Yesterday, at 11:11...

I wished for happiness.

<3 Linda

Food For Thought: The So-Called "Comfort Zone"

Source sadly unknown.

Out of all of the inspirational pictures I've come across in my years browsing the internet, this is the poster that rings the most true for me. How can you expect others to admire you if you can't even please yourself? Happiness is a state of mind separate from circumstance (other than in extreme cases, of course), and so stepping out of that comfort zone will bring about a lot of bad things before the good comes, but we have to stop and think. You can still be happy without allowing your situation to influence your feelings. This is the reason why a lot of people who are doing what they love say that yes, they're stressed, but they love it all the same.

I think one of the biggest struggles in life is to get outside of your comfort zone. I remember moving to the United States, which in and of itself was a challenge. I could've curled up into my little ball and barely scraped through the years, but it became a lot easier to get out of my comfort zone after being forced to do it a million times. Now, I try to do one little thing that pushes me a little further each day-- whether it be to sign up for a theater group (!!), to make plans with friends and follow through with them, to explore a different path back to my dorm, or to even just talk to the cashier when I'm checking out my groceries. Who's to tell you what you can and cannot do? I'm not saying that I've even come close to my goal, but can you imagine being completely free of your own criticism? That's what I strive for... getting that nagging negative little voice that says "What are you doing? You can't do this" out of my head. And I know that one day, I will succeed. 

Things that make me super anxious may not even register on another person's radar as being uncomfortable. Everyone starts off at different ranges of comfort in their lives, but everyone has the opportunity to change it. The next time something pops up and you're offered the chance to do something outside of the norm, be like Jim Carrey and say yes! (That was a "Yes Man" reference; if you haven't seen the movie... You should watch it!)

<3 Linda

Falling for Fall

Fall is my favorite season when it comes to colors, but I'm not such a fan of the weather. Normally I can never figure out what to wear! This year I'm armed with cardigans and sweaters, though. Fall hasn't set in just yet here in "The Golden State". Some of the things I'm looking forward to this fall are:

         The glass pumpkin is made by my sister's friend. Isn't it cute?
                      And the crochet is a recent creation of mine.

1// The afforementioned cardigans and sweaters! Oh yes. I love buying baggy sweaters from thrift stores and I feel like they're really comfortable, so I don't really mind looking like I'm wearing my mom's clothing. Ha. Still on the lookout for tights though, so that I don't have to wear tight jeans.
2// Pumpkin spice lattes. Or anything pumpkin-flavored. You can also replace pumpkin with vanilla, nutmeg, apple, cinammon, and anything else associated with fall. Hot drinks are the best, especially tea!
3// Seeing the leaves change colors. They look beautiful during the fall.
4// Having new shows begin for the fall TV season. I always told myself to not keep current with shows so that I would never have to deal with a cliffhanger, but it happened to be anyway. Sigh!
5// Getting the chance to decorate my dorm room for the year! Expect a post once I get to school.
6// Getting to wear knits! I love knits so much. This is probably obvious by now.
7// Meeting my new roommate, Tina! So excited. She's into the arts as well.
8// Growing my hair out and seeing other people growing their hair out again.
9// The feeling of a new year approaching. And with this comes other new LCC Theatre Co. production, so lots of creative projects are coming up as well!
10// Cuddling up in a million more blankets that I added to my bed after the hot summer season.

This year's going to be great, I can just feel it. Only a couple more days to go 'til I'm swept up in the madness!
<3 Linda

Tiny Successes!

I have no idea if anyone would think these things are that big of a deal, but to me they are, because they are teeny personal successes that have led me to be a very happy gal this week.

I signed on today and found out that I reached over 100 page views on this blog! To me that's something to celebrate since I'm such a blogging noob; I'm rounding on 3 weeks now. :"D Thanks so much for commenting and reading, everyone!

More things to celebrate:

• I was the lucky lucky winner of a pair of Blowfish Shoes on Amy Morby's blog! She seems so nice, check her out if you have time. I will definitely blog about them when they come in! Highlight of my week, most certainly.
• My scanner is finally working for my computer, so I can upload Daily Animal Doodles now, and they'll look nice and clean! Somehow or the other the software worked a second time around. Unfortunately I've fallen behind the past couple of days... tomorrow's catch-up day, and I have around 3 to catch up with. Uh-oh!
• My laptop is finally getting a replacement battery, so I won't be constantly living in fear of it spontaneously dying on me.
• The shop is opening in... 9 days? (I'm terrible with counting.) I'm so nervous but excited. For the first few weeks, you can expect to see some "standard" items. In the meantime, I'll be working on some larger scale projects that you will hopefully like when they come out! I now have so much appreciation for anyone who has an online business; it's a lot of work! 

I'm writing this at night so that I can sleep in tomorrow (I really need it!). I'll let you know what I was up to today later on in the week instead, I am pooped!

<3 Linda