#HEYGRRRLFRENNNS How are we all feeling today? Since you are my grrrls, I am not gonna lie to you, my super sunny summer positive attitude streak came to an end this past weekend. Ugh!!! Idk why I am acting like it was a streak on Duolingo or something, which I also messed up (dang!!) but it does make me kinda sad that I couldn’t be this unrealistic shiny beacon of positivity for you grrrls. What makes me feel a little bit better is that I don’t think that’s even what you want from me. I think you just want me to be real, and THAT I can do. Here’s the tea, I am kinda in this transitional period where I’m almost done with school (remember I walked in May, but your grrrl doesn’t graduate until August) and I can finally fly the nest and take my lil content creation hobby to the next level. Some of you are reading this and are wondering where the bad news is, and some of you are obviously forgetting that I have severe anxiety! I feel overwhelmed with all the space, freedom, and opportunity to create what I want for myself out of thin air. I want it to be meaningful, but I just don’t know where to start, how much to share, or what my story is. Despite all of these really good questions that need answers, I have decided to continue to move forward and trust the process aka myself. Even the times where I feel like I am doing my hobby all wrong lead to some really beautiful moments and happy accidents that I am ultimately grateful for.

We talk a lot about the journey to our greatest and highest selves but, I dont think I have ever shared who I think mine is. Not because I am being super stingy but because I am still trying to figure it out. So, even if it was a little obvious, I would like to share that with you now explicitly. I think she is a content creator! I think she is an artist! I think she is a vlogger! I think she is an author! I think she is a super star! I think she is a model! I think she is an international pop sensation! I think that right now a few of those sound silly but this is grrrl, get real not grrrl don’t even think about it. So I think that I am going to start pursuing hobbies that align with those interests. Mostly because the summer is ZOOMIN, which means that the we will have to start balancing out the care free content with a little more focused fun. So this week’s blog post is going to help ease us into that transition by talking about hobbies that we can do to reconnect with ourselves, whether that means grounding your present self, healthy reflection on your past, or actively working towards becoming your greatest and highest self. So let the grrrl talk begin!

The Reclamation Proclamation

Long gone are the days of denying ourselves pleasure! Far too long we have had to play dumb and dim down, to let other people shine! How many times have you been doing something with a group and just went with whatever the majority rules for the sake of “peace” even if it sounded totally lame and absolutely stupid compared to your brilliant idea? If this has happened to you at least once, ESPECIALLY if it was at the hands of someone who identifies with the male species the answer is far too many times! I am thrilled to announce that you will never have to do anything that you don’t want to with your free time ever again, because we our officially taking it back! The first step to reclaiming your time and finding a hobby that helps you to reconnect with yourself is to literally do whatever YOU want and not worry about how it effects other people. I always have to put the caveat that this new hobby should not land you in jail, harm yourself, or others, but other than that small stuff go nuts! Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time! I understand that this can be very difficult to do, because we have been conditioned to put our wants and needs on the back burners of our brains, but don’t worry I am here to help. The way to counteract overthinking your me time is to literally not even think at all, like I am talking zero thoughts and just vibing. Well actually just one thought, and it’s your very first thought. Think of it like a fun word association game! When I say hobby, you think jet ski! When I say free time, you think karate! When I say me time, you think plotting world domination! No matter how far out the idea seems at first, take it and run with it! Run with it, have the time of your life, and never look back grrrl!

The Great Outdoors

If you haven’t noticed, I am very much an indoorsy grrrl, like my definition of outside aligns with glamping at an all inclusive out of the country BUT when the stars are in full alignment and I do find myself outside it is kinda magical for five minutes. I do want to push myself to go outside more though because I feel like it could lead to more opportunities! Also, who said that “outside” only meant the woods?? We are not big foot or the abominable snow grrrls! Ice, ice baby! Outside can mean anything we want it to be and I think the more important aspect of going outside more is the change of perspective that can come with changing your surroundings. Like I said, I am not an outdoors expert but if I had to use this as a way to find hobbies that would help me reconnect with myself I would start by going somewhere that I really wanted to be. That sounds obvious, but think about it if I am already hesitant there is nothing that is getting me off of the couch and out of my feels except for a place where I’ve been dying to visit (and take cute pictures at)! The next step after making it outside would be to find things to make it more enjoyable so that I stay longer, hence the hobby! Knowing me, my anxiety over being perceived or sheer boredom from lack of stimulation would probably have me calling my ride home in less than ten minutes, or at least thinking about it. To cut down on some of that idle time your brain has to bully you out of enjoying outside, go in with a plan! I am going to the park and I am going to read a chapter of that book I was supposed to finish five years ago! I am going downtown to this restaurant and I am going to people watch and journal stories about what I think their lives are like! I am going to the city to window shop for a new blouse because I spilled spaghetti sauce on my last one!

Back To The Future

This is like the ultimate hobby hack, if I do say so myself, because it’s personal time with a purpose! If you are still lost on how to spend your time try traveling through it! Okay, I know what you are thinking, “But Bino, I don’t even have a hot tub time machine!” and to that I would say that you are in luck because you absolutely do not need one! “Time traveling” to your past is soo easy because you’ve literally already been there, so there is no way that you can get lost. Clearly this is true because we all have those super embarrassing moments that our brains won’t let us forget. When you are remembering those times, it almost feels like you’ve actually relived it and you probably could if you tried. All you need to do is have a little empathy for your past self and really put yourself in her shoes. Especially if they were cute! How did you feel? What were you thinking? What did you need? In all honesty, this can be a little triggering so make sure you pack the Kleenex when you are time traveling. Yes, this can be painful to relive your past but where there is pain, there is also beauty, which means that there is a bright side to everything. The bright side and the beauty of this exercise is that you are now in a position where you can give yourself what you needed. You can use your hobby to help heal yourself, which I promise you will feel incredibly rewarding. Think back to what the younger version of yourself was interested in doing but never got the chance to for whatever reason. I would also like to note that often times, when people say “younger self” they imagine the child version of themselves, which is totally fine, but you can also take younger to mean anything like your teenage years, you last year, or even you yesterday. Radical self-care is an ongoing, and never ending journey. You will never stop learning, healing, or growing so incorporating that into your hobbies just makes the journey a lot more fulfilling and actually really fun.

Wow okay I feel like this week was a lot but maybe that is because my new hobby is actually practicing being more open, honest, and vulnerable. A past version of myself would be super paranoid that someone was building an FBI-status folder of all of my weaknesses to use against me one day, but now I think the old me would really appreciate the fact that I have built an outlet to express myself. I mean sharing personal insights into my life still gives me the creeps a little bit, let’s be real, but you grrrls have really made doing that a lot easier for me. I always hope that the blog, and whatever other content we create together genuinely helps you in the same way that it has helped me. You are all so amazing, and the work that you are doing to help improve your life is important. It’s really easy to forget about your pleasure and let your wants and needs slip away but little by little we are working towards recentering ourselves in our own lives and that is amazing! It doesn’t always look the way we want it to, or feel comfortable, and sometimes it means breaking your super sunny side up attitude streak but you can never be perfect, you can only be real. Now go and be great you lil grrrly pop! TTYL!