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takemetodragonstone · 4 months
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there’s nothing like a phobia-induced panic attack to really wake you up in the morning
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bewitchingbooktours · 4 years
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A Warrior’s Kiss by Celia Breslin - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
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Celia’s Must-See TV Shows For Halloween
Halloween month is the perfect time to binge some paranormal TV shows. Add these to your binge-list.
* Chilling Adventures of Sabrina -
Good vs. evil, angsty teens, wacky witches.
* iZombie -
Dark comedy with zombies quarantined in Seattle. Brain cuisine jokes.
* Legion -
  People with powers and power struggles. Surreal, sometimes scary, and totally quirky and compelling.
* Legacies -
Teen werewolves, vampires, witches at a boarding school fraught with peril.
* Lucifer -
NetFlix saved this fab show, serving up one sexy devil and a strong female lead.
* The Magicians -
College students/magicians tangle with supernatural forces and other worlds. 
* Stranger Things -
An alternate dimension, monsters, plus government experiments, and one tough girl with wicked powers, oh my!
* The Umbrella Academy -
a dysfunctional family of funny, flawed, and powerful superheroes. Quirky, action packed, and 100% entertaining.
Happy viewing and Happy Halloween!
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A Warrior’s Kiss
The Cupid Dating Agency
Celia Breslin
Genre: Paranormal RomancePublisher: Celia BreslinDate of Publication: August 4, 2020ISBN:  9781393477938ASIN: B08FFCWNF2Number of pages: 116Word Count: 28K
Cover Artist: Brantwijn Serrah
Tagline: She’s chasing her dream. He’s after her heart.
Book Description:
French teacher turned entrepreneur, Nicolette Durand has one goal in mind when she leaves the big city for a quaint town in the California wine country, and it has nothing to do with men. Intent on converting the antique store she inherited from her aunt into a booming new business with her bestie, Nicky doesn’t care how many dating edicts the cupids send her, she’s simply too busy. Then a hunk of surly angel crashes into her life. Literally.
Ezekiel is less than delighted when the Almighty assigns him and his elite team of warriors to Earth with instructions to help the cupids. Now Heaven’s top soldiers are running two businesses, including a gastropub where speed dating events are a part of their mission. But Zeke may have to rethink his surly position on this earthbound gig after he meets the kind, considerate and curvy biz owner next door.
Nicky is sure she has no time for a relationship, not even with the gorgeous hunk of heaven who rocks her world, but Zeke is determined to convince her otherwise. Too bad a supernatural disaster and thousands of Hell’s minions intent on destruction and mayhem might stand in their way…
Amazon
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     Vivlio
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Excerpt:
“Think he’s dead?” The whispered question quieted his internal whining.
Nice voice. Soft and smooth, like velvet. Feminine. Clearly, he wasn’t alone.
“He sure looks dead.” A second woman replied, louder and with a chuckle.
He suppressed a scowl and kept his eyes closed. She thinks this is funny?
Bodies shifted behind whatever his head had cracked into, edging closer to either side of him.
“There’s no blood, though,” she of the velvet voice murmured. “Shouldn’t there be blood? […].”
Ah, their business neighbor. She came to a halt near his head, her body heat and peaches-and-honey scent saturating his senses. He should open his peepers and say something, see if the female looked as good as she sounded and smelled.
Shit. Where had that reaction come from? He had no room in his life for a woman, especially not a mortal woman.
“Maybe we should check for a pulse,” the one Peaches had called Maya suggested.
“I’m not touching his body.”
Fast reply from Peaches. Jesus, did he look so horrible? And double Jesus, why did her opinion matter? He must have hit his head harder than he imagined.
“C’mon, girlfriend. It’s a big, beautiful body. How can you not want to get your hands on it?”
Listen to your girlfriend, Peaches. No. Wait. Belay that order.
“Really, M? One-track mind much?”
He tensed to haul his ass upward, but a soft, gentle hand landed on his shoulder, feather light, then slid down his bare arm, kicking up a riot of electric sensation along his skin. He should move, but damn if he didn’t want to see what she would do next. Or touch next.
Warm fingers palpated his inner wrist, right over his madly beating pulse. Racing for her? A human female he hadn’t even laid eyes on? Shit. […]
Eyes shooting wide, he sat up.
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About the Author:
Celia lives in California with her husband, daughter, and two feisty cats. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and has a particular fondness for werewolves, vampires, the Fae, and warrior-class angels. Her stories are action-packed and typically include one of the many varieties of romantic entanglements: fated mates, second chance, rescue romance, opposites attract, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and more.
