#i ofc don’t miss the stress but the experience itself was incredible

[irlplasticlamb]

Did you go to art uni? What were the most important things you learned?

i did yes :) i think the most important thing i learned is to experiment and to put at least a little bit of meaning behind every element of your art piece — that’s why i got so into animal motifs and flower language, i think they’re such a lovely way to present stuff! but honestly my course was very lenient, it was mostly about you doing you and tutors giving you advice where necessary!

[sl-c]

honestly thank you for being so honest online even if it’s not always positive. i just saw ur snap about only exercising 3 times this month and i’m struggling the exact same, i’ve only had 1 day off work in the past 2 weeks and all my shifts have been pretty much 9 hours busy on my feet as a barista and i just don’t have it in me to gym after that but i’m finding it really hard to accept and not push myself (i’ll have a breakdown if i do i know but lol i’m so hard on myself for missing)

aw I’m glad it helped, that’s exactly why I post when things aren’t always perfect because it’s so important to remember we’re all human, we all go through struggles & to be kind + real with ourselves. 

I can totally understand how you feel & how exhausting it gets. My hours over Christmas were just like that & that is exactly why I took a break from exercise to begin with. No it’s not the same as going to the gym but being on your feet & under that kind of stress is still a workout in itself! 

Look the best thing you can do is be real with yourself & make a decision. Feeling guilty comes from the idea that you have the option to go to the gym but for an unjust reason aren’t going, when in reality you have a completely just reason not to go, in fact, as you said, it would be better for you not to go otherwise you will have a breakdown, not to mention probably exhaust yourself further & then not being able to work or work properly. Personally, I made the decision before working those hours that I was not gong to put any added stress to my routine including pressuring myself to exercise (which usually involves getting up earlier, reducing my sleep etc etc), unless ofc I had some spontaneous amount of time & energy, but realistically I told myself that was incredibly unlikely. Then once I was working I hardly felt stressed or guilty about it & I could really focus on resting/recovering after work, sleeping & just being able to keep up work & earn the money I needed basically. 

Ultimately it really comes down to priorities & although exercise is incredibly important sometimes other things can be important in the short-term. I also think it’s really important not to have a relationship with exercise, or anything for that matter, where you can’t be flexible & have time off it at some point or another, particularly if it’s for something important.

I also have some tips for little things you can do that don’t require as much time, effort & energy as the gym but that can still give you some endorphins, help you keep positive, help clear your mind, help you get that feel-good mojo going, relax you or wake you up etc etc:

cold showers - super refreshing, helps wake you up, helps get the circulation going, can help regulate movements (if you get me)

face/hair masks - having a big pot that you can go to whenever you feel stressed is sooo helpful, relaxing & rewarding, not to mention good for your skin if you buy the right product

little yoga flow - you can do it anywhere, anytime & you can choose what kind of flow depending on your energy levels. I find even just 10-20 minutes of yoga (e.g. before or after work) is so good for keeping me calm, clearing my head, getting movement to my body & makes me feel so much better about everything. I highly recommend the app ‘downward dog’ which is the best yoga app I’ve found - it allows you to completely customise your yoga flow from time, experience, focus to even playlist

daily stretching (morning, evening, lunch break etc) - follow the same stretching routine everyday not only helps you get into a helpful habit but also relaxes you, gets the body moving & allows you to connect with your body

journaling - this has always been something I’ve found great release in. Sharing all your thoughts openly is so cathartic & whether you’re writing about how exhausted you are or how feel you bad about not exercising or maybe that you had a cute date with someone, I find it all really helps you let go, relax & not feel so bad about things that may be going on

walking around the block - even just a 10 minute walk is scientifically proved to help your mental health & clarity so much. Never underestimate a little walk around the block at whatever time of day. 

DANCE - having a little dance around your place while you’re getting ready for work, on the way to work, cooking dinner at home - whatever - is so good for the body, mind & soul!!

swim in the ocean - refreshing, awakening, relaxing, soothing, healing, just fkn everything. Whether you swim laps or you’re quickly in an out, swimming in the ocean is magic. I find this particular good for before work if you need to wake up & in the evenings just before bed so you can have a warm shower & feel cleansed (esp. good with friends night swimming) 

hope that helps & all the best. xxxx

[moonraccoon-exe]

Not ffxv related and not to pry, but how was the Day of the Dead festival? It seemed fun and beautiful!(｡>﹏

I just learned the word Pry thanks to you. Thank you! Also, what an incredibly nice ask, dhsfjngf, thank you so much!! I could talk about this sort of stuff all day! (ノ*°▽°*)

Actually, I….couldn’t be in the parade, not at all. You mean that one, right? From the photos I shared in a reblog, the Day of the Dead parade at the City. :3

I tried to go, but the circumstances…well. We were late. My goal was to go to the main square where the parade would gather as the destination, but my family is more the “Let’s stay in one place” philosophy (while I’m the “let’s walk 5 kilometers!” one), so that’s me against 3 of them, and we stayed in the same place.

I also happen to be…incredibly smol. And, ya know, you hoomans are pretty darn tall.

So I couldn’t see anything…   (╥ω╥)

I could have a good glimpse here and there, and there were giant balloons, and big floats, so that I could see. But the walking Catrinas and Catrines, and the dancers by foot, or the low part of the floats? Nope. 

So the family not wanting to walk all the miles and the circumstances on arriving late, yeah…I could get to see a good ten minutes of the parade, probably, but that’s it. 

