much as I've seen people act as though it does. Your brain will continue to develop well after any puberty because that's what brains do. Hormones can surely influence your brain, but it is not like it will kill it.