When not writing, you’ll find Celia exercising, reading a good book, hanging with her family, or indulging her addiction to Joss Whedon’s TV shows and movies, as well as everything in the Marvel Universe franchise.
Web site: 
http://www.celiabreslin.com
Blog: 
http://www.celiabreslin.com/blog/
Twitter: 
http://www.twitter.com/celiabreslin
Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/CeliaBreslinAuthor
Goodreads: 
http://www.goodreads.com/CeliaBreslin
Pinterest: 
http://www.pinterest.com/celiabreslin/
Instagram: 
https://www.instagram.com/celiabreslin/
Newsletter:  
http://eepurl.com/bxqwRL
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[Professional] Amazon AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate AWS-SYSOPS Dumps Questions Exam Dumps & AWS-SYSOPS Dumps Questions Questions and Answers
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finsterhund · 6 years
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Here lies 2018, a creatively bankrupt year for Finsterhund, but maybe that is for the best.
This year was um... bad... I think. But that doesn't stop me from really being hopeful for the future. I have a dark confession though. I feed off of negativity in a way that scares me and I don’t know how to face it.
Here’s my thoughts about the past year and my hopes for the future. Warning: it gets dark.
This year we moved into a “temporary house” another one, but this time it was one I actually cried because of how much I was actively afraid to live here. That didn't convince my roommates though lmao. No proper bedroom lighting, having to walk through a dark forest to get to the bus stop, and suspicious neighborly activities were things that I had to deal with here. It is oh so fortunate that I will be moving.
After 2017; the Year of Wannabe, being lied to about my dog dying, and getting groomed by someone who was nice to me on the internet (again) I was an emotional wreck. I was paranoid that abusive people like Wannabe, his artist, my dad, the guy I thought was my friend, and others similar might cause issue or be even more of a problem this year. Fortunately, the horrible fears I assumed may transpire and ruin everything did not rip through Internet Land(tm) but I was still kept in a constant state of paranoia.
The antifandom didn't return either, with the exception of a vindictive troll called Zachary. You’ll probably notice that my posts about him trailed off relatively recently. It was revealed that he was dealing with verbally abusive parents. While they don’t excuse his actions, they certainly explained them. I only hope with time he gets out of that environment and learns to express opinions in a healthy way. That’s something I still struggle with. For similar reasons.
A youtube gaming channel did play HoD and spread some false allegations against the game’s devs “as a joke” which was pretty sick and not actually a joke. False allegations are bad. They diminish when people do actual real bad things and make the people who do those bad things feel empowered to say “you are just a call out post maker who hates free speech” and things like that. But fortunately, people who aren't completely stupid didn't believe it.
So despite nothing really serious happening this year, I was still considerably anxious. My mental state has been slowly and surely getting worse every year I’m not medicated, and my physical health has been blatantly declining too. The symptoms of my weaker immune system have been getting worse, and my appetite has been getting bigger. I've found out recently that unlike regular depression and most mental illnesses and disorders, cabin fever can cause heightened appetite and food cravings. For the longest time I felt invalid because my mental illnesses are supposed to take away my appetite, not make it worse, but by finally acknowledging that I suffer from longterm cabin fever, I've come to terms with the fact that it does indeed make sense.
Now to find a way of dealing with cabin fever... haha... ha...ha.
But my situation left me creatively bankrupt. Paranoid, anxious, and very tired. I still did draw and try to write, but that gradually became harder and harder as my laptop began to fail in the summer. In fall, finally, when Microsoft forced that October update, the hard disk stopped for good, and I lost the considerable amount of things left that I hadn't yet backed up. Despite getting a replacement that I can still draw and write with, a big chunk of my passion died with that hard disk. I’m very sentimental, I don’t let go of things easily. The end of an era can make it so that the new era takes way too long to start up from the rubble.
Interestingly enough however, is that the same creative affliction and severe negative downward spiral that killed my ability to draw and write after the death of my laptop also happened to Wannabe’s Artist, for no reason, who sub sequentially just started tanking emotionally. This is something I've noticed a few times. The people who hurt me having bad things happening to them that follow the same trend of bad things happening to me. Wannabe’s computer being plagued by the same Windows 10 updates that killed mine, Wannabe’s Artist losing her passion.
I've come to the conclusion that the reason why the universe forces me to suffer is in order to make the evil people who have done bad things to me suffer as well. It’s a form of balance. I must take the same bullet that they do. I know this is likely my paranoia and psychosis talking, but I really feel that if karma does exist, that is how it works. I take comfort in my suffering, because it has to be this way. Good can only exist because of suffering also existing. If I am to be a lighting rod, I hope that the good that comes as a result of my pain is powerful and beneficial to the other people who receive it.