… *sad sigh*

I DID get to see a float that represented one of Xochimilco’s trajineras (or gondolas of sorts!), which carried with a full dead mariachi band! The costumes and make-up were great and they were playing, but all the crowd and noises had the music a bit overwhelmed so you had to be pretty close to listen.

So yeah. To be honest, it was a very disappointing and sad day for me, because I tried to be in time and I was super eager and excited on the parade, because I love Day of the Dead and all its thematic and the traditions, but, you know, sometimes hanging with the family is much more different as if you were alone or with a buddy. So, I was late, couldn’t go where I wanted, and saw only 10 minutes of the parade, from which I could have seen maybe 3 things due to the crowd and this poor 30 cm tall raccoon at the very back trying to see, but with no luck.

To be honest that day only worked so my family got stressed (before arriving), and to walk by streets I hadn’t been to after the great earthquake, only to find severly damaged buildings that only did but remind me about the tragedy.

So as a personal experience, that was uhm well yeah. Terrible ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

But on the 1st, I did go out to the city again, this time with a friend, and it was good!

No parade, but the celebrations were still going on. Traditionally, Day of the Dead starts on the 28th of October and they finish on November 2nd, but the most celebrated days are the 1st and 2nd (when the souls of the gone ones come to visit), and we get official rest day only during the 2nd. 

But the celebrations go on all over these days, and it was great!

The city gets incredibly pretty. Day of the Dead is possibly the prettiest national day.

There’s cempasúchil flowers everywhere (the orange petals from the movie Coco or Book of Life? Those beautiful flowers, and yes, they’re bright orange in real life! Not glowy, ofc, but the colors is super stunning), and a lot of decorated skulls everywhere.

There’s always (during these days) a lot of Catrinas and Catrines walking around (the skelletons with dresses and suits?), you don’t need to perform anything, you can just wear the make up if you want. There’s people who will paint you as Catrina or Catrín for the equivalent of two dollars or a dollar and some do it free just for the spirit of Day of the Dead. :3

There were a lot of kids going around in costume, and the streets get all decorated.

There’s a lot of Ofrendas (altar offerings?) everywhere, too. Our biggest university (the UNAM, listed in the best universities of the world [and it’s literally and entirely FREE, hnfghf

Pan de Muerto, Bread of the Dead, is in every bakery! And most shops get in the spirit, as well.

There’s orange and purple everywhere, and a lot of papel picado hanging EVERYWHERE! And candles and hngfnfdngfg

In the main Square, there’s some Xolo dog sculptures (like Dante, from movie Coco?), and some Catrinas, it’s one big art exhibition. It also has an Ofrenda, more like a sculpture of sorts, in honor of the people who helped in the disaster after the earthquake of 19/9, all in skelleton form. I didn’t get a close look at all of them, but they even included the guy that made it viral on the net because he’s in wheelchair but he was in one of the zones of disasters helping. :)

It wasn’t in our route and I’d have been too scared to offer look, but I heard there were Ofrendas in some of the collapsed buildings where people died…

The lost lives of that day were also celebrated and given a moment of silence at the main square during the parade, but, as you know, I couldn’t be there, and so the brigadists and the people who helped were celebrated and given a thought. ♡

And at night, I was attending the door for our Trick or Treat! We don’t ask candies on the 31st, rather on the 1st (and some kids on the 2nd, too), and what we ask for is for a Calaverita (a “little skull”).

So yeah, while I couldn’t be in the big party, it’s always one big party, haha! I just missed the big part of the big thing, but the big thing lasts for days. 

I adore my city because it gets FULL to the very top of every form of art according to the situation, and they always blow my mind. Day of the Dead is never the exception. 

There’s so many free activities, Catrinas offering photos and always in character, so many colorful skulls, and ofrendas, and flowers, and hhhnnngfnfngnfnfgf

It always gets beautiful and fun, so this year was beautiful and fun, yes!! So many people having fun, so many, SO, SO SO SO SO MANY COLORS in EVERYTHING and ANYTHING (lights and paper and flowers and clothing and art and everything), so much art everywhere, omfg 

I’d try to explain just how pretty everything is, even if it isn’t during the parade itself, but I just can’t. You’d need to see. People are so full of spirit and passion, and that makes them do such beautiful, stunning things. (o´▽`o)

Except for the It I found walking around, he was scary :’(

A-ah, I’m sorry if this got too long, Lifea!! I just get so excited, because it DOES get very beautiful and fun! I’ve seen photos and videos from my friends who could attend the parade, and DAMN, was it STUNNING. Gotta thank the James Bond movie that gave us the idea for the parade; that wasn’t a thing until Bond said it WAS a thing so we were like “Oh, okay, let’s make it a thing, sounds like fun :”, lmao.

The clothing of the dancers were BEAUTIFUL. Every float was SO CREATIVE, there were Alebrijes too, so many of them and all so STUNNING, and so much music and dancing and THE HUGE BALLOONS and basically my people are ridiculously creative and it was amazing.

If you want I can search for more photos online or videos so you get a look into it, it gets very pretty!! (ノ*°▽°*)

Hnfghdfngf, I made it longer now, ahaha!!

I’m sorry Lifea, and thank you sososodojsdfjids much for asking! I kind of wanted to share something about it here but I was too shy, so that you asked encouraged me and here I am, answering. (o´▽`o)

Aah, thank you so much again, I hope such a long answer wasn’t a bother. Day of the Dead celebrations were incredible. It’s such a beautiful tradition. :3

Thanks again, Lifea. I hope you had fun celebrations too!   ( ´ ▽ ` )