The internet censorship has gotten worse, but considering where I stand on certain issues now, part of me thinks that’s for the best. Am I willing to sacrifice certain freedoms in order to ensure that evil people don’t feel welcome? Well, I don’t know, but it was nice seeing Wannabe’s Artist almost get banned from multiple websites and actually get banned from several. She made a new tumblr account and it promptly got banned. She made ANOTHER new tumblr account and lost in in the purge. Despite me not liking censorship, there’s a strange poetic justice watching it claim someone you don’t like as the result of nothing more than their own actions.
It’s strange how perspective can change how you think about things. Your world view can shift with one different experience. I hope that I have not been permanently shifted into being a combative person because of this.
There’s a really strange and extremely malicious and negative but still gratifying comfort in knowing that awful people who ruined your life are suffering just the same as you. We all are little mortal beings made of flesh being buffeted around by a cold uncaring world. It was the same feeling I got watching the security footage of my predator birth father being tasered after punching a police officer. Police brutality is wrong, I’ll never say it isn't. But the fact that it is wrong doesn't mean that he didn't deserve it. There’s a sickness deep in my heart to derive enjoyment in the suffering of others, something that I feel destroys what little purity I've managed to hold onto and hoard away and value so highly as a remnant of what I used to be, but I don’t know how to fight it. It feels instinctive to be honest, like gratification or release. I’d like to say that only genuinely awful people suffering make me feel like this, but even some people who I just don’t like will have bad things happen and I’ll have to stop myself from feeling enjoyment from it. Is there a way to cure this? Prevent it? Is it selfishness or is it entirely subconscious? How do I even start not feeling this way. I don’t know. I don’t want it in my life. I want it to stop. But it just fills me before I have a chance to tell myself it’s wrong.
Do I feel awful, guilty, and ashamed that I feel this way? Of course. Do I know that it’s wrong to feel this way? Also yes. At this point though, my vicious hatred of those who have done me wrong is a very powerful motivator. To live just to spite them, to go through hardships to sit back and watch them do the same. To see that those my paranoia-riddled brain deems “powerful beings of abuse” being tripped and cut and crushed by the same mortal perils that make it hard for me to keep on going is a better psychosis cure than anything I've had access to this year. “If it bleeds, we can kill it” that sort of thing. Humanizing these big imposing evils by remembering that they are people, just like me, is the key to getting over my fear of them. The same problems I face are faced by them. How then can they be agents sent by an organization or monsters specifically created by the universe to torment me? We’re all just little dudes. Them included.
I hope with time I can learn to stop delighting in the hardships of others, even if these people are bad, have done bad things, or have done me wrong. It’s a toxic mentality to have those thoughts, even if it’s the fire I need to dig myself out of the pits I've fallen down into.
This year I “lost” a good friend of mine. Lili. I have no way of knowing if you are safe, if you have gotten better, and I refuse to entertain the alternative. You stopped coming online completely and I briefly received anonymous messages from a relative saying you were deathly sick, then nothing. I think of you every day and pray you are alright. I miss you a lot. I hope you’re happy and healthy wherever you are.
This year I had a friend have a cancer scare, and I lost someone I had grown to consider a friend at the beginning of spring to cancer in the summer. I don’t know how to process it. I don’t handle death properly. I've more so been numb and in denial of it. I’m afraid of losing people I care about. They’re the only good in the world to me.
I deny my own mortality, I joke about it, I crave it. But it comes into my mind when I’m trying to sleep too. Apparently I have just short of ten years left, if estimations about atrophy are to be believed. But I am not a statistic, I’m a person. I think “Since I am going to die soon anyways why couldn't I die instead of this person? Why couldn't I be in the hospital. This person deserves to live. They do good in the world. What will I do?” But at the same time, I think “How will I manage to live my dreams in just ten years. How will I have a full life? Maybe they’re wrong and I’ll be 100 years old when I am dead. But what if it is true and I’m just starting to live when it ends? What happens when it ends?” Every year pushes me closer to facing that, and I don’t know how. Once my metabolism slows, what will that mean for my heart? Will it be another fluke where “life finds a way” or will they be right this time? It scares me. It really does. My current plans are expecting that I will need mobility assistance devices then. I deny the expedited mortality. But I think about how I haven’t accomplished much and I feel a strong sense of loss.
Unfortunately, and probably a big reason for my downward spiral was that I set my hopes up for something this year that wouldn't happen, and didn't happen.
2018 Marked the 20th anniversary for Heart of Darkness, and I practically begged and pleaded to the universe, wished on every wishing star, and did everything short of selling my soul for a remake, sequel, art book, remaster, anything.
Needless to say, these efforts were in vain. I watched as other beloved games that I had fond memories of like Spyro and Crash got remastered, hoping and pleading that HoD would follow suit.
And it didn't.
I set myself up for disappointment, which ended up making me feel hopeless as the “Great Heart of Darkness Year” could never have turned out like I had wanted. My mentality for life is usually “expect the least, always be pleasantly surprised when something happens” but for this year I let optimism and hope fly a bit out of control, and sooner or later if it’s not met with real results it’s going to come crashing down.
I’m making it sound like the year was completely awful only made bearable by it also being awful for my mortal enemies, but that wouldn't be entirely true.
I got some really good art at cons, from friends, and just regular fan art that other fans have made and posted. I did get to do some fun things every once in a while, even if my seasonal depression has numbed them all in my mind right now. I’ll come back to this post and add them.
Right at the beginning of the year, (or was it the end of the last year?) I got to have a skype call with Eric. THE ERIC. And he complimented my Andy hat. I didn't post my write up about the call because I felt it wouldn't be fair to overshadow such a wonderful event with all the negativity that was happening at the time the post was finished. So I waited... and waited... and waited... and never did post it. Maybe I should rectify that. And rewrite the post because it was on my old laptop when it died OTL I felt bad because due to my inability to sleep at night I probably looked exhausted to Eric. I hope he didn't think I was bored. But he made HoD, and it’s blatantly obvious how closely I identify to Andy, so it’s likely he understood the reason I looked like a zombie. Sorry Eric. I was excited beyond belief inside. I just didn't let it out verbally for fear of being rude.
We did get to see the Saturn disc. It helped me retain some positivity after this holiday season drug me down into a dark hole.
Was it this year that I got my computer chair? It might not have been but I’m so thankful for how it saved my back and stopped my chronic pain from making it impossible for me to sit and draw that I’ll thank it anyway. Thank you chair.
I’m really grasping at straws but I know there were lots of things I just can’t remember now. I’ll add them later.
My friend Fishy(Rob) was absolutely incredible to me for the entire year. Offering great headcanons, compassionate support, words of encouragement, and donating to me to always ensure the HoD website stays online forever. For Christmas he also sent me Tiny, who I’d like to say has finally gotten along with Whisky stuffy and they can share my bed now no problem. I also report that I loved all the candy he sent me and it was all amazing and I’m now a fan of macadamia nuts. It’s because of Fishy that I didn't completely lose my passion for writing and drawing. I’m going to be posting my finished fanfic after I sleep this morning.
I mean it when I say that Fishy is one of the last great lighthouses shining in the horrible turbulent storm that is whatever the hell my existence has become at this point. Every day I think about how we are friends and it makes me feel happy.
This year I reconnected with my oldest friendship. My funky mushroom pal XP I hope we will get to visit again sometime soon.
I did try to remain close with my friends, but I feel I did drift apart from some friends. I know it’s not either of our faults, life happens, but I want you to know that it wasn't your fault. I just got tired all the quicker this year. Slow, tired, easily overwhelmed. Hopefully next year I can be energetic and close. That’s how I want to be.
My resolutions for this year are probably still the same or similar to last year but I forgot what they were.
Stop being so paranoid and obsessive and scared.
Don’t give up on creative endeavors
Maintain and strengthen my friendships
Get my service dog
Get medications. That’s really important.
Get to see doctors regularly. With my issues I should be seeing one once a month. I haven’t seen one in over a year.
Do things, eat things, see things more
L I V E
Stop taking everything so seriously.
Talk more to Fishy and my friends in general.
Stand up for myself, even to people who are in authority or who I trust.
Learn to let things go.
Make some great HoD stuff.
Don’t put off fun things like video games because I don’t feel I “deserve” them.
Permanently kill the part of me that delights in the suffering of others. I don’t know how, but I’m gunna try. I want to be pure again, and as much as I feel that that was stolen from me, it’s mine to reclaim and I've just gotta work hard for it.
Purity is a state of mind. I need to live that state of mind and realize that that will be infinitely more important than biting and lashing out in an effort to “avenge” it.
With that being said, I really do feel that a lot of my problems can be negated by having access to mental health specialists, doctors, medicine, fresh air, things to do, exercise, and more regular meals. I hope that the new year will bring more availability to these things as they will prove to be very important in improving my health and mood.
In closing, I am immensely grateful for my friends, for Heart of Darkness, for the people who made Heart of Darkness, for dogs, for art, for the internet (only sometimes, other times it’s a curse), for food, for iced tea, and for the good moments this year had because of these things. As always, thank you for the people who stayed with me despite this severe turbulence. I really cannot begin to thank you for your patience. Staying with me despite how I am shows a lot of faith that I still have a chance to improve and get better and live life on the right track. Thank you for believing in me. I’ll try not to let you down in 2019.
Love you all.
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Richard Reis
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Richard Reis
"I write this not for the many, but for you; each of us is enough of an audience for the other." - Epicurus http://richardreis.me/May 16How Less Helps You Do More — Minimalism And Your Brain
Hello dear,
By the end of this letter, you’ll know something that’ll make you wealthier, but also think better.
This knowledge changed my life. I’m excited to share it with you.
Many of my friends know this, but minimalism is something I have been a big fan of for quite some time.
Now, I hate calling it “minimalism” because the word comes loaded with whatever past meaning you attached to it.
So from here on, whenever I say “minimalism” I want you to think “no clutter” or “no sh*t lying around”. Whichever you prefer.
With that big, fat, elephant out of the way, we can begin.
Why minimalism?
Two reasons:
I believe it’s an amazing “brain-enhancing” technique.
It saves a ton of money (this is, after all, a finance series).
I think #2 is self explanatory. Let’s dig deeper into #1, it’s very important.
Why is minimalism an amazing brain-enhancing technique?
“A messy room equals a messy mind”.
As it turns out, that’s true.
Psychologist (check out the insane CV) Dr. Jordan Peterson’s favorite advice is “clean your room”.
In fact, Dr. Peterson gets letters from people telling him how cleaning their room changed their life!
I’ve experienced the benefits personally, and it works.
Here’s a direct quote from Peterson:
“My sense is that if you want to change the world you start from yourself and work outward because you build your confidence that way.
I don’t know how you can go out and protest the structure of the entire economic system if you can’t keep your room organized. […]
The world presents itself as a series of puzzles, some of which you’re capable of solving and some of which you’re not. You have many puzzles in front of you that you could solve but you choose not to. Those really are the things that weight on your consciousness, knowing ‘oh I should do this’, but you don’t.[…]
It’s like, don’t be fixing up the economy, 18 year-olds. You don’t know anything about the economy. It’s a massive complex machine beyond anyone’s understanding and you mess with it at your own peril. Can you even clean up your own room? No. Well, you should think about that.
Because if you can’t even clean up your own room, who the hell are you to give advice to the world?” — Dr. Jordan B Peterson
I couldn’t agree more.
Sidenote: This may seem odd, but I have a hypothesis as to why minimalism/ cleaning your room is effective for better thinking.
This insight came to me from meditation. I know that when someone meditates effectively, the brain regions known as Default Mode Network’s (DMN) activity diminishes. These regions are what make you ‘daydream’ (aka not focus): “I shouldn’t have said that to Bob this morning”, “I regret not asking that girl for her number”, “that a**hole who cut me in the freeway last week could have killed me”. Meditating (basically) shuts down those voices and allows you to focus on the present (which makes you more effective).
Soooo doesn’t the same brain activity increase when your place is messy? “oh I should vacuum this floor”, “those dishes look dirty”, “damn, my closet is a mess”.
My hypothesis: A messy place increases activity in the DMN, which doesn’t allow you to focus 100% (making you less effective). This could explain why when you ‘go minimal’, you focus better (and most people say it’s life-changing).
If everyone had a clean room/ apartment/ house, the world would be a better place 🙂 (I just gave a great PhD thesis for some neuroscience student out there).
Do you understand the importance of minimalism now?
If you’re home, perfect! Look around you, is there something you’ve been meaning to clean? Does opening your closet stress you out?
This physical clutter is probably also cluttering your brain. Hence why you can’t focus.
If so, what follows is tactical advice that will help you clean in record time.
When should you “go minimal”?
Many bloggers will tell you to start slow and gain momentum.
This… may work.
Unfortunately it didn’t work for me. And I believe it won’t work for you either.
Why? Most people are lazy when it comes to tidying (come on, how long have you been thinking about organizing your mess?)
Therefore, the best solution I found came from the ginormously popular book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondō.
In case you don’t know Marie, here’s a nice summary from Tim Ferriss’ awesome (recent) interview with her:
“Her books have sold more than seven million copies and have been published in more than forty countries.
Kondo’s methods have become so famous that her last name has become a verb, ‘Kondo-ing,’ and people who share her specific values are referred to as ‘Konverts.’ She has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people.”
Yeah, wow.
Marie’s philosophy is much closer to mine. If you want to declutter your life, pick one day and do it all at once.
“When you tidy your space completely, you transform the scenery. The change is so profound that you feel as if you are living in a totally different world. This deeply affects your mind and inspires a strong aversion to reverting to your previously cluttered state. The key is to make the change so sudden that you experience a complete change of heart. The same impact can never be achieved if the process is gradual.” — Marie Kondō
How to declutter1. Pick a day
Pick a day, any day. And start early in the morning (this will energize you).
“But I’m too busy.”
I think that most people who are “too busy” miraculously have enough time for other things like cable TV or Netflix.
Unless you have 5 kids, work 3 jobs, and are a single parent, you’re not “too busy”.
“Too busy” is also a polite way of saying “this isn’t a priority for me”. But if you weren’t convinced from the intro that cleaning IS a priority, chances are you’re just being lazy.
2. Put it all on the floor
If this sounds like a song title, it’s because it’s the fun part.
“Where do I start?”
Marie Kondō recommends going by categories, not rooms.
“Don’t start selecting and discarding by location. Don’t think “I’ll tidy the bedroom first and then move on to the living room” or “I’ll go through my drawers one by one starting from the top down.” This approach is fatal. Why? Because most people don’t bother to store similar items in the same place.” — Marie Kondō
The correct sequence she recommends is this: clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items, and mementos.
Go around your house looking for everything that fits in each category (and put it all together at once on the floor).
Don’t touch items in a category unless you’re done with the previous category. There are many reasons for this (though too long to include here), if you really want the details get Marie’s book. If not, just trust me.
Easy.
3. Discard
“Now I have every item in a category on the floor, what do I do?”
This is what makes Marie so special. She talks about the concept of “sparking joy”.
Grab each item one by one, and ask yourself “does this spark joy?” If it doesn’t, it goes in a trash bag.
“Why does this work?”
Because (this might blow your mind), people own things they don’t really like! *gasp*
I know right? People actually have clothes, shoes, books and/or other items in their homes that they don’t really like all that much.
This is why I like minimalism; everything you own is something you love.
I love my “uniform” (I wear the same clothes every day), I love my whiteboard, I love my yoga mat, heck I even love my blender!
I don’t understand why people keep their closets full of clothes they “kinda” like, their kitchen full of ugly utensils they dislike, and their bookshelves full of books they’ll never read.
This is why you have to look at each item and ask yourself, “do I love this?” (or, even cuter, Marie Kondō’s “does this spark joy?”) and if the answer is “kinda” or “no”, in the trash bag it goes.
By the end of this, some people end up with 10+ full trash bags (I’ve been there).
Getting rid of them is an AMAZING feeling. You’ll see.
4. Store
I don’t mean in a storage unit (how dare you).
I mean now that you only kept things you love, find a place for them and organize them well.
Here’s an example with clothes.
That’s it. That’s my entire wardrobe (year-long baby).
I just picked what I like best, and stuck with it.
Going to a high-school where we all wore uniforms taught me it’s soooo much more convenient than having to worry about what to wear every day. This is why I wear a “uniform” to this day. Besides, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Obama made it cool (so I’m not “weird” anymore I’m “avant-garde”).
Sidenote: Wondering where I got those sweet folding skills? Learn how Marie Kondō does it here (t-shirts and tank tops), here (pants), here (sweaters and hoodies), and here (socks and stockings). Hell has a special place for people who occupy space hanging clothes than can be neatly folded.
Common But’sBut what if I want to buy something new?
The idea should be for you to only own things you love (what a concept).
Stop accumulating, surround yourself only with your favorite stuff.
I’m sure most people wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time.
Therefore, why not keep the 20% you love and get rid of the rest?? You’re not really using it anyways and it’s cluttering your space and mind.
The end result is for you to only be surrounded by the things you love (or… spark joy).
This also means most of your items will be high quality.
Now I’m not saying own as little as possible (we can’t all be enlightened like the Buddha, or Jesus).
What I am saying is a lot of your purchases were impulsive, kinda like stress eating. Except instead of accumulating fat, you accumulated clutter.
The clutter is stressing you out. Get rid of it, and see what I mean.
But I’m a girl
Sidenote: This is a common “but” I’ve heard very often from different friends who all happen to be female. So, I have to include it.
Until further DNA evidence, being a girl doesn’t mean you have to have lots of clothes. To prove it, here’s the awesome YouTuber, LightByCoco, showing the concept of a capsule wardrobe.
You might “enjoy” shopping. But re-read the intro and see why it’s never a good idea to surround yourself with clutter.
I’ve found that guys and girls tend to wear their same favorite clothes over, and over, and over again.
So, get rid of all that other stuff you never really wear! Your mind (and closet) will thank you.
But I don’t have enough space for all my stuff, I live in a small apartment
So do I. Living in a small apartment doesn’t mean anything.
It just means you have way more crap than you need. And that’s a bad, bad habit.
It simply means that even if your house looked like this (look at that space! And no clutter! Wow):
You’d still find a way to make it look like this:
Messy people are messy independently of where they live.
Most people see empty rooms and feel the need to fill, “oh some flowers would look nice here”, “oh maybe I need a lamp”, “I wonder if I need paintings on the wall”.
Stop!
That’s how you end up with a ton of items you don’t like that much. Stop the madness.
But I have kids
The “I have a partner and kids” is a bad excuse.
Joshua Becker is a minimalism blogger who’s married and has two kids. He’ll prove anyone who uses the “I don’t live alone” excuse is wrong.
But my roommates are messy
I’m a big fan of leading by example.
Begin with yourself. Clean your mess. Others will follow.
I shared a 3 bedroom house with 18 people. I found that when I tried to keep things clean, others would follow.
It wasn’t always perfect, but it’s better than blaming others.
But can’t I store most of it in a storage unit?
You’re just trolling me.
Kidding, but what about rebound?
I’ll let Marie Kondō answer this one.
“Rebound occurs because people mistakenly believe they have tidied thoroughly, when in fact they have only sorted and stored things halfway. If you put your house in order properly, you’ll be able to keep your room tidy, even if you are lazy or sloppy by nature.” — Marie Kondō
Sometimes (I mean once or twice a year), I may end up with a little more stuff than I need. Recently, after losing 35lbs I kept large clothes that are too big now, for no good reason!
No one’s perfect.
The key is to simply grab your trash bags and get to work 🙂
But, trash-bags?? Does that mean I should throw everything away?
Of course not, here’s what I do:
Try to sell it on eBay. If no one wants it after 30 days I:
Give it to Goodwill if it’s clothes.
Give it to the local thrift store if it’s other items (books, gadgets, CD’s…)
Throw it in the trash if it’s too much trouble.
But never, never, ever just leave stuff lying around.
And that’s it for today!
Today, we learned:
The amazing psychological benefits of a clean space.
How to declutter.
How to organize.
How not to make excuses for owning a bunch of things you don’t even like.
See you next week, be well.
R
P.S.: It turns out decluttering doesn’t only help the individual, it can benefit entire cities! A friend of mine recently shared with me the Broken Windows theory.
Before 1985 New York City was as violent and dangerous as Gotham. By 2001, crime had dropped significantly (and kept dropping for the following ten years!). What led to this huge crime drop? They cleaned the city (no graffitis, no people demanding payment after car window cleaning, and no public urination… among other things).
A clean, clutter-free environment does indeed make the world a better place🙂
Your mother was right, clean your room!
Is this helpful? Please ❤️ it below, comment or Tweet me 😊 Hearing from your fellow readers and you is what makes writing these letters such a joy.
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bewitchingbooktours · 4 years
Text
ORIGINS by Celia Breslin - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
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Celia’s Must-See TV Shows For Halloween
Halloween month is the perfect time to binge some paranormal TV shows. Add these to your binge-list.
* Chilling Adventures of Sabrina -
Good vs. evil, angsty teens, wacky witches.
* iZombie -
Dark comedy with zombies quarantined in Seattle. Brain cuisine jokes.
* Legion - 
People with powers and power struggles. Surreal, sometimes scary, and totally quirky and compelling.
* Legacies -
Teen werewolves, vampires, witches at a boarding school fraught with peril.
* Lucifer -
NetFlix saved this fab show, serving up one sexy devil and a strong female lead.
* The Magicians -
College students/magicians tangle with supernatural forces and other worlds. 
* Stranger Things -
An alternate dimension, monsters, plus government experiments, and one tough girl with wicked powers, oh my!
* The Umbrella Academy -
a dysfunctional family of funny, flawed, and powerful superheroes. Quirky, action packed, and 100% entertaining.
Happy viewing and Happy Halloween!
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ORIGINS
Tranquilli Bloodline
Book 3
Celia Breslin
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal RomancePublisher: Champagne Book GroupDate of Publication: September 9, 2019ISBN:  9781393477938ASIN: B08FFCWNF2Number of pages: 250Word Count: 94,000Cover Artist: Melody Pond
Tagline: The Chosen One is home. Bad little vampires beware…
Book Description:
In HAVEN & DESTINY, San Francisco nightclub owner Carina Tranquilli finds love and fights her vampire family’s enemies. Now, in ORIGINS…
En route to reunite with her estranged father in Italy, Carina is kidnapped by a human organization intent on vampire genocide. Beaten, starved, and forced to fight fellow captives, she finally manages to escape. Along the way, she encounters the group’s leaders—their identities shock her to the core.
Once home, Carina warns her family of this new threat, but dear old dad is missing. In his absence, the Tribunal, the governing body for all vampirekind, lies in disarray, with an old enemy making a bid for her father’s throne. What’s worse? The usurper wants her for his queen…and slave.
With a human-vampire war looming on one side and a vampire-vampire battle brewing on the other, Carina will have to rally her troops, take back the throne, and fulfill her destiny as the Chosen One. If not, her whole world will fall, taking everyone she loves with it.
Amazon
     Apple Books
      BN
      Champagne Books
      Kobo
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Excerpt:
The car stopped. […] I couldn’t convince myself to step out. […] What if this was a freaking, injection-induced hallucination? What if I was still back in the damn prison?
Besnik helped me out. […]
The mansion’s mammoth double doors eased open. The man illuminated in the doorway chased away the numbness, pumped my heart so hard it might pound right out of my chest. He opened his arms wide, calling me. My lips curled upward in the first true smile I’d cracked since the last time he’d held me in his arms. That man, my man, loved me more than any other on this whole damn planet.
“Alexander.”
I ran to him.
Alexander’s arms closed around me, his hold so tight I could barely catch a breath. Tremors ran through his hard body, again and again.
“Carina,” he croaked, voice sandpaper rough. “Carina.”
Nuzzling his neck, I planted fevered kisses along his tan, heated skin. He’d fed recently to be this warm under my lips. Temptation had me licking his pounding pulse, nipping at the vein. Couldn’t resist it. My fangs slid home.
Energy exploded between us, our mate bond bursting to life and tearing away whatever magical wall had separated us for far too long. My bite, the catalyst, his blood the cure. Awash in the force of our reunion, Alexander staggered then clutched me closer while I pulled out of his neck and laved the rapidly healing holes.
As our power continued to bubble and stitch us back together, he whisked us into the grand entryway, planted my ass on an ornate, antique cabinet, and devoured my mouth like a starving man. His hands roamed everywhere, searching, cataloguing, as if to reassure himself this wasn’t a hallucination, that I was really here, in his arms, relatively unharmed.
The more he kissed me, the more those wonderful, golden threads of our connection resurrected inside me, around me, between us, and I felt like freaking Sleeping Beauty awakened from her magical slumber by a kiss from her fated handsome prince. The silly thought made me giggle against Alexander’s seeking mouth, and then I was crying while my love cupped my face between his hands, wiped away my tears with his thumbs, and pressed tender kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, the tip of my nose…
“Alexander.” I fisted his shirt tight. Please, God, let him be real. “I… I don’t want to wake up.” Please, don’t let this end.
His smoky blue eyes bored into mine, his brown hair spiked in every direction, a bit longer than in my memory. It’s not a dream, baby. You’re here. You’re home.
Oh my God, I can hear you. I swiped some willful bits of hair away from his forehead, touched his full lips, ran my fingers along his strong jaw, taking in the whole handsome, bad-boy package. You’re back in my head. I’d never been happier to have someone inside my mind. Silence was seriously overrated.
And back in your arms.
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About the Author:
Celia lives in California with her husband, daughter, and two feisty cats. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and has a particular fondness for werewolves, vampires, the Fae, and warrior-class angels. Her stories are action-packed and typically include one of the many varieties of romantic entanglements: fated mates, second chance, rescue romance, opposites attract, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and more.
When not writing, you’ll find Celia exercising, reading a good book, hanging with her family, or indulging her addiction to Joss Whedon’s TV shows and movies, as well as everything in the Marvel Universe franchise.
Web site: 
http://www.celiabreslin.com
Blog: 
http://www.celiabreslin.com/blog/
Twitter: 
http://www.twitter.com/celiabreslin
Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/CeliaBreslinAuthor
Goodreads: 
http://www.goodreads.com/CeliaBreslin
Pinterest: 
http://www.pinterest.com/celiabreslin/
Instagram: 
https://www.instagram.com/celiabreslin/
Newsletter:  
http://eepurl.com/bxqwRL